My mama
Pajama
S. Schama
D. Lama
Obama
                                                                         
These are a few of my favorite things.
                                                                         

2008 did not get off to an auspicious start for me--but I am, nevertheless, very, very fortunate. What follows is an account of how my year began; I hope it is of some value as anecdotal evidence, at least, of what healthcare in this country could be like for everyone.

Gap Between Rich, Poor Growing In California

In the morning
In the evening
Ain't we got fun
Not much money
Oh, but honey
Ain't we got fun...

(AP) SACRAMENTO The income gap between the richest and poorest Californians is growing while the growth in middle-income jobs is slowing, according to a report (PDF file) released Wednesday by the California Budget Project [a nonpartisan organization based in Sacramento].

Perhaps as a result of trauma induced by repeated viewings of Bambi as a small child, I generally try to follow the maxim laid down by Thumper mère: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Still, now and again I find it impossible to resist Alice Roosevelt Longworth's beckoning finger: "If you can't say something nice, come sit by me."

Not quite a nice cup of tea and a sit down, exactly--which, let me state here and now, is something I firmly endorse from time to time--Mrs. Longworth's invitation can be lots of fun when it's done with skill and wit.

So, come sit by me and let's get snarky.

From yesterday's Boston Globe:

In defending the Iraq war, leading Republican presidential contenders are increasingly echoing words and phrases used by President Bush in the run-up to the war that reinforce the misleading impression that Iraq was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Yes, they are still at it.

In what is apparently a morally bankrupt scramble for front-runner status, Republican presidential candidates are embracing with newfound fervor the Bush Administration's Big Lie: the Iraq/Al Quaeda connection. The Globe's Peter Canellos has the story:

Assertions of connections between bin Laden and terrorists in Iraq have heated up over the last month, as Congress has debated the war funding resolution. Romney, McCain, and Giuliani have endorsed - and expanded on - Bush's much-debated contention that Al Qaeda is the main cause of instability in Iraq.

Songs my mother taught me,
In the days long vanished...

My mother taught me many songs. She'd dance around the room, holding me, and sing Waltz Me Around Again, Willie, or an awful, embarrassing little ditty that went something like

Whose baby are you? / Whose baby are you? / I love you truly / Honest I do-ly / Whose baby are you?

And I enjoyed what must be a rare privilege: having Scotch & Soda (which was also one of her nicknames for me) crooned to me as a lullaby. When I was a shy and awkward 13-year-old, she taught me Where Is Love, and coached my audition for the school play, Oliver!.

I got the title role.

Again. In San Francisco. By the same individual (a guy who lives in the next building over from mine) who I mentioned in a comment some weeks ago on the same subject.

It happened again today, just the same way it's happened before, while I was quietly working in the garden behind my building. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted--not by anything loud or visually startling--just the word "faggot!" hissed through the back fence by a "neighbor" to whom I've never spoken, someone I've rarely even seen.

But something else happened here recently, to someone else--which is what I really want to diary about.

Among the many gifts bestowed on our weary world by the city of San Francisco is Beach Blanket Babylon, the longest-running musical revue in history.  For those of you unfamiliar with BBB, it's a manic 90-minute romp  which lovingly lampoons the pop culture zeitgeist.  The show, which is famous for its use of enormous hats and wildly twisted song parodies, uses its skimpy plot--Snow White's quest for love in the modern world--as an excuse to poke some friendly fun at celebrities we all know and love (or love to hate).  Snow's journey leads her to encounters with--among others--Oprah Winfrey, Britney Spears, TomKat (I can't believe I actually used that odious term!), Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ted Haggard, the British Royals, and the Bush Administration.

I would have used an open thread for this but there doesn't seem to be one around at the moment.

This morning on The View, Rosie O'Donnell called for the impeachment of George W. Bush.  The studio audience applauded and cheered resoundingly.  Rosie went on to explain, citing the Iraq war and Bush's refusal to listen to the American people, and saying that even if he weren't impeached, the impeachment process in and of itself would be good for the country and the world, and would show Bush he can't get away with behaving like a monarch.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck looked somewhat discomfited.

---

Move over, Jerry Falwell. Make room, Pat Robertson.

WorldNetDaily (to which I link, reluctantly) has a story up about Israeli rabbis blaming "this war" on teh gays.

"Why does this war break out this week, all of sudden with little warning? Because this is the exact week the Jewish people are trying to decide whether the gay pride parade should take place in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv," Pinchas Winston, a noted author, rabbi and lecturer based in Jerusalem told WND.

Today the Arkansas Supreme Court said "no" to religious bigots, ruling that gays and lesbians have as much right to be foster parents as anyone else.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

The court agreed with a lower court judge that the state's child welfare board had improperly tried to regulate public morality. The ban also violated the separation of powers doctrine, the justices said.

More below.