One more swipe at Dean
James Lileks, in his Screedblog today had a great quote in reference to Dean's comment that all Republicans are white Christians who think alike:

This will be met with two reactions: dismay from those who do not believe he speaks for Democrats – which is why he’s the head of the party, I guess – and elation from those who say Hell Yeah! Nail those pale christers, already! The former group has my sympathy, because it surely hurts to see the head of the party jam his foot so far in his mouth that the tassels of his loafers dangle from his buttocks.

  ¶ 2:18 PM 0 comments

  Various political observations
There are a couple of things circulating around the political echo chamber that I just have to say something about.

The first, Howard Dean. Can I just ask, what the hell is he thinking?
He has said a couple things lately that are just so blatantly idiotic that you wonder he's allowed out in public. A quote "(the Republicans are) a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same. They all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party. The Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. We're more welcoming to different folks, because that's the type of people we are."
Hmmm. So it's a really welcoming thing to propagate sterotypes of whole groups of people, then? And I guess he's also saying that Republicans are very stupid, and cannot think for themselves, since all of them "behave the same". I guess conservatives don't actually have any real ideas that they believe in. Wouldn't Dean have a whole lot more credibility if he actually took on the substance of Republican ideas and policy instead of resorting to assinine personal attacks?
He also said recently, in reference to having a national holiday for voting day so people have time to go vote, "Well, Republicans, I guess, can do that because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives."
This kind of rhetoric does no one any good. It's not true, it's clearly meant to inflame, and it is even more ridiculous when, in the same speech, Dean said that Democrats should reach out to evangelicals. Whatever.
I don't even know why I'm getting mad about this garbage. Dean is only hurting himself and his party. He's not convincing anyone.

The second thing is the flap about Kerry finally releasing his military records. There doesn't seem to be anything remarkable in there, despite somewhat hopeful spectulation by many on the conservative side that he was hiding some scandal (maybe a dishonorable discharge, or something). The thing he was apparently trying to hide was his poor grades in college. Well, big deal. There are lots of brilliant people out there who never went to college (such as my husband), and there are lots of college-educated idiots.
The only reason this is even an issue is that Kerry and his supporters made such hay over the whole "Bush is a dumb frat-boy" thing. I think the fact that Kerry witheld these records for so long just shows how shallow and peevish he is. And I'm very thankful that he's not our president.

That ends my rant for the day.  ¶ 12:35 PM 0 comments

  Good and bad, plus second ultrasound
I'm now exactly halfway through, 20 weeks pregnant!

The good things:

• People have stopped saying, "You're not showing at all!"
  
• I can feel the baby move a few times a day (this is the best thing!)
  
• I get to wear cute maternity clothes
  
• I don't have to worry about getting fat, since I've been eating what I want for 5 months, and am not gaining too much weight
  
• I'm still sleeping pretty well
  
• I have no food aversions
  
• I get to have a baby in a few months!
  

The bad things:

• I'm scared about being a parent
  
• My husband called me a whale this morning (but in a nice way!)
  
• The house isn't ready
  
• I'm getting headaches a lot
  
• I can't run anymore
  
• I'm worried about what my work situation will look like after the baby...I'd really like to stay home, but I need to bring in an income. There are some things in the pipeline that might work out, but nothing final yet...
  

I had an ultrasound on Monday, and this one was much more thorough. We got to see all the different parts of the baby (even the bladder), and the doctor was able to tell the sex right away. We, however, decided to be surprised and not find out. We had agreed on that before the ultrasound, but once I knew that I could know, it was killing me not to know. But Erick stood firm, and would not give in to my begging and wheedling.
We had the doctor write down the sex on a piece of paper, and I mailed it to my mom in New Hampshire. I had to carry it around with me all day first, though, and it was really hard not to just open it and look. I persevered, and now it's in the mail.
My mom was very upset that we weren't going to find out, and besides, she was planning on knitting or crocheting some clothes, and how could she make little dresses if she didn't know, and why in the world would we not find out...etc. So I compromised and sent her the paper.

I will try and post the ultrasound pictures soon, though I've been pretty bad lately about posting pictures, it's just a little more work, enough to make me not want to do it. But I'll try. Ultrasounds always look like aliens, anyway, don't they?  ¶ 9:40 AM 4 comments