BuggBlog

Past imperfect

To steal from my favorite movie, we might be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.

That's what I was thinking as I edited this week's Metro Weekly cover story on Butch Merritt, a self-described spy on the D.C. gay community back in the early '70s days of the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance. It's tempting to read these historical pieces and think only of how much worse it was for gays and lesbians just a few short decades ago, and how much better we have it today. Back then people had to worry about the government spying on them, tapping their phones, turning friends and acquaintances into government informants....

And then we're full circle back to these heady days of the Bush/Cheney surveillance nation and the hydra-headed war on drugs.

Not to worry, I'm not about to spend 1,000 words on another libertarianish rant -- yet -- but I do think it's important to read a story like this with an eye on the present. It's too easy to decry the past transgressions of government as paranoid and overreaching while dismissing the current transgressions as necessary evils.

No danger of hanky-panky here, no siree!

Florida Democrats want a privately funded, mail-in ballot re-voting scheme to try to get some delegates seated from the state.

This is a wonderful idea because everyone knows Florida has such a strong history of reliable, above-board and totally bogus-free elections.

Political truths and consequences

So I decided to take the weekend off from jotting down any thoughts or rants about the ongoing Clinton and Obama contretemps because, frankly, I needed to take a bit of a breather. The last time I found myself both politically and emotionally involved in a campaign was way back in 1992, when Bill Clinton was making his first run. And although he had the fortune of being president during a period when the good times went rolling, by the time 1996 came 'round, the luster had worn off -- and soon after had progressed into deep, deep tarnish.

In 2000, I reluctantly voted for Gore -- an odd feeling given how much I'd liked him since back during his 1998 run. But post-Clinton, Gore seemed unable to tease the good from the bad in his own administration, so instead washed his hands of the whole damn thing to run a Shrum-tastic populist campaign that in defeat set us down the path we're on today. I voted for him because he was not George W. Bush, a good enough practical reason, but not one that elevated my soul or anything.

Then in 2004 we got John Kerry who, basically, was a jerk. How big of a jerk? He was able to make Mary Cheney likable by giving one of the most bumbling attack lines of the campaign-- "If you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian... ." But, again, he wasn't George W. Bush and that was enough.

Now we're back to the start of the circle, with Hillary Clinton running a jaw-dropping campaign in which she smears her opponent with the label "Ken Starr tactics," attempts to cheat by changing pre-determined rules in her favor,  naming herself and McCain as the only candidates qualified to be commander-in-chief (as if), and offering the vice-president slot to her competitor who inconveniently happens to be in the lead.  Not to mention proving her executive leadership skills with a campaign staff riven by infighting, unable to plan for a full election cycle and displaying the fiscal wisdom and restraint of an 11-year-old in a video game store.

 

I'm a martini superdelegate!

Yes, it's only Monday morning, but you're already thinking about what you want to do tonight, right? God knows I usually am. But in this case I have something pretty cool lined up -- I'm a judge for tonight's "Best Martini in D.C. Contest" at Beacon Bar & Grill (17th St. and Rhode Island Ave., NW), alongside luminaries such as our own D.C. Council Member David Catania. I hope he doesn't threaten to drink me under the table, or else I'll have to pwn his ass.

Just joking David! I promise I'll let you win!

So, when you get off work from downtown, sneak out early from the Human Rights Campaign office, skip your trip to the gym or drive in from the 'burbs, come out to Beacon and help us choose the best -- your vote is guaranteed to count more here than in the Democratic primary.

UPDATE: I suppose it helps to mention what time, just in case you don't click through the link -- it's from 6 to 8 p.m. See y'all there.