Well, would you look at that?

Seems the VA Supreme Court actually upheld the law.

Raise your hand if you didn't think that was actually going to happen. (Because a lot of the VA SC are there because of Democrat Governors. So I figured they'd be like, "It's fine. What chu talkin' bout Willis?")

Of course, the VA Gerrymanderers are yelling about taking it to SCOTUS, because why should laws apply to democrats, after all? And the idiots on Faceplant are whining about "They took away my vote!" Yeah, the vote you shouldn't have had b/c they didn't follow the law to give it to you? That vote? Plus the fans of "Well Republicans do it in other states."

And you know what? They shouldn't be able to. NO ONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GERRYMANDER.

Period.

End of sentence.

Now, I suspect everyone has different visions of what gerrymandering actually is, so it's something states need to figure out what their population feels and make some rules (no, the federal government should not do this. The federal government is too big already. They need to just get over themselves.)

While we're at it, can we go back to Senators being elected by the state legislatures? Please?

Anyway. A small win. Possibly a temporary one. But it was a teensy ray of hope.

Paging Dr. Mandering, Dr. Gerry Mandering.

Whelp. It comes as no surprise to my pessimistic little self that the People's Republic of Northern Virginia managed to browbeat the rest of the state into disenfranchising 90% of the state in the name of "fairness."

Yes, folks, that's right, going from a rough split of 6 - 5 to 10 - 1 is obviously more fair.

I guess I should choose a child and make sure they get 90% of everything and the other only 10% and just remind them that that's what fair means now.

Freaking ridiculous.

My uncle (who was staying with us until this morning) asked if he thought it would be appealed. I'm not sure that's a do-able thing since it's a vote not just a law that got passed. I suppose I could google the idea and see, but really, I don't have any faith that it would succeed if it did since prior D presidents have packed the courts with judges who don't seem to understand being unbiased, merit, or any of those "justice-based" ideas.

Besides, this was all in the name of fairness!

And it's temporary!

Because the government is totally in the habit of grabbing power temporarily and then giving it back. Yeah. That'll happen.

My hope, at this point, though it does me personally no good, is that the disenfranchised counties all along the WVa and KY border will figure out a way to go join WVa (my understanding is that for at least some of them this is a possibility, and maybe WVa would take pity on the rest. Of course, that implies that the White Witch* allows it to happen.) At least then they'd actually have a voice and, bonus, could strengthen the voice of a state that seems to be a tad more sane than whatever the hell Virginia is these days. (Insane doesn't feel strong enough.)

Freaking ridiculous.

*Props to Robbo for the nickname.

Everything is Just a Little Overwhelming

Whelp. As someone who has read through the Bible more than once in her life, I feel like it's currently some very interesting times. Of course, whenever I get too wrapped up in that, I think of my mom telling me (I believe around the time the first Gulf War started and I was a senior in high school) that this happens and will keep happening. She then went on to tell me of the mania about Revelation when Israel was reestablished in the 50s.

It's a good grain of salt.

And I know, ultimately, God's in control whether or not this is the big end or just another series of steps in the gradual slide thereto.

But I can't say there haven't been some prolonged periods of reminding myself of that lately.

It doesn't help that eldest is a senior, and as we creep closer to the end of his school year (he has only 5 weeks left in his final classes) I want to pull him on my lap and pretend he's the three year old who loved to snuggle. (He is neither three (obviously) nor does he like to snuggle any more. In fact, if I can coerce him into allowing me to hug him once a week, I consider it a win.) (I don't coerce. I ask. Sometimes he says yes.) He's headed to what will be prom for him this weekend (a local Christian group that does dances) and just...all the feels. But I am excited about what lies ahead for him. So there's that, too.

Throw in that Dad is now firmly settled here and his old house is empty, buffed and polished, and officially on the market and it's all just a lot of change.

Change is fun? Or something.

But right now, I'm calling that the reason for the dearth of posts. Lots going on. Not a lot of time to ponder and process any of it, let alone blog about it. (Plus, I question if it's interesting to anyone other than me. Which, to be fair, hasn't stopped me in the past. But sometimes I think I should care more about that than I do.)

Oh, hey, look. The pit of despair after all.

Whelp.

There were elections.

People are...sheep? Stupid? Horrifying? Maybe all of that.

How did Virginia elect a man who thinks killing people who believe differently than him is a good idea? How did we elect a white woman running on a platform of killing babies and crying about misogyny while running against an amazing black woman who personifies the American dream in action? 

I am trying to simply rest in the knowledge that God has this all in His hand. None of it is a surprise and, ultimately, He wins.

But still.

I weep for the future. 

Happy Fourth!

 

For all her issues - yesterday, today, and into tomorrow, I'm still awfully glad to be a citizen of the United States of America.

We have freedoms like no other.

We have rights like no other.

We have responsibilities like no other.

My we who live here, remember whence we came and protect the legacy that was started by our Founders.

O Canada

All right.

I don't get the Canada thing.

I could go along with the idea that this was all just to bring them to the table about tariffs or whatever, but then he says he's serious and...why???

I don't want Canada. I don't think they want us. Like any of them.

Are there natural resources? Sure. But maybe just be friends instead?

Because even my "conservative" Canadian friends (of which I have like three, so it's not that I've done an extensive study or anything, but still) are more liberal than conservatives in the US (and I don't mean the whack-a-doo conservatives. Just the normal ones.) Canada seems to me (again, I have not done an in-depth study here) very socialist. And...I don't want a bigger influx of people voting who want that here. Why would anyone?

So yeah. I don't get the Canada thing. And it's really getting embarrassing.

On Rhetoric

I made the mistake of opening up the Book of Faces (because I really did need to check on how my ads are doing - they can't just run in a vacuum) last night. I...really don't get people.

One writer friend was talking about how "he's only been a dictator for three weeks."

Dictator? Really?

I suppose that's because of the executive orders? The same ones that basically every president in history has used? And you can't even say he's used more than anyone else, because he used fewer in his first term than those in recent years and yes, he's done a lot with them at the start, but there's nothing to say that will continue without ebbing (I believe it will. Maybe I hope it will? Point being, I don't think anyone would stand for four years of governing by fiat. Maybe I'm wrong. But I really don't think so.)

The rest were all up in arms about Canada, Mexico, migrants and...basically anything that is disturbing their liberal status quo.

Am I uncomfortable with the way some of this is being approached? A little, yes. But I had a good friend explain it to me this way before the inauguration (and it made a lot of sense - and also so far is playing out to be true). He said, in essence, "He comes from business and Hollywood. He's a negotiator. So he'll come in with something outlandish that he knows he's not going to get. It's an opening move in negotiation to bring people to the table and work them back down to what you intended in the first place. The way he does it? With theater and bluster? That's because of Hollywood. And it serves to get people to underestimate his business sense and miss what he's really doing because they get caught up in the drama."

The first part is what hit home the most. Because I really do hate negotiation. Buying cars, haggling in markets where such is not only accepted but expected, that sort of thing? I hates it. I can do it, but I cringe inside. And I'm not always as willing to say, "Okay. No deal." and walk away as you have to be in those situations if it's going to work out. But my dad is amazing at this. And he will absolutely walk away -- and has been chased into the parking lot by car dealers saying, "No no no, we can do that. And here's this other amazing thing we'll throw in to get you back to the table."

So yeah. I'm kind of viewing this current political season as Dad in a car dealership trying to bring them down to a reasonable number below invoice. It makes it all a lot more palatable.

As for immigration? Well, I'm a fan of legal immigration. I'm a fan of upholding the international requirements for asylum for refugees. I'm a fan of reminding people of allllll the countries where you can't just walk in and decide to live because they'll deport you faster than you can say howdy. Why shouldn't the US be able to do the same? I really sometimes want to suggest to people who get all up in arms about it that they move somewhere they'd like to live without going through proper channels and see how that works out for them.

But I keep my mouth shut. Because the one thing that could actually help with the division in our nation is calm, nuanced conversations. And that's not something most people seem to be capable of these days.

So That Happened

I'll admit I was surprised.

Semi pleasantly? I mean, it's better, IMO, than the other option, but both are honestly despicable.

And of course, over on the plant of faces, the usual obnoxious cheering from one side and the woe is me the sky is falling from the other. 

Normally, I just pay it no mind and go about the little that I actually need to do over there and then skip away, but this time, I actually had to unfollow a friend's business page and snooze her personal profile because it was just...off the chain.

Her theories include:

• Making vaccines illegal
• Taxing all small businesses so much that they have to go out of business so only large corporations can survive
• Not allowing anyone to have healthcare
• Black people being rounded up and put in camps
• References to both The Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale

And I just can't.

I love her and I just don't get why this is her very public response (on her professional pages at that!)

She also went on a rather lengthy screed about how Black women are tired of trusting God and then listed all the bad things from history that impacted Black people so people needed to deal with her commentary.

That was the final bell for me.

She can feel how she feels. Obviously that's her right. And, while maybe not quite so dramatically, it's echoed by some largeish group of people that I am friends with and/or follow - the number of blacked out profile pictures is disturbing.

Am I thrilled? No. But then, I wasn't thrilled with any of my choices. I couldn't even vote for the Libertarian guy, since he was very loudly pro-Gaza and said some rather anti-Semitic things about Israel. I was surprised he got their nomination.

I'm just going to keep praying that some kind of sanity can return to the US. While remembering that Revelation makes it clear that it's going to get much, much worse before Christ returns.

Baking Bread While the World Burns

There may be a connection between sourdough baking and sanity.

Or so it seems to me these days.

While Israel defends herself, as she should, I can't help but notice the silence from my local congress critters. These men are ridiculously liberal, so it shouldn't be a surprise, I guess. And yet it is.

They're so quick to send out an email when there's a way to toot their horn for whatever liberal policy they're pushing. Or when they have a "gimme" way to slam conservatives.

But here, in a situation that is not political (or, at least, should not be political) they sit in silence like the cowards they really are. Because they know they can't come out and support Israel. But they also know if they join the deranged minority that somehow thinks Hamas is anything other than a group of terrorist thugs that it's not going to end well for them in the polls.

It's ridiculous.

And it does hideous things to my blood pressure.

So I bake.

I've been in the habit of 2 loaves of sourdough a week. Generally, they last until the next baking day. Or closely enough that it hasn't been a huge sadness that we're out. But this week, not only have both loaves disappeared with haste, but I've been playing with other sourdough recipes. 

Today it's dinner rolls.

Tomorrow, if the pages of Revelation don't flip in fast forward overnight, perhaps I'll make sourdough waffles.

Conundrums

One of the organizations I support every month does a lot of prolife work. I love that they seem very focused on helping women. They help with housing, medical care, baby items, job placement, skills training, etc. And they continue to help after the babies are born. I love this about them.

As with any charitable organization, they're not shy about tooting their own horn in the guise of sharing what they've been doing in order to drum up more donations. (That sounds cynical, but it is what it is, and I get that it's how charities have to operate.)

But this week, one of their Faceplant posts really, REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. They were all "we were contacted by a government organization to help with a car seat fast because none of the local agencies were willing to help" (italics mine.)

And...one, I know the "local agencies" they were talking about were the pregnancy resource centers. Because Mom ran one. And we would occasionally get calls asking for material help like this. And the first several times if we had what they needed on hand, we'd help. But then the agency would just start sending people to us for handouts and...that was not the mission of the PRC. So we put rules in place for how the material goods had to be earned and every so often we would break said rules. And 99% of the time, we would regret having made that choice. Because a PRC isn't set up (and funded!) to be social services for all comers.

So I commented. (Yeah, mistake number one.) And I just said I was disappointed that they didn't take the time to find a way to phrase it where they weren't aiming a bus at people who were in the same trench as them. Because really, they could have said, "We are uniquely situated to respond to circumstances like this and were glad to be able to help. Here's what we did and how you can help us help them."

There was no need--AT ALL--to mention any of the other "local organizations" and why they did or didn't respond.

Of course I got jumped on. Because it's the Internet. And one of the higher ups in the organization said if they didn't mention it then people would be like "Why didn't local agencies help?" And like, to me? The easy thing to say to that is "We don't know. They asked us. We responded."

Again. Just leave other people out of it and talk about yourself.

But the interaction in the comments left me with SUCH a bad taste in my mouth that I'm seriously rethinking giving them any more money. And that hurts my heart. Because I do agree with their mission. And I do love the work they do. But...there are other organizations that have the same mission and do the same work and maybe they do it in a way that's less neener neener and more "Here's what we're doing and we don't care and wont' comment on anyone else."

Or there are other issues I would love to donate to and organizations deserving of my cash. Because the funds to donate are limited and I just don't see that I need to give to an organization that has no issue -- and is in fact pretty defensive about why it was the only way to go -- with punching down to make themselves look better.

But I don't know if that's me being too judgmental/whatever word fits there better.

I just know right now that organization has left a super bad taste in my mouth.

What IS the definition of "is"?

So I see the CDC, in their never ending quest to make sure we all just do whatever they say because, like Mom, they said so, has decided to change up the definition of "vaccine."

Of course, this is because, as anyone with a brain has noticed, the current "vaccine" in question is not, actually, a vaccine under the traditional (read: Webster) definition. [ed - DOH! I hit up ol Webster to check and the online version has already been brought into compliance with the new regime.] It's gene therapy. It's always been gene therapy. They actually messed up in the beginning and mentioned that aloud, then quickly started talking "vaccine" because gene therapy is scary.

But also, said "vaccine" is really a prophylactic. Or as we call it here in this house, "the covid condom."

Of course, rather than just being up front and saying, "Hey, y'all, this is still (to us) worth doing because it will help prevent you DYING from the covids even though it doesn't stop you from getting or transmitting it. So here. Want a free poke in the arm?" we're instead going to re-write the dictionary so that we can call it a vaccine. Dammit.

Now, however, I am going to be calling my vitamins vaccines as well. Under the new definition ("provides protection against disease") they totally qualify.

Here, child, take your Flintstones vaccines. Chew 'em up. 

Mmm. Daily vaccines.

I weep for the world.

Y'all.

 I literally can't even.

I Miss the Days

 When the legislative branch of government mattered.

Like, I get that every president has used executive orders. But it feels like it's just getting ridiculous now. Trump used fewer than Obama, who was the biggest circumventer of due process. And now it's like no one gives a damn that we are supposed to have checks and balances.

Of course, if Congress actually did their f'n job, maybe that would help. But they're busy with their witch hunts instead of, oh, I don't know, passing laws.

I'm so fed up. And disgusted. And heartbroken. And terrified.

And seriously wondering if there's somewhere that would genuinely be better than the smoldering husk of liberty that'll be left here after four years of this madness.

Writing a letter

 I got an email from my congressman this morning crowing about how he and others had strong armed the GSA into letting Biden begin his transition and how this was what was good for America and basically a big patting of himself on the back coupled with some demonizing of anyone not a Democrat, but mostly taking another chance to sling poop at Trump and anyone who might possibly be associated with an R.

I don't love Trump. I never have. I don't mind stating that for the record.

But by God he's a damn sight better than Hillary would have been. And Biden? He's going to be hell for the 3-6 months they give him before they 25th amendment him and usher in Harris and her shit show.

So I did the little I could do. I wrote him a letter. 

It's a small enough thing. And it probably makes no actual difference, as I'm sure it's read by a staffer who laughs into his sleeve and then deletes it. But it's all I can do.

And I'm going to keep doing it.

I'm going to keep reminding him of these things:

• He wasn't elected to write self-congratulatory letters and pal around with his cronies mocking "the other side"
• No side -- not a single one -- has a mandate right now.
• As such, he and his cronies are going to need to remember that even though he won the election, he's going to need to remember that though he represents me and people like me, his interests are not ours.
• And that he, along with everyone in Congress, needs to sit down and figure out how to work together. Because the US is teetering on the edge of an abyss and all he's done so far is work to push it over faster.

I know he doesn't care. But I'm going to reply to every one his emails going forward. Because I don't know what else to do.

Leaves, Trees, and Madness

 Today we had some tree cleanup done by the tree guy who comes by now and again. We'd had some broken branches that never fell, a dead tree, some branches on a different tree that were on the roof of the garage.

In all, good cleanup that needed to be done. And, bonus, it helped more of the leaves give up the ghost so we can blow them into piles and bag them up. The boys are enjoying doing that this year, which is lovely. I only have to suggest that it's time to do more and off they go. It helps, I imagine, that we're paying them.

I spend entirely too much time clenching my fists and/or shaking them at the sky these days. I just want to remind people that Al Gore got his 38 days, legal challenges, recounts, etc. It seems only right that Trump get his shot as well.

And I might well haul off and slug anyone who next uses the word "mandate" - because no matter who wins this stupidity, there's no mandate on the table. It's time for the government to suck it up and start acting like adults -- on both sides of the aisle -- and learn to work together.

Blergh.

Struggling to be positive

 Tomorrow. Y'all. I don't think I fully understood the idea of existential dread until this year.

I'd like to just skip ahead a bit (Brother Maynard) to maybe, say, January. I figure maybe some of whatever massive kerfuffle gets kicked off when polls close tomorrow might be sort of over by then.

My sister's at the midpoint of her chemo. They'll do another PET scan this week? Maybe next week. Soon. I am struggling to believe that it's actually possible that the scan will show that the cancer is getting battled back. I know it's theoretically possible. I also know that her journey so far has been on the low side of any statistic ranges they give.

Youngest. Reading. Ugh.

I frankly don't know what to do. I mean I have some ideas from a friend who's a reading specialist. So we'll try those. But again. Struggling to believe they're going to do any good.

Eldest is a tween. Nearly a teen. And his attitude is definitely testing his limits. Or my limits. Or maybe everyone's. And I'm struggling to believe it's going to get better. I know, again in theory, it absolutely will. Whether or not we live through it is, I guess, a question.

Anyway. 

I know there's no point in borrowing trouble. I know this. 

I just can't seem to help myself. 

Lunchtime History

 Our usual homeschool schedule involves history at lunchtime. Meaning, while the boys eat, I read our chapter aloud and we talk about it.

This year we're doing part 2 of an American History 2-part book series and I like it well enough as an overview. We'll need to go back and explore some things more closely, but it's still been very interesting and timely.

Today, we hit the 60s and 70s initial overview with a focus on the Presidents of those years and their major achievements / the situation in the world during their term.

And when we got to Carter losing in 1980 it sparked off a long, really interesting discussion about the Electoral College that isn't in the book, but that by golly I'm going to do my part to make sure my kids understand.

It was a fun discussion - and eldest went from "That's stupid, we should just count votes." to actually understand what the would do to cause massive levels of disenfranchisement. And when we stopped, before moving on, he looked at me thoughtfully and said:

Him: "So, if we moved to a popular vote, and all those people in the middle stopped having any ability to influence the elections, then it would sort of be like why the American Colonies got together to revolt against the British, right?"

Me - inwardly bursting with pride: "Why do you say that?"

Him: "Well, it's be taxation without representation, effectively, right?"

Me: "Yes. Yes it would."

Him: "The electoral college sounds dumb at first, but it's really pretty smart."

Yes. Yes it is. 

Some days, I finish school thinking that maybe, at least today, they learned.

High School Thoughts

I don't recall if I ever mentioned that I graduated from the STEM magnet high school locally, a billion years ago when STEM wasn't even an acronym that people used.

Regardless, I loved my time at the nerd school. Roaming the nerd halls. Feeling like I'd found people who, if not my actual peeps, were not going to be annoyed with me because I enjoyed studying. I was nowhere near the brightest there and was a solidly slightly better than average student. (I can't remember my GPA. I know it was good enough that I got into college and my report cards never got me in trouble at home. That was enough.)

Anyway.

As the years have gone by, it's gotten harder and harder to get in to said school. It's become (in my opinion) less about the students wanting to go there and much more about the Tiger Parents making sure that their kid has that check mark for their college apps.

When I attended, it was primarily Asian (specifically and primarily Korean and Vietnamese when I was there but they may have diversified some there, I'm not sure) if you were looking to sort things by ethnic demographics. We had 7-10 Black students. (I'm thinking through the names and I know I didn't know everyone but I had two good friends who were Black and knew some of the rest by virtue of association.)

The other-than-Asian-or-white attendance has been plummeting downward every year. And every year there's a bit of an uproar in the alumni groups. And this year, given the world and the fact that the stats just released admitted that there were ZERO Black students in the upcoming freshman class...well, you can imagine.

There's quite a hue and cry within the Alum Faceplant group for the school to be closed down as an abomination and misuse of public funds.

I think that's a bit of an overreach, myself. Because I do think there are students who benefit greatly from the school who wouldn't necessarily flourish as well at their base schools. But I also do agree that they should be doing more for diversity. Because there are students of EVERY background who would benefit greatly from the school who wouldn't necessarily flourish as well at their base schools. And there are many kids who end up there who would do just fine -- and perhaps flourish even more -- at those base schools.

Anyway, my general feeling on how I'd fix it were I to be in charge is this: If an average incoming class if 500 students, and there are 5 primary categories on their racial/ethnic demographic checklist, then each checkbox gets 100 students. 

They can keep running their entrance exam exactly the same way they've been doing, but the top 100 from any checkbox category get accepted. (If there's a serious concern about academic ability that the test is supposed to measure, then establish a "minimum baseline" and take those kids who score over that. But it needs to be a realistic minimum, not one that's inflated to try and game the system.)

I realize this would create probably an even bigger hue and cry from among the 67% ethnic majority at the school (which is not white) - but if we're aiming for fair? Let's be fair. 

The trouble might arise finding 100 kids of every racial/ethnic checkbox who actually want to go through the hassle of taking the test. In that situation? I guess the left over spots could be done as a lottery for kids in other checkboxes who were over the minimum baseline but below the top 100. But I'd say there needs to be a cutoff so that it's not a situation where, for example, only 10 Black kids apply so now we have space for 90 more of other boxes as a lottery. There needs to be something done to encourage application by a large spread of kids (and I haven't looked at the application stats in depth, so it's possible this issue is moot. I just know many of the Black alums have said they've actively discouraged siblings/friends from applying because of their experiences. That's wrong and I hate that it felt like the best course of action for them. That's not the school I went to.)

But maybe, knowing that every group was guaranteed 100 spots, then the understanding that the kids who get in are the ones who start test prep when they're 9 would start to be less true. Because it's RIDICULOUS to me that anyone would spend close to five years prepping for an entrance test for high school. 

No kid chooses that. That's something parents choose.

And no high school is so amazing that kids should be forced to go there by overly ambitious parents. The kids who were there because their parents made them go when I was there were miserable.

I can't imagine that's changed.

The Government Does Not Want Public School to be About Learning

A former blog friend now Faceplant friend posted this article today.

Basically, it's a plot to try and make the school day even longer as an assist to parents who work full time and want to have free, government provided childcare under the guise of school. Which just means even more time for indoctrinating.

What those poor kids -- especially the younger boys -- need is LESS school. More moving. More flexibility. More time outside.

Study after study after study talks about how we should have less of a focus on academics as early as we do. How we need to let kids (again -- especially boys!) mature at their own pace. Etc. etc. etc.

I'm so grateful we homeschool. Even as frustrating as it is right now as we're trying to navigate the special needs littlest has, I know he's better off with me. Where he gets one on one attention. Where we can take breaks. Where we can scaffold where he needs scaffolding.

I know -- I really do believe -- that the public schools would TRY to give him the help he needs. But how do they do that when he's 1 of 30? How do they do that when he's what they'd label disruptive when he gets spun up? He'd be disciplined and separated rather than helped to calm and refocus. Because TIME.

I get it.

And I get that we're blessed to have options.

But adding to the school day isn't the option. If the government wants to help out working parents, then they need to have better, more affordable (or free) after school programs. Programs that are not school and lets kids be kids.

Of course, I'm also wary and concerned with our state going ahead and turning completely blue in this latest election. Democrats don't have a lot of respect for a parent's right to choose education -- at least not in my experience. So I'm going to be keeping a close eye. Because the last thing MY kids need is to be stuffed in an already overfull classroom and told to be still.

#KnittingWhileConservative

So Ravelry (a website where I tend to go for crochet and knitting patterns -- and seriously, that's the only reason I'm ever over there. Or, well, why I would have been over there in the past because I'll be doing my darndest to shop elsewhere now.) decided that supporting Trump is equal to being a white supremacist and has now banned anything having to do with Trump support from their site.

This is the site where the ridiculous pink cat hats came from. So overtly anti-conservative things are all still well and good.

Frankly, in my mind, a crafting site ought to be politics free - it's crafts, but they wanted discussion forums so whatever. And if someone wants to make a Trump 2020 knitted something or other and share the pattern, well, I'm not really sure how that hurts anyone (just like the pink hats don't. You want to help people knit ridiculous, politically charged cat hats, have at it. I'm just looking for scarves.)

Trump has his faults. No question. I don't particularly care for him as a person (at least based on what I know of him as a person) -- but if the Bill Clinton presidency taught me ANYTHING it was that a president can be a rapist and murderer so long as he's doing his job. (Because please, Lewinsky didn't consent. There was no possible way in the given situation that it was anything other than an abuse of power.) But the mantra then was "a person's personal life has nothing to do with his ability to be president." So okay, fine, a president can be a douche. Got it. I will now expect you to apply that across the board.

I kid, I kid.

Of course a conservative president isn't held to the same standards the left cries for when it's their own in office.

My bad.

And so we see the cycle of "Oh, I only meant that when it applied to liberals" in full force over on Ravelry. And part of me wonders just how long it will be before anyone who doesn't toe the liberal line is lined up against the wall and shot. Because honestly, if a knitting pattern site cares this deeply that they're going to censor? What's next?

Michelle Malkin has a good piece up on the whole shebang.

Anyway, as I did with Target years ago when they decided you just had to feel like a woman to go into the women's restroom, I'll be stopping use of Ravelry. I know my lone act of defiance means exactly nothing in the overall scheme of things - but it's all I can do. (I don't miss Target all that much, and when I hear from friends about the enormous section of gay pride apparel they had out this month, I remember that I really don't miss it all. I mean if people want to be gay, be gay. Just don't force me to have your opinion about it. That's where I get annoyed.)

I'll be over here -- a white conservative, knitting.