So Reince Preibus recently called for Anthony Weiner's resignation on the logic, basically, that Weiner is a "creep".

It's kind of a loaded word and I don't think it has any place in the political discourse, but it's there and it always has been. A lot of the people who follow congressional sex scandals aren't terribly concerned with the political opinions that the elected official involved holds and whether he is a hypocrite; they're concerned with the fact that the elected official is, in their view, a weirdo who cheated on his wife and did weird stuff with prostitutes or his employees or guys in airport bathrooms or whoever.

And that's disappointing, because when activists look at a congressional sex scandal by a conservative, they usually see evidence against the flawed model of sexual morality that that person was presenting. But when the public looks at it, a lot of them just say "ewwww". What gets across in the mainstream press about these scandals is not the flagrant ethics violations or the hypocrisy, but the details of the supposedly depraved sex acts.

And then the activists are surprised when the same reaction comes across when a Democrat is the one with the sex scandal. "But it's totally different!" No, it's not. He was sending pictures of his penis to ladies on the internet, and we all know that's disgusting, because nobody wants to look at a penis, so He Must Go. It all ends up just contributing to the same prudish attitude.

I don't think it has a lot to do with the lying or the cheating. I think that if he'd been single and had freely admitted to sometimes having cybersex with women he met on the Internet, a lot of people still would have been disgusted, because they think that's disgusting.

I don't really condone Weiner's behaviour, personally. I don't think that cheating exists in a vacuum, and doing stuff outside your marriage that your spouse doesn't know you're doing implies that you're not always a trustworthy person. You really shouldn't get thrown out of office for it, but it does give me pause. It matches up with a certain kind of egotism that often occurs in politicians and is, actually, a really bad trait for them to have.

I care more about the lying. The lying proves that he is untrustworthy. I think there should be an ethics investigation and that if the result is that there were ethics violations, I think he should resign. Of course, I also think David Vitter, who actually broke the law, should resign, but he's not going to, so...)

But the point is that I don't think anyone should resign for being a "creep".

The attitude created by the Republican sex scandals is that you should have to.

This isn't the intended message, and it's not a reason to stop pointing out the hypocrisy of Republicans. But it is a reason to find a better way to do so, because the current way is not working.

The thing about respecting someone--even a little bit--is that they will always let you down.

Always! Your favorite singer will eventually make a terrible song, and that actor you love will eventually be in a movie that really sucks. But that's okay, because you know it was just a momentary lapse in judgment. You know you don't really have to reevaluate your feelings about that person's overall worth based on that one little slip.

Except for sometimes, when you do. The peril of admiring any news commentator, journalist, politician, or person otherwise involved in this crazy thing we call "politics" is that you will not always agree with them on everything. Eventually, an issue will come along on which you will disagree with them so profoundly that it makes your blood boil. If you're lucky, it will be something like tax rebates and you'll be able to get on with your life without questioning their moral fiber or whether or not you should be paying any attention to their work.

Usually, it's not tax rebates. Usually, because life is a bitch like that, it's something like anti-rape activism. Or even whether the person in question is themself in fact a rapist!

And then you get to have a little mini-crisis.

I guess that's how Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore felt when they found out that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had been accused of sexually assaulting two women. Torn. They must have asked themselves, is it possible to support the work that Wikileaks does and yet also believe that Assange, himself, is not a perfect human being? Is actually kind of a terrible human being, as it turns out?

They must have answered themselves that no, it was not. In order to believe in the goodness of Wikileaks' core mission, they must have thought, I must also believe that everything the organization and anyone associated with it does it purely good.

I simply don't understand that mentality. After all, I haven't sworn off MSNBC or thrown away my copy of "Dude, Where's My Country?". I am, however, really, really angry at Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore.

(Not as angry as I am at Julian Assange! Who might very well be a rapist! But still!)

Is it not possible to think, at the same time, that the zeal with which this case has been investigated is suspicious, that there's no evidence the accusors are lying, that Wikileaks is an important and good thing for the American people to have, and that Julian Assange seems like kind of a dick? Is it not also possible to think that while Olbermann and Moore are really, really wrong on this issue, they've been right on many others in the past, and will probably continue to be right in the future?

I think so.

(As a sidenote, I should probably state that it's possibly that Sady Doyle, the blogger responsible for the aweseome #Mooreandme hashtag on Twitter, has at some point been wrong about something. I haven't found it yet, though.)

Writing stuff is apparently out of the question, so instead you get another stupid music thing. The theme of this one isn't purely alphabetical, but should be fairly obvious. It's a surprisingly dark list.

During the time of which I speak, it was hard to turn the other cheek

"Love's Recovery," Indigo Girls
"Love Comes Quickly," Pet Shop Boys
"Love Drunk," Boys Like Girls
"Love is a Catastrophe," Pet Shop Boys
"Love Me I'm a Liberal," Phil Ochs
"Love on the Rocks," Sara Bareilles
"Love Song," Sara Bareilles
"Love to Love Me Back," Mandy Moore
"Love Will Come to You," Indigo Girls
"LoveGame," Lady Gaga
"Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love," Coldplay
"Lovesong," The Cure

Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am home again

Just in case they're wondering

"Baby's It Fact", Hellogoodbye
"Back at Your Door", Maroon 5
"Back to the Start," Lily Allen
"Backfire at the Disco", The Wombats
"Bad Romance", Lady Gaga
"Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners", Foo Fighters
"Barrowland Ballroom", Amy McDonald
"Beautiful Calm Driving", Sia
"Beautiful, Dirty, Rich", Lady Gaga
"Beckon", I Nine

Dreaming it is something, I close my eyes

Joanna drove slowly into the city

"A-Punk", Vampire Weekend
"Academia," Sia
"Across the Universe", Jim Sturgess
"Act of the Apostle", Belle and Sebastian
"Act of the Apostle II", Belle and Sebastian
"Adia", Sarah McLachlan
"Adore Her", Mandy Moore
"Airplane", Indigo
"Alejandro", Lady Gaga

I know that we are young and I know that you may love me

The Future of Islam by John L. Esposito
Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields by Charles Bowden
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs
Hopes and Prospects by Noam Chomsky
Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
The Areas of My Expertise by John Hogdman
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Vol. 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This by Robin Black
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

1. Free speech is absolute. Yes, that means it is extended even to the things we find heinous. Even to the things I personally find heinous, is of course what I mean by that. Yes, it makes me sick to my stomach when people burn the Koran. Or the flag. Doesn't matter. The same rights are afforded to those few and very special Americans who are, to put it bluntly, crazy. That's what rights mean.

2. But you don't really care for rights, do you? You'd be perfectly happy censoring the Koran and any other "un-Christian" speech you can get your hands on. You care nothing for the Constitution. Even the more moderate versions of you would like to ensure that no one listens to the liberals. And then there's the whole Park51 mess; I don't think I need to say more.

3. So why should I care for your rights, when you care nothing for mine?

4. Because I have principles. Because we are not like you. The thing is that, to me, the Constitution is not just a piece of paper that can be tossed lightly aside whenever the mood strikes. It's something I believe in, with all my heart. And if you are censored, if your rights are discounted just because the majority of Americans find your opinions to be anathema, then who will be next?

5. Your opinions are disgusting, though. It's not relevant, but it's true.

6. You are also a bad Christian. This is even less relevant, but I still thought it should be said. Perhaps no one has told you.

7. Let me tell you, though, what sickens me.  I am not a Muslim and so it is really no business of mine to talk about it. But I imagine people watching the video and seeing the images that will no doubt be posted online even though reputable news sources have agreed not to, and I imagine how they would feel. I can't really do it. Seeing something that defines your life go up in flames and knowing that the only thing stopping many Americans from following this example is a lack of courage and lighter fluid.

8. Sometimes, blasphemy isn't funny. Or acceptable. When it is used to rebel against the social order, or to mock one's own culture and upbringing, it can be both of those things. But this? You use it to mock a minority alreadly plenty persacuted in our society, one to which you do not belong. At that point, precisely that point, it becomes prejudice.

9. There is also the Terrorist Thing. I don't like to mention it, but there it is. We all know it's there. And if it were just your own life you were risking, fine. Go right ahead. But it isn't, it's our country and our troops and no matter how slim the chance is that something could happen, that's not right.

10. But maybe that is their fault, not yours. After all, they should not judge all Americans by the actions of one psychopath. and they shouldn't, in the first place, be the kind of people who commit terrorist acts. That much is obvious.

11. Nevertheless, there is no license to yell fire in a crowded theater. If you do so, people will get trampled underfoot as the audience rushes for the exit. Maybe someone will die. You won't have killed them, but you will still, in an indirect and hard-to-quantify way, be responsible for their death. Because you had to know there was a chance it could happen, and yet you yelled fire anyway. No one could stop you, after all.

12. And yes, it is different from the "Ground Zero Mosque". You want to burn copies of a holy book in an act of delibrate offense and provocation to millions of people all over the world--not to mention the attention-seeking. They just want a place to pray and play basketball.

13. So, yes, of course you have the right. But if you had a shred of common human decency, you still wouldn't do it.

The CNN News Alert arrived shortly after I got home from school, bearing with it the shocking but wonderful news that "Pastor" and professional crazy person Terry Jones had decided not to host his International Koran Burning Day after all. Possbily because he got a phone call from the president, or was going to be charged some money, or both of those things. Much as I would like to believe that it was actually because he had sudden shock of insight and realized he was being a terrible person and a terrible pastor, I doubt it. It was almost certainly for an entirely selfish reason.

Even so, I fist-bumped the air.

I know what the fall-out will be. Extremists blathering that the Muslims get to have free speech, but what about the real Americans? Any random person who is opposed to Park51 going on about how, well, they didn't support Jones, and look what happened, all the moderate bigots got him to shut up, so we liberals should be grateful. But I don't care. They can have their political chatter. I'm just glad that we won't, after all, dishonor our history by hosting on American soil something as heinous as International Burn a Koran Day.

What: It's time to Restore Truthiness to America! 

When: TBA (Ask Stephen Colbert)

Where: TBA

Why: America, we are at a crossroad. Truthiness in this nation is at an all-time low since the inception of the concept was founded by the great American, Stephen Colbert. In its rich history over the past five years, Truthiness has become synonymous with American values such as freedom, honor, and Taco Bell. Recently our nation has suffered a truthiness drain. In fact, untruthiness is as common as measles vaccinations that cause cancer. We as a nation have stopped relying on our emotions and gut. We need to get back to what makes this nation great. Act on impulse not fact. Stop wasting time analyzing and just take what people say on face value. Why think when someone else can think for you. It’s superficial. It’s quick. It’s American. Restore Truthiness now!

How can you help? Spread the word. Tweet, Facebook Like, Join the Facebook Group, Share, Upvote, Do whatever you have to do. Make this be tomorrow's news!
 

Really fricking awesome, is how awesome. However, there is really no need to have a rally to restore truthiness, since the sheer number of people at the Restoring Honor rally indicate that it is alive and well.