Earlier tonight, I saw Tony Perkins (what a name for a Christian right-winger - too funny!) on Lou Dobbs' program on CNN. As Religious Right-types are prone to do, all Perkins did was cut off his opponent, confuse and cloud issues and topics, and tap dance around direct questions. Perkins' question-dodging would have made James Dobson proud. Come to think about it, he probably did.

After seeing this "masterful performance", I went to the FRC website with the full intention of calling Mr. Perkins an asshole. If the shoe fits, I always say.

When I got to the site, I saw that the FRC (farce?) covered many topics. In fact, too many, even for a Christian Coalition-type of operation. In addition to the usual standards like abortion, same-sex marriage, and stem cell research, they also included: Homosexual agenda (their words, they can't be respectful enough to call them gays & lesbians), Homosexuals in our schools, prayer in schools, the Ten Commandments in public places, the Ten Commandments taught in public schools, television, movies, music, entertainment, media, slanted mainstream news, and so many other things that I didn't know were "problems."

Shows what I know. With things like the needless war in Iraq, the economy, crime, poverty, immigration, racism, sexism, and global warming, among many other issues, I guess, according to the FRC, me, most people, and the media have been totally clueless on what's really important. The FRC will tell you that.

I also saw that they're not real big on receiving feedback, unless you want to make a donation. They make that part easy. Of course. When you finally get to the part where you can send an email, they want to know everything about you: Your first & last name, your mailing address, your phone number, where you were on the night of June 23rd, 1989, and all fields are required in order for your email to go through.

I recently left a conservative Christian denomination. Not for these reasons. It was all a matter of personal choice. I did not get pressure from the church itself to stay. Only from my family. And that's how it should be. With all of the church's faults, they never, ever associated themselves with the Christian Coalition, the Religious Right, the Moral Majority, or any of these religious yahoo groups. And God bless them for that. I may not be with that religion anymore, but keeping the hell out of politics made me very proud of them.

Mixing religion & politics is always a bad idea. For further proof, may I please refer you to the Middle East?

I finally decided against sending Tony Perkins his "asshole" email. I think from his public appearances, that it's quite possible that I'm not the first one to think that about him. Besides, I figure that with all that personal information the FRC wanted from me, I'd be deluged with emails, letters, phone calls, and God knows what else from those people, wanting money, more personal information, and perhaps my first born. I don't want to see these dreadful people get actual political power.

Jerry Falwell recently died. Pat Robertson is pushing 80. James Dobson can't remember what century he's in. Ronald Reagan too, has passed. The First George Bush would be forgotten if not for his nincompoop son. I think the chance for Jeb Bush, supposedly the "intelligent Bush", to be elected President has been forever ruined. I hope so. When the latter-day Bush finally leaves office, I like to think that we'll never see this type of conservativism ever again. With the main people either dead or too old, and with increasingly unpopular and out-of-touch views, we perhaps won't have to hear their nonsense ever again. Then, this country can do what it used to be so good at doing: make progress and move foward.

As for the Family Research Council? Let them be like the Old South: Gone With The Wind.

I've been listening to a lot of Rock n' Roll in recent years. I went so many years without hearing it, and I have a lot of catching up to do. I like it. I like it a lot. This brings me to one question:

Mr. & Mrs. Gore, WHAT WERE YOU TWO GLORIFIED TENNESSEE TRAILER TRASH MORONS THINKING???

It's obvious looking back on 80s history that the Gores were using the music issue and the PMRC for the sole and express purpose of eventually being elected President & First Lady.

So, in order to get elected President, Albert & Tipper started their campaign by attacking their base audience.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Superb strategy.

See what it got them? Even worse, see what it got us?

The Gores showed even more Einstein-like tendencies by attacking movies, television, and the entertainment industry as a whole, then having the gall to go to Hollywood and ask the same people they were bashing for campaign contributions.

Can you say "hypocrites?"

It seems as if anyone was truly deserving to be screwed out of the Presidency, it couldn't have happened to a nicer couple.

And what the hell kind of stupid, dumb-ass name is Tipper, anyway?

Come Saturday Morning,
I'm going away with my friend,
Will Saturday spend
'til the end of the day?.....

A few lines from an absolute beauty of a song, Come Saturday Morning, from the movie The Sterile Cuckoo, which starred Liza Minelli, around 1970 or so. The song was recorded and made a hit by the Sandpipers.

I make reference to Saturday morning because things are now so different than they used to be. I'm still awake from Friday night (never mind). Before, I was cloistered by Sundown Friday. That is the beginning of Sabbath for the 7th Day Adventist faith. Sleep came early. Church activities also start early, and last all day. I've known people in the church over the years who had brutally hard jobs, and waking up early Saturday mornings for church services was a hardship, but they did it. And that alone shot half their weekend to hell. So much for a day of rest.

Nowadays, I'm up late, and often all night, on Friday nights. Instead of spending all day at church, I'll be sleeping in, and getting some much-needed rest. I can't tell you just how good that feels.

Oddly, I feel no resentment towards the church. Many people rely on it for guidance through their daily lives, crutch, maybe, but in all fairness, it does help many people. I was educated in two of their schools, and I feel that the basic education that I got from them was a very good one.

I have at times felt like registering for one class at the nearby Community College so that I can say that I attended at least one public school.

But, I love the feeling of having choices of where I'll be at certain times on certain days. It's a great feeling. Before, I felt like an invisible cloud was hanging over me, with a voice only I could hear saying "Clara, you will be here at such and such a time, no ifs, ands, or buts, or else!" The voice never said what "else" was, though.

Now leading a secular life, I can't appreciate enough what having choices now means.

It's now just about a quarter after 6am, Pacific time. The sun is coming up. I think I'll finally kick the high heels off.

Have a grrrrr-eat day! I plan to.

Why is the electronic media making such a big deal about a damn spelling bee? Do we not have lives?

Is it asking too much for TV networks showing sports to just show us the damn game? It's getting harder and harder to watch a game on TV with all the irrelevant crowd shots and cute angles.

Has anyone else noticed how relatively quiet it's been this past week without Rosie O'Donnell on The View?

Who lies more: politicians or entertainment biz types?

With high divorce rates, shouldn't it be made possible to have marriages be for set lengths of time with renewable options, instead of that "Til death do you part" crap?

Shouldn't it also be possible for someone to be married to more than one spouse if all parties are agreeable?

Don't we have much more important things to sweat over than the totally non-issue same sex marriage thing?

Is anyone else still waiting like I am for Focus on the Family's James Dobson to adequately explain how same sex marriage is a threat to the American way of life?

Isn't the present way of schooling our kids in this country antiquated and so out of date? Doesn't it seem that educators are always so out of touch with modern times?

Just what useful purpose does Ann Coulter serve?

Just wondering.

Since I can't sleep off insomnia, I'll write a little something here.

Recently, I was out on a date. We had a very enjoyable evening. As we left the movie theatre, we could smell something cooking. About half a block down, someone had set up a hot dog stand. The aroma was alluring. We decided we'd indulge, rather than wait in a long line at Denny's. We walked the half-block. Not quite, actually, as there was a line of about a dozen people, mostly other couples, ahead of us. When we finally got to the front, there was this large, wide grill with 20 or more frankfurters sizzling. The smell was now enchanting and irresistible. There were all the condiments one could ask for. The hot dogs were reasonably priced and tasted great. They were very filling and satisfying.

The following week, the same date & I were back on that same block, this time going to a nearby jazz club. We decided we wanted more of those same hot dogs. We walked up the block. No stand. No line of people. The space that was crowded the week before was vacant. So were our stares. No enchanting aroma. No mouth-watering frankfurters. No sizzle. Our mouths were watering, but our hearts were broken. What happened? Where did they go?

We never learned what happened, but I guess it was a one night stand.