Memorial Day 2026

 Image:  Pixabay

On this Memorial Day, I'm thinking of the Vietnam War, which I'm old enough to remember.

All these years later, I believe most Americans who fought in that war, those who protested against it, and those who fled to Canada rather than serve all displayed a kind of bravery and introspection.

That fella whose father arranged a diagnosis of bone spurs, on the other hand, displayed exactly the kind of qualities he still evinces:  self-absorption, a fondness for cheating, and the spiritual depth of a Vietnamese rice paddy during the dry season.

Coming to Your Local Gas Pump

 

A Friday Softball

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

It's the end of the week and you're on your final brain cell, so here's an easy question to answer. Which of these queer news items from the last several days am I making up?

1.  Astute, trailblazing, imperfect former Congressman Barney Frank died at 86.

2.  Tennis legend Billie Jean King graduated with the college degree she began in 1961.

3.  The Colorado Supreme Court ordered Children's Hospital Colorado to resume gender-affirming medical care for minors.

4.  Liberace's ghost testified before Congress on the need for every American to have their own ballroom.

24/7 Reality

Image by BedexpStock from Pixabay

Last night I was driving home around 10 and brooding over the fact that I'd just watched my Seattle Storm, in a game at Climate Pledge Arena, pull defeat from the jaws of victory.

Suddenly I saw multiple flashing lights ahead on the other side of the road. I drove by carefully, as there was nobody directing traffic. Only a mile later did it dawn on me that I'd probably just driven past an ICE raid on a home.

The pieces fell into place:  the one helmeted "cop" I saw didn't look worried, and if this had been a crime scene, I wouldn't have been allowed to get so close.

I realized I was distressingly slow on the uptake because I don't have to live in terror over ICE coming to kidnap me. That display of American ugliness isn't part of my daily or nightly reality. Other displays are, but not the ICE follies.

Unless Trump and his parasites decide to start deporting everyone born in New Jersey.

This Week's Quote

Image by Christian Dorn from Pixabay

I think he is a more mature, more disciplined version of himself than he was in his first term.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos praising Donald Trump

Source:  The Hill

Donald the Don

 

The Uncomfy Truth

Image by Justin Vogt from Pixabay

Yesterday was "National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day," and the organization that supports queer seniors here in Seattle hosted a "Silver in the Rainbow Dance Party."

I attended, accepting the reality that at 62 I belonged there. Though all evening I kept saying, "I can't believe I'm at an event co-sponsored by AARP."