Doc and Raider: May 2010

Monday, May 31, 2010

La belle province

A series that I've been meaning to work on for some time now -- a series of images for each of the Canadian provinces. And since I'm in Montreal, it seemed reasonable to kick it off with Quebec. Saskatchewan, Raider's home, will be next.

And if you clickie the image, it's yours to collect. Just like that stuff from the Franklin Mint, but without the monthly fees and charges.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Memorial Day 2010

Unlike most of my activist friends, I'm not as hopeful about the fate of DADT. I honestly believe we're being played, in an enormous shell game that's hopelessly stacked against us. Yes, the Senate Armed Forces Committee and the House voted in our favour last night... but with the caveat that the Pentagon be allowed to finish its "study" before the ban is lifted.

How many of you honestly believe that "study" will be finished by December? And even if it is, how many of you honestly think, given the sampling the Pentagon is using, that the results will come back as we hope? If you do, let me show you pictures of some lovely beachfront property for sale in Arizona, right next door to John "I'm against DADT -- oh wait I'm up for re-election! I'm FOR it! Honest!" McCain, who seems to think that no marine's ass will be safe and the uniform code will have to changed to include tutus and tiaras. Parade marches will now have to include "In the Navy", and when that staff sargeant says "Get down and give me twenty!", he's not talking about push ups.

At least McCain's motives are transparent enough. He's had to shift more and more to the right to hold onto his seat in the Senate, because God knows the man isnt suited for any other employment. But the others? Our continually fierce advocate of a president? The always charming speaker of the house? The perpetually upbeat Barney Frank?

Call me a cynical realist, but I no longer trust those three as far as I can throw them, which, despite regular workouts at the gym, wouldnt be that far. We're talking about people who depend on votes to stay in power, and given how relentlessly poisonous political campaigns have become of late, no one's go gonna near a full-out progressive step towards equality.

But they'll make it look like they are -- and appearances are, after all, everything.

And we'll buy it, every time. Because when you look at the alternatives, it's probably better to accept scraps on the floor than a real, actual seat at the table.

So yes, this weekend, take a moment or two from the first real party of the 2010 summer season and remember the gays and lesbians who died to make that moment safe as well as possible. And do not, for one single second, think that it's over. It's not.

The summer fun is just beginning.