Monday, February 2, 2009

Iced Over

I thought about writing on one of several different topics this morning, like the incredibly sexist new commercials aired during the Super Bowl last night. There was a Doritos one in which this young man bit into a Dorito, and it ripped all of the clothes off of a woman on the street. Nice. Or for a new website that allows one to do whatever one wants, so this group of guys are having Danica Patrick taking numerous showers throughout the day. Ah, yes - the ads these days look like the ads from decades past, objectifying women as sexual objects. Great.

Then, I thought about writing on Michael Steele, the new RNC chair, and former Lt. Gov. of MD who had his credit record exposed by Schumer staffer a few years back. Turns out Mr. Steele wants the RNC to move forward, and to be open to all people. Interesting idea there, Mr. Steele.

Or maybe how Obama now wants an "assessment" on the whole "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" thing before, you know, anything changes. Why doesn't he just ask one of the 24 countries that DO allow gay people to serve openly in their military how they manage to accomplish this? I mean, heckfire, it's not rocket science or anything. Clearly, other countries are managing just fine. But, no, we taxpayers will pay for some study that will take ages to complete to tell us what we already know. Meanwhile, our military will continue to throw out service members who are fluent in Arabic because - gasp - they happen to be LGBT. Because that makes so much sense. As much as doing another freakin' study on it. Okey dokey.

But then I got this email from one of my oldest and dearest friends, who lives down near the Kentucky border:
It's good to be back at work, in the light, in the warm, in the grid.

I still have no electricity at my house. We have a generator which we use to run the frig, an electric heater, one light, and we alternate the remaining plug between various items. We have mainly used a Coleman stove and the grill for cooking. It is getting old. They say most houses in my electric co-op will be back on in 2-4 days. We're lucky to have (cold) water, some don't. The disastrous event occurred on Tuesday. (Local) businesses were finally open again over the weekend. Last week we had to drive 45 miles north just to buy gas for our generator. Things like camping stoves, little cans of propane, etc. were sold out throughout the area. There is not a treetop left in (the) county. We lost the top out of the beautiful pine beside of our house (and all the rest of our trees too). It's our little Katrina and things will never be the same.

My friend and her husband have been without power for days now. They are some of the hundreds of thousands of people who have been affected by this incredible ice-storm that swept through the Mid-West last week. The Kentucky governor, Steve Beshear, called out the ENTIRE Army National Guard to deal with the fallout from this storm.

And this is just a glimpse of with what the people in the Mid-West are dealing:







Their own Katrina indeed. One of my fellow writers at No Quarter will be dealing with some of the major political issues regarding this incredible storm, but for today, I wanted to highlight the personal side of the political situation. People are without water, and heat. People have been trapped in their homes. People have to drive miles and miles to get fuel. People continue to be without power a week after the storm. Tragically, people have lost their lives in this horrific storm.

Let us bear these thousands and thousands of people up in our hearts, in our thoughts, and in our prayers. And maybe, just maybe, treat each other with a little more kindness. Please.

6 comments:

Cindy said...

Rev. Amy,
Wonderful, thoughtful post about your friends, and all of the good people in that devastating ice storm aftermath up there. We'll be thinking of them all.
As far as the Superbowl sexist ads.......Where will it end? How many women will be beaten and die before this madness stops? Hubby and I chose to avoid it all, so we went to see "MILK" instead.
God, what a great man, and wonderful movie.

Mary Ellen said...

It's so sad to see the damage that ice storm did (not that Obama gives a shit). My sister-in-law lives in Kentucky, in a very rural area with tiny dirt roads to get to her farmhouse. She said they were still without their electricity.

Regarding Steele....while riding home after dropping my son back at his campus today, I heard one of the Air America hosts (can't remember now which one) who called Steele a "token". Nothing racist about that, eh? Now, if anyone ever said that about Obama, there would be hell to pay.

I didn't think Obama would come through on the DADT deal. He did just enough to get his Kool Aide drinkers off his back and they are so drunk with Obama's bs, they haven't realized he decided to "wait" on it. Another slap in the face to the LGBT community.

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

Hey, Cindy -

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

And yeah - these ads, blech. There's also a tire ad out with a Mr. and Mrs. Potato head that is also pretty sexist. I swear, I feel like we have gone back so far in women's rights...

GOOD choice going to see MILK. I am looking forward to seeing it. He did so much for the GLBT community, and I am glad his life is being honored.

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

Hey, ME!

I know - I don't think Obama has mentioned anything abt it YET. As I understand it, they are also getting ready to have some high winds in that area.

Oh, I do hope your sister-in-law is okay, and that she gets her power restored quickly. I understand my sister-in-law's family in KY is still waiting to get their power back, too.

Still can't believe how little has been said abt this, especially with the gov. having to call out the ENTIRE Army National Guard!

Sigh.

Thanks for your good comment.

Logistics Monster said...

Rev - OT but I saw your comment. Did you see the sidebar comment box about "A Very Warm Welcome"? I am letting everyone know who is stopping by because I think we all need to know who is reading our stuff.

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

Holy crapoli, LM - that is quite a distinguished list. Ahem. You sure must be doing something right to have all of those organizations come by your site! NASA?? Halliburton?? Wowie zowie.

And good for you to put it out in the open, too. Smart thinking!!

This is kinda nuts, isn't it? What do you make of it?