And now it's up to the voters...

... and looking around Thornblade precinct, where I voted, that is a damned scary thought.

I was undoubtedly the poorest person there. Despite the fact that my apartment complex is part of the precinct and is mostly composed of minorities, there were ONLY whites at the polling place during the half-hour or so I was there. Hm, interesting.

Update: During FALL FOR GREENVILLE, I decided I would park at St Mary's. And to avoid getting towed, I hung an old brown rosary from my rear-view mirror. And miraculously, all the vicious road-rage incidents directed at my lefty bumpers stickers, magically STOPPED. TOTALLY. NOT A SINGLE ONE SINCE. South Carolina boy said it was a great idea, when I showed him. And he also agreed: my eye-catching jumble of bumper stickers was risky business in these parts... and I admit, I let the whole thing get out of hand: Another Mama for Obama (which I refuse to scrub off, even when I am mad at him); Vegetarianism is good for the planet; Peace now; Spay or neuter your cat; Grateful Dead; WNCW; etc etc. Some pretty radical stuff for DeMint country!

But the rosary trumps it ALL. The rosary is a TALISMAN to ward off right-wing thugs. Once again, the Blessed Mother protects me. As she always has!

Good Lord, why didn't I think of this before?!? -- clearly, I wasn't thinking.

Today at the polling place, though, the rosary almost didn't save me... my little bumper-sticker-festooned-Saturn was hemmed in by two different Mercedes--one black, one gray--with the black one bearing a giant, triumphant DeMint sticker. (Just perfect, I thought.) It took me some fancy maneuvering to inch my way out of my parking spot on Thornblade Boulevard, but I managed not to scrape their precious pricey vehicles. Yeesh.

First, I took the opportunity to do some last-minute windshield-leafletting for Tom Clements. (Yes, I was at least 100 feet from the parking lot; I know the rules!) One affluent, designer-clothes-clad woman pointedly declined my leaflet and snapped "Our minds are made up!" (speaking for her companion) and I have no doubts about that at all.

I got inside, where my conservative chiropractor friend was standing in line to vote. Being a friend, he is tolerant and good-natured, and joked that our votes would cancel each other's out. (The rest of the room, intolerant and NOT good-natured, glowered at me.) He also joked we should take our pictures voting and holding hands and post it on Facebook, to show democratic-system-goodwill and all that patriotic voter-stuff. (More glowering in my general direction; I could tell the rest of the room didn't believe in that shit AT ALL.)

And the Haley/DeMint stickers and signs, blinded me all the way back home.

Pertinent quote of the day:

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.

HL Mencken

Stay tuned, sports fans. I'll try to be back by tonight and I will try not to sob TOO hard...

Lt Gov Andre Bauer accused of being closeted gay

Photo of our esteemed Lieutenant Governor is from 67 Degrees.


Wow, I thought it would be, you know, SOME OTHER SOUTH CAROLINA POLITICIAN ((whistles dixie, looks heavenward))) accused first.

Andre Bauer?

Well, damn.

After I got some emails about this story and I learn that HuffPo is going with it, I have decided to report what THEY are saying. I see Bauer every day, or close to it, since he moved to Thornblade... and I don't want him charging at me like some mad raging bull!

Practices whiny refrain: "I don't make the news, I just cover it!"

So, I am officially agnostic on the rumors. I will note that Andre Bauer has never been married, which is unusual for a South Carolina politician ((except for... commences whistling dixie again))... And consequently, there has been near-constant speculation that he is a "player" (womanizer) as well as gay. I have personally observed him with his girlfriend, nuzzling her, being all cozy, kissy and friendly. Which I suppose could be a fake-out, or not.

Anyway, here is what they are reporting. From BlogActive:

...I am now able to confirm a rumor that has circulated in South Carolina for years. South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer is a closeted anti-gay politician who stands to replace Mark Sanford should Sanford resign or be impeached (a real possibility as Sanford is caught in his own sex scandal.)

So, what is the deal with Bauer? I have confirmed and spoken to four individuals who I have no doubt are telling me the truth. These men have been hit on by Bauer, with one of them telling me it happened at least five times since Bauer's election in 2003. To a varying degree I have met with and believe the sources. [...]

[Another] call came in and I met with the source while he was visiting DC recently. "He's gay," the source told me.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because I've had sex with him on two separate occasions."

That too, was not enough for me to report on without confirmation from others. I was led on a path to chatting with acquaintances of the source and two former employees of Bauer who served on his staff between 2004 and 2007. They reported to me that on a total of three occasions Bauer spent hours alone with men in hotel rooms. Each of them explained that the visits were with younger men who were not on the staff of the Lt. Governor nor had any official reason to be with him. The two men each confirmed that they had not known each other and each described similar circumstances under which these interactions occurred. One of them confirmed that he was told by the Lt. Governor's visitor he had a sexual encounter with Bauer.

The combination of the reports and the first hand experiences were what I need to maintain my 100% record of being right in my reporting on this site.

This case is particularly interesting because the governor Bauer serves has a little sex issue himself. It was Mark Sanford (a former resident of the now famous C-Street House) who decided it was appropriate to use the state's resources to fly to South America to rendezvous with his "soul mate." As you can imagine, this did not go over too well with Sanford's wife, who moved out of the governor's mansion. (I give her credit, she was not one of the fools who stood by on TV as her husband confessed his sins (see: Craig, Suzanne and McGreevy, Dina).

His record? The bachelor is a right wing Christian conservative. He's done everything from defend the state issuing "I believe" license plates (complete with a cross on them) to defending the right of schools to use corporal punishment. In the presidential election he supported Mike Huckabee.

There have been many rumors over the years about the Lt. Governor [...]

Let there now be no doubt.

Well, I do have doubts.

However, in the interests of free speech, tarring and feathering the far right, and other cherished beliefs, let the games begin.

And props to Robert at Blue Heron Blast, for being on the case!

Your redneck-hippie guide to the PGA Tour!

Welcome to the tournament! These trailers are all over the place. Only Budweiser is more ubiquitous.

~*~

Yes, we provide only the very best guides to American culture here at DEAD AIR!

My apartment complex is about 20 feet from Thornblade, one of the premier golf courses in the south. As stated in this space last year, it is time for the annual invasion of the golfers. Of course, I speak of the BMW Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament. It's some major hoopla, and people flock here from all 50 states and abroad. The celebrities in this year's tournament include Terry O'Quinn, Dennis Quaid and Greg Kinnear.

Since the Golf Channel is parked at one of my apartment complex exit-gates, I was able to stroll right through, unnoticed and undisturbed... until one over-eager security guy sternly reminded me not to walk on the green. (Dude, I wouldn't dream of it.) The golf clubs, cars (BMW provides all the shiny new "courtesy vehicles" for the event) and assorted sports accoutrements simply reek with money... in fact, the whole place radiates cash, even more than it usually does. Ordinarily, someone like me could not afford to be anywhere near the premises, except as a caddy. But Mr Daisy and I walk through this neighborhood all the time, and know the intricate twisty-turns far better than the yearly visitors. (Not to mention the fact that their golf balls hit my spare-room window every day during golf season.)

Unfortunately, I don't know from golf, so I can't explain any of these photos on a sportsman's level. But I can certainly explain them on a redneck-hippie level!

~*~

The people lined up on Thornblade Boulevard to watch this shot, were whispering intently and staying very still. I figured this meant something important was happening, so I took a photo of it.

You can't see the golf ball, but it's real close!


~*~





Practice range at Thornblade... our apartment complex is right beyond the line of trees, mere feet away. We live at the very edge. The trees are very nice, and we can usually pretend it's a park when the golfing population is low. ;)





~*~


















An unsuspecting geese family flees, confused and wondering what all these mega-rich people are doing in their habitat.

I know exactly how they feel.






~*~

And more photos below...

The famous golfers have departed, for now...

Left: Thornblade golf course, suburban Greenville SC. (this view is only about a quarter-mile from where I live)

~*~




Golfer: Listen, what am I paying my fucking dues for? This is my golf course! If I wanna play here, I will play here. If he gets hit with my titleist, that's his fucking problem. Fore! Fore! [Hits ball]

Michael Douglas: [the ball barely misses his head; whips out shotgun] Five!

What the hell are you trying to do? Kill me with a golf ball? It's not enough you have all these beautiful acres fenced in for your little game, but you gotta kill me with a golf ball? You should have children playing here, you should have families having picnics, you should have a goddamn petting zoo! But instead you've got these stupid electric carts for you old men with nothing better to do! [Fires his shotgun at a golf cart, causing it to roll down the hill]

Michael Douglas: Now aren't you ashamed of yourself?

--from the movie FALLING DOWN (1993)

~*~

I live, quite literally, about 15-20 feet from a golf course. The horrors never end.

I can usually carry on a delightful delusion that I live next to a beautifully-landscaped park, where families are having picnics and there is a goddamn petting zoo (see quote above), but alas, it's not and there isn't. This past weekend, the point was brought forcefully home, since the BMW Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament was going on, quite literally, right outside my bedroom window.

And so, I had drunk people in golf carts whizzing by all weekend, manically searching for celebs like Joe Pesci, Kurt Russell, Luke Wilson, Dennis Quaid, Cheech Marin and Wayne Gretzky. No parking for miles, the scent of hundreds of gallons of spilled beer, and large Hollywood-sized trailers everywhere, with various snazzy and colorful brand names emblazoned thereon. Also, lots of sports networks broadcasting on every corner, with those mobile TV-eyes poking up in the air--We're on the air, live!

One barely resists the urge to shove the talking head out of the way and STRIP, yelling: HEY YALL, WELCOME TO GREENVILLE! [moons camera]

Maybe when I was younger.

~*~

Speaking of which--my last post, written in a fit of pique, has been linked on the UK feminist blog titled The F-Word (not to be confused with Sara Anderson's F-Words, from Idaho). THANK YOU, DEAR SISTERS!

I finally enabled backlinks on my blog, but as you can see, it only picks up maybe half of all trackbacks, which is disturbing. (On my end, I have finally started leaving my own html-made trackbacks.) Harumph--Blogger needs to get with the program! Now that I have a clue, might have gone with Wordpress instead and I understand now why so many people switch over.

Hope your Wednesday is good. I tried to make that purty golf-course photo a "Wordless Wednesday" post, but as you've all undoubtedly figured out by now, wordlessness does not come easy to me.

~*~



----------------
Listening to: Grateful Dead - King Solomon's Marbles
via FoxyTunes

Corporate take-overs of everyday life

From LuckyMom at the wonderful PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY CHRONICLES, comes this post:

A new study has revealed that children surveyed at a Head Start center in California prefered the taste of food wrapped in the McDonalds logo over the exact same food unwrapped. Some of the foods were common-place snacks like carrots and milk.

Researchers are balking at the overly successful effects of McDonalds strategic marketing toward children. Psychologists are lining-up against MickyDs while others choose to blame the parents.

I am always in the market for another reason to hate McDonalds. But seriously, this is alarming. LuckyMom wonders if all children would have this positive reaction to fast-food wrappings, or is it more likely among poor children and/or children who watch a lot of television. What do you think?

Meanwhile, the evil WalMart is coming to my neighborhood. Like, two buildings away. I'm sick over it.

I had been overly-confident that (see article) the rich people in Thornblade, the hyper-affluent golf-course neighborhood adjacent to my apartment complex, would be able to keep out WalMart. They COULDN'T. And they spent several million dollars trying. What hope is there for the rest of us?

We are contemplating moving. Then again, will rents decrease? That might not be so bad. But there is a REASON rent will decrease, if you know what I mean. The traffic around here (intersection of Pelham and I-85) is horrendous as it is. What are they trying to DO to us????

--thoroughly disgusted with runaway monopoly capitalism--

Graphic from Eadon.com. Warning, politically incorrect, sometimes sexist cartoons, etc etc.