6.29.2005

excellent news in the north

Congratulations, Canada! You've become only the third nation on the planet to legalize same-sex marriage. One gigantic WHOO-HOO for you.

ALPF noticed the strange coincidence of the vote in Ottawa and the speech at Ft. Bragg:
Last night at the exact same time "W" was "BS"ing his way through another speech live on TV our MP's were passing historic legislation. It was very funny to flip back and forth from one to the other!
That about sums up the difference between the two countries for me. No more flipping channels, I'm tuning in permanently.

And with that, the countdown begins: 62 days to go.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I watched ten minutes, found I was cursing too much at the TV, and switched to the ball game. What I've gathered so far is I didn't miss anything we haven't heard before. A few "freedoms" and a bunch of "terrorists" and a whole lot of "democracy" ... and other Bush Buzzwords repeated 22 times that have also lost all meaning.

Sigh ... at least the Jays won in extra innings. And same-sex marriages are now legal. At least there was good news to cheer for.

laura k said...

I have a policy of never watching or listening to him - ever. I did the same with his father. If I'm watching something else and or flipping channels and he appears, I hit MUTE as fast as possible.

I need to cut down the nauseau and revulsion in my life. Plus it's part of not recognizing him as a legitimate authority.

And besides, as you said, it's baseball season!

zydeco fish said...

Mute only does so much - you still have to see his face, which I find to be kind of mesmerizing, in the way a train wreck or car crash might be. There are times when I am convinced he is descended from Muppets - but only in the way he looks. The average muppet has a far greater IQ, I believe.

barefoot hiker said...

Rob must be having some mixed feelings today. I gather he's not opposed to the measure, but it's his guys who just took the pie in the face, Harper's working hard to solidify his rep a nitwit, and Rob's surrounded by Albertans who must be lighting the torches as we speak. :)

barefoot hiker said...

you still have to see his face... There are times when I am convinced he is descended from Muppets...

I hate to say this, but he bears almost no noticable resemblance to GHW Bush. George I was a tall, sharp-featured, rugged looking guy; aptly patrician. George II is a short, squat, doughy-faced guy who looks like less like he should be weighing the fate of empire and more like he'd be mucking the villa's latrines while thinking about sandwiches.

barefoot hiker said...

Hey, wow, everybody; looks like the Tinfoil Hat Militia is alive and well and drilling in western Canada... :)

http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2005/06/not_getting_ove.html

laura k said...

Mute only does so much - you still have to see his face

Well, I only use mute for short appearances on news clips. Speeches don't make it in at all.

Rob must be having some mixed feelings today. I gather he's not opposed to the measure

In Rob's absence, I'll say he definitely supports same-sex marriage. The rest we'll leave to him, post-vacation.

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

Once people see the sky isn't falling, then the debate will fall to a dull murmur, just like abortion.

Of the people who are against (and who are pro), I would guess only a small percentage would switch their vote because of this one issue. Of the people I know who are opposed to it, nobody would actually switch their votes to the conservative party because of this one issue.

I mean, considering in 1999 the government voted 216 to 55 in defining traditonal marriage in law, and here we are a mere 6 years later and they voted 158-133 to redefine marriage to support same-sex couples shows how fast attitudes are changing.

barefoot hiker said...

Kyle's right; I think it's one of those watershed moments in history. People are ambivalent about something for a long time... voting rights for women, civil rights for non-Europeans, etc. And then comes the confrontation, and the ideas and ramifications really get discussed. And when people come to understand that fairness can be achieved and that the world they know won't be plunged into chaos, most of them accept it, and even quietly embrace it. It becomes a facet of being Canada (or American, or Japanese, or what-have-you). For Canada, this is one of those moments. And though it seems startling now, I honestly believe in a generation it will be as accepted as interracial marriage is today.

laura k said...

I very much agree with you both. I didn't know there about that 1999 vote - the rapidity of change speaks volumes.

I also believe, despite the present situation, that full gay rights will be achieved in the US, too. It will take a prolonged battle, just like civil rights for African-Americans did, but it will happen. It's the only thing I'm optimistic about regarding the US.

Anonymous said...

I think he looks more along the lines of Curious George. And not just because of the name. We've all seen the chimp shots.

(if you haven't, they are here).

The one thing that gets me is Harper's own killing of any shot his party will ever have of getting Quebec seats in the near future. And to win a majority, a party needs to win seats in Quebec!

You'd think he would know this, but instead he chose the low road and made comments about "separatists" (note to SH: calling them the Bloc doesn't piss them off) and explicitly suggests their vote means nothing to Canada because of that.

It's as if SH actually thinks no one forgets how he welcomed them into his fold when he needed help. It's a double standard to attack the Liberals for dealing with the Bloc and then suggesting it didn't count - he might as well suggest also that their votes backing the CPCs in the confidence motions earlier in the month didn't count either.

Makes me wonder what he would have said, had they managed to force an election and the very same suggestions of votes not counting were subsequently made by the Liberals or NDP.

What a dildo.

barefoot hiker said...

I also believe, despite the present situation, that full gay rights will be achieved in the US, too. It will take a prolonged battle, just like civil rights for African-Americans did, but it will happen.

You know, I was thinking the same thing... it's just going to take a while for the States to 'catch up'. Other Americans are apparently thinking likewise. On AmericaBlog.com, I found a thread about the vote, and one American (tagged KnaveRupe) said:

Celebrate, Canada, and keep setting a good example for your retarted southern cousin. Maybe someday it will get through to us.

The "retarded" part made me laugh, and got me thinking, so I came up with this...

Progress and stagnation

Hope you all get a laugh. Strictly tongue-in-cheek, of course. ;)

laura k said...

I have a problem with those chimp pics: I love chimps!

And please apologize to dildos everywhere. Silicon penises across America are cringing at the comparison.

barefoot hiker said...

Silicon penises across America are cringing at the comparison.

I bet even a lot of the real ones are pretty uncomfortable.