With little help from their former "friends" in the country music world, the Dixie Chicks debuted at #1 on both the Billboard 200 and the country charts.  When’s the last time Reba could do something like that?  Of course, the "scandal" helps, but I say good for them.  Screw those two-faced country bastards.

Just read; there’s really nothing left to say.

You know, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg just gets on my nerves.  Back in 2001, knowing he could not win a Democratic Party primary, the life-long Democrat switched parties and used Rudy Giuliani’s post-September 11th gravitas to get himself into office.  Once in office, he ran the city like the Democrat he is; yet, when it came to to re-elect Bloomberg the state GOP rallied behind him because they knew no other Republican could win.  Now, I bet they’d like to re-think that decision since their man has now come out full in favor of same-sex marriage and will gladly perform them if the state courts say he can.  Of course, Bloomberg really has nothing to lose here.  He’s can’t run for re-election unless New York City’s term limit laws are changed, so sticking it to the party that got him elected isn’t going to hurt him in the long run.  Even he chooses to run for governor, these views probably won’t hurt him that much since both Giuliani and New York’s current governor, George Pataki, have rather centrist to liberal views on issues like this, as well.

What is it with Republicans and immigrants.  I’ll grant you, there are legitimate concerns when it comes to illegal immigration, especially in the porous nature of our borders in a post-September 11 world.  What I don’t agree with are the methods by which Republicans choose to "solve" this problem.  What Washington state is proposing is an example of not only the wrong way to deal with immigration, but just plain cruel and heartless.  Of course, this is something that would be next to impossible to pass since it would require amending the 14th amendment to the Constitution, which is a very drawn-out process and requires at least 33 state legislatures’ approval.  Not an impossible task, but considering how immigration is such a hot button issue it would take an enormous public relations effort, not to mention a nasty one, to get an amendment ratified by so many diverse states.

I just don’t understand what Republicans hope to accomplish with this anti-immigrant stance.  It’s only an important issue to a small, small percentage of the electorate.  This is not something with which you can win a national election.

So if someone asked what film was the highest grossing for Memorial Day weekend 2006 you’d probably say X-Men: The Last Stand, and you’d be right.  X-Men 3 is getting a lot of press for being one of the higher grossing Memorial Day weekend films, earning an estimated $120 million between Friday and Monday.  According to Box Office Mojo, that’s an average of $32,554 per theatre (3,690 theaters).  You might be thinking that’s the highest average of any film currently in release.  Well, you’d be wrong.  The film with the highest average per theater is a little documetnary currently reviled by oil conglomerates and their slaves in the Republican Party, An Inconvenient Truth, which averaged $91,500 in the 4 theaters showing it.   That’s a damn good average.  Once the film is able to get into more theaters it will easily bring in several million dollars.  Granted, it may not bring in the money of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, but that film was helped to a large extent by all the Conservatives who atempted to get it banned.

Having for the most part lost the battle to get creationism into our publish schools, the religious right, with surprising help from Jewish groups, are now campaigning to get "ex-gay" literature into the classroom.  The scary part is, schools may not have a way to stop it.  If they are going to allow gays and lesbians a forum in the school system then they will be forced to do the same for the so-called "ex-gay" movement.  I don’t know who I should feel the most sadness for:  the young men and women who will be even more confused, or the idiots who think they’ve "cured" themselves of homosexuality.  These people may go on to marry and have children, but deep down they will never "cure" themselves of being gay.  It will always be a part of them no matter how much they try to suppress it.

I’ve been a Springsteen fan for nearly 20 years.  There’s very little of his music that I haven’t heard and enjoyed.  His songs have always had a very pro-American undertone to them.  Not overtly political, his songs always spoke about small-town life, about the everyday man, and sometimes about those who serve their country and aren’t always treated well.  Three Springsteen songs rank as my favorites:  "Born to Run," a recent song "Devils & Dust," and "Born in the USA."  A lot of people assume that "Born in the USA" is some patriotic anthem in the vein of "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood; and while it is a pro-American song, those who think it’s the same as Greenwood’s aren’t really listening to the lyrics.

Since the release of The Rising, a CD filled with ruminations about September 11, 2001, and its aftermath, Springsteen has been overtly political like never before.  The most interesting of all is that this overt political view has been very anti-Bush and pro-Democrats.  Apparently, this political Springsteen isn’t going away.  I wouldn’t say that Springsteen is anti-Republican or pro-Democrats, I would just say that he disagrees with President Bush and isn’t afraid to speak his mind.  Of course, he’s at a point in his long career where pissing off some radio stations, or Conservatives, or fans won’t really matter.  For that reason, the backlash that may or may not happen will be nothing compared to the Dixie Chicks brouhaha.  Of course, rock fans aren’t as close-minded as country fans seem to be, so that’s a plus, as well. 

I don’t spend a lot of time writing about Iran mostly because I doubt I could intelligently discuss both sides of the issue since, sadly, I pay little attention to it.  I know, it’s a dangerous flaw; however, here’s what I can say: their so-called "president" is a complete wacko, not to mention Holocaust denier and Jew hater.  That alone makes him a despicable bastard in my opinion, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be welcome in Germany or any country for that matter.  If we profess to be free people in American and throughout Europe then even opinions we find disgusting and stupid should be allowed in society.  If we want to show Iran want it means to be a democratically free world, then people must act like it.  Moreover, Jewish leaders would be better served by using those very freedoms to speak out agaiunst fools like Ahmadinejad rather than trying to silence them.  Trying to silence them will always fail unless you’re willing to engage in very anti-democratic activities, and either way it only enables their dyfunctional view.

The actions of the Canadian press were obviously over-the-top, but can you imagine the furor Republicans would erupt into if our press developed even a tenth of their Canadian brothers and sisters’ backbone?  There would be instant calls for an amendment to the Constitution either rescinding the freedom of the press or changes to make it more strict.

Who knows if it’s actually true, but it would be nice to know that Alberto Gonzales finally grew a pair of balls where the law and constitution are concerned.  I won’t hold my breath for any more crises of conscious.

The whole brouhaha is a bunch of bullshit.  Why should members of Congress be given special treatment that everyday citizens don’t get.  What’s next:  no wiretapping of Congressional phones?