So Brian Said

When it's a slow day at work, it's fun to watch the wires and read the stories as they're coming across. On good ones, you can see the first edition of a story transmit, then wait a half-hour or so and catch an update with reaction, then another edition will come across with some history or context. Depending on the magnitude of the story, you can get up to 15 or 20 editions, from what I've seen. And I wasn't working for 9/11 or during The Blackout.

Anyway, I saw the first edition of a story that U.S. Rep. Ed Schrock (R-Va.) was dropping out of the race for re-election. It didn't say why, but just that he released a statement citing unspecified allegations that "called into question" his ability to govern or something. I'll bet that most people reading that thought he was going to be accused of lady-raping or child-molesting or paint-huffing. But I knew knew knew that this guy was gay.

CSPAN had a forum of gay speakers the other night, and during a Q and A, someone in the audience asked about outing gay officials or aides who promoted anti-gay policies. I can't remember if more than one person addressed the question, but I don't remember anybody condoning the practice. Just the same, it seemed that they were thinking the same thing I was: "Probably not the right thing to do, but I'm sure not going to feel bad for anyone who gets singled out."

Schrock, by the way, is a co-sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, voted for the Marriage Protection Act, and as a candidate said that you should be able to question military recruits to weed out any homos: "You're in the showers with them...."

So when I saw the story move, I was really excited to see that the movement was underway. I didn't remember to check it again until getting home, but sure enough, there was the rest of the story.

And the blog that outed him: blogactive.com. They promise more outings in the near future. And the damning evidence: a recording of Schrock(allegedly, of course) on a gay phone dating service. And the quote:

Uh, hi. I weigh 200 pounds. I'm 6-foot-4, hazel eyes, blond hair, very muscular, very buffed-up, uh, very tanned. Um, I'd just like to get together with a guy from time to time, just to, just to play, but I'd like him to be in very good shape, flat stomach, good chest, good arms, well-hung, cut, uh, just to get naked, play and see what happens. Nothing real heavy-duty but just a fun time, go down on him, he could go down on me and just take it from there. Hope to hear from you. Bye.

Yikes. You're right, Schrock. Gay people are dirty.

Again, probably not a nice thing to do. But really, who feels sorry for him?
--McJangles 12:19 AM
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I'm in tears. I'm in love. This is the kind of thing that could inspire me to write poetry. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful in all your life?

Recommended: walk, smart and light.

--McJangles 2:29 AM
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Some things:
--Quinn has updated her blog. She was on instant messenger the other day, so if she didn't talk to you, you should know that she didn't talk to me, either. Don't feel too bad.
--I'm finally taking some vacation time. I'm going to D.C. and doing some things. It should be good times.
--Night cops is still the worst beat ever.

Why do I turn on the television? I mean well, but it never ends well.

Lou Dobbs was on at the beginning, and he's OK. Soon I changed and found Dennis Miller. He's smart enough, I think, which makes it that much worse when all his rhetoric is just that. I'm sure this guy has some worthwhile analysis, but instead he's still defending Republicans for charges of Puritanism in the era of the Clinton impeachment. You lost. Get over it.

This is all in less than half an hour, and I only had to click through a few stations to get to CSPAN. If there ever was proof of a good and loving god, the presence of CSPAN on cable is it. To make things better, Dennis Kucinich was on. So I spend a couple hours watching the House Committee on Government Reform's National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations Subcommittee asking people why so much crap is classified when it shouldn't be. The undersecretary of defense said that 50 percent of the things DoD classifies shouldn't be. I love the Kooch.

But the hearing ends, and I start wandering. Pretty soon, I'm watching the selection segment of a gay version of The Bachelor on Bravo. Then I'm watching the losers on some of the really bad, syndicated dating shows, e.g. Fifth Wheel, Blind Date, etc. Then I'm watching Pimp My Ride, and now it's Howard Stern.

Can you see the awful downward progression? It's shameful. The strangest part is that I'm just as glued to watching this skanky stripper whose dream of a lifetime was to go to New York and touch Howard Stern as I was to CSPAN. I think we call people like me "middlebrow." Shameful.

There was one more thing, wasn't there? Forget it.

--McJangles 2:40 AM
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The lack of regular, serious discussion has me seriously distraught. Quinn is incommunicado. Martin actually got drunk and passed out on my couch. I was having fun debating with Steve, but he won't respond to my replies anymore. I tried to have a discussion on why refusing to vote Republican because of George W. Bush is illogical, but my editors insisted that I return to writing about the Suburban Ski Club's upcoming meeting for cocktails and a fancy dinner.

When I come across a debate about the dangers of pornography, it bothers me that I can't say anything because I don't even know whose journal this is.

And then I found "Fear Itself," by Gene Weingarten. His column for the Washington Post is called "Below the Beltway" and has several different formats: consistently hilarious commentaries, hit-or-miss transcriptions of prank calls, Stephen Colbert-style interviews and dialogues on gender topics with Gina Barreca.

While his ability to use excretory humor ironically is admirable, it makes it hard to believe that he actually wrote "Fear Itself." The piece is rather long, so you probably won't read it, but it's a discussion of how we're reacting to our first terrorist attack in 10 years, compared with how people in Spain have coped with theirs and with how people in Jerusalem are coping with terrorism as a simple fact of daily life.

It gets to a lot of what I've been wanting to turn into a post on here for some time, but -- as you may have noticed -- have not quite gotten around to yet. And I am again frustrated because the story has made my points, though it doesn't come out and make any points, and because I can't have a discussion about it and come up with new, interesting things to say.

As it turns out, I'm whining. That makes this the end of the post.

In other news, the Cambodia Daily needs a copy editor, and I'm trying to make that happen.
--McJangles 2:59 AM
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The ACLU is a beautiful thing, although they can be a little out of control sometimes. But here are some wonderful things they've brought us:

• Phill Kline, the attorney general of Kansas has ordered that 1,600 CDs not be delivered to libraries in the state. In justifying the decision, the AG's office said they banned "the albums that did not mesh with the values of a majority of Kansans," and also explained that they didn't necessarily listen to the lyrics, as well as calling their method "very unscientific." Kline also tried to force doctors to report to law enforcement patients who had sex before turning 16.
• Sarah Bardwell, of Denver, who was interrogated by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force who suspected she may have been planning to participate in criminal activity at the Democratic or Republican conventions. Why? Because she was a member of the American Friends Service Committee, a well-known terrorist organization. Oh, no, I mean Quaker organization. Like the oats. You can see where they'd get AFSC and al Qaida confused. They both begin with A and they both wear funny hats.
• The Spy Files, documents obtained in their case last year against Denver PD for using undercover cops to infiltrate peace organizations that were clearly terrorist threats. They won a pretty good settlement in that case, though the above item suggests that Denver isn't really holding up its end of the agreement.

So yes. I'm liking the ACLU more and more, and I'm really liking the government less and less. If Bush wins, I would like to be contacted by any organizations plotting some sort of revolution. Viva Zapata!

--McJangles 12:29 AM
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Answer me!

--McJangles 1:40 AM
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So Michael's been gone for a week or so and everyone wants to know either how I'm coping or when I plan to move out of my parents' house. Some thoughts:

I made some iced tea in a two-quart container on Sunday and stuck it in the refrigerator. In the split second between when I began to open the door tonight to get it and the time the light inside went on, I became very distraught because I knew that Michael had already drank all of it and politely declined to make some more. But the light turned on and there was my drink. The radio in the bathrooom has never been set to 99.5 when I've gone in. The toilet has never been glog-frog-schmog-clogged when I've come home. That's how I'm coping.

I think I'm supposed to say something nice, though. Can I just acknowledge that I know that and say that while I'm thinking of something nice, I have to maintain a certain bravado on my blog? I think so. On the downside, Dad isn't nearly as fun to harass, though he definitely is fun to harass.

When am I moving out? How about when I'm making more than $20,000 a year. Sounds good. The other options, as far as I can tell, are when you turn 18, immediately upon graduating college, getting married, or when you get in a fist fight with your father. I've already missed the first one, and none of the others seem especially likely to occur in the near future.

And that's the end of the post. With love, from me to you.

--McJangles 3:22 AM
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Unfortunately, due to Marty's inability to change a tire, I was unable to go to the Jehovah's Witness bachelor party. My regrets. At least I got to see a goat.

--McJangles 12:39 AM
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If you believe Rick James died of natural causes, please step forward and be punched in the face.

By the time your read this, I'll probably be on my way to a Jehovah's Witness bachelor party. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm imagining ginger ale and Crazy Eights.

Work work work, sleep sleep sleep, dentist dentist dentist. You've now been updated on my life.

By the way, I didn't get fired on Thursday. That was close.

--McJangles 12:47 AM
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After two days, I've conquered Peasant's Quest with all 150 points. Go play.

I would like to extend congratulations to the Department of Homeland Security for doing something right for once. Despite any questions about the age of the information or the timing of the announcement, Tom Ridge has--if only after three years--realized that the terror alert does not necessarily need to go up for Kansas City, Kansas, just because it's going up in New York City.

I wanted to write an opinion piece about this absurdity in college, but like so many other things.... Oh well.

But really, why did it take so long to realize that you could raise the (meaningless) alert level in one place without doing it elsewhere? Is Ridge not aware that al-Qaeda won't hit the capital of Alaska, if for no other reason than because the rest of the country wouldn't even notice or care? Are cattle ranchers in Wyoming actually scared when the alert level rises? I know I'm not, though that may simply be because I think those guys are all a bunch of shills.

Until next time, don't ever forget that I think you're beautiful, if not all that smart.

--McJangles 12:08 AM
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