So there Phillipe and Jorge were on Saturday, standing in line outside the Borders in Providence Place, about eight people down from a guy who looked very much like Bishop Tobin. (Tough to tell with an overcoat shrouding the usual red carpet get-up.) We were of course waiting for the book signing by star figure skater Johnny Weir to begin, surrounded by scores of hyper young girls and their equally excited mothers.
Since Johnny Boy has recently asserted his superior behavior in overt fashion and has been known to appear in stiletto heels and dresses, both on-ice and off, P+J took away an uplifting message. If a new generation of young women have little or no problem with Weir's homosexuality, and their adult, quite straight, mainstream, and obviously voting-age mothers have little problem with it, one might conclude that right now there would be little or no backlash if the General Assembly legislates to legitimize gay marriage in Little Rhody during this session.
As always, the squeaky wheels inside and outside Halitosis Hall get the most Astrolube and seem to make it a viable debate. But the bulk of Vo Dilunduhs don't really give a rat's ass if Bobby marries Tommy or Sue marries Anne, as long as they keep it together. So let's cut to the chase, supposed grown-ups in the House and Senate: let love bloom and get on with the enormous task of trying to dig ourselves out of a financial situation that is affecting everyone in the state.
YOU CAN'T SPELL "DON'T" WITHOUT A "T" PARTY
You've heard the critique: the Tea Party is composed of whining, aging white folk who in fact cotton up to the policies of the very elites they claim they despise. They live off Medicare, while attacking health care reform as socialized medicine. They claim they are "taking back" a country that never went away. Pshaw! It's all a myth perpetuated by the left-wing media! The Tea Partyers are the backbone of the country — the can-do, patriotic types who always see the upside for the old U.S. of A.!
Oops, perhaps P+J spoke a bit too soon. When we got a shuftie at the RI Tea Party's agenda, we had a little trouble ferreting out the upbeat plan for Rhody's resurrection. To wit: of the Little Rhody Tea Baggers' top seven legislative agenda items for 2011, two begin with the word "prevent," three with the word "repeal," and one with "oppose." The odd man out (among the party's legion of odd men and women out . . . of the house without adult supervision, it appears) is the item which simply calls for those big, threatening lawmakers to "amend" a bill dealing with the Rhode Island Public School Employees Uniform Benefit Act. How cheery! We just hope that pursuit of this insightful Whack-a-Mole-while-on-crystal meth platform doesn't cut into time well spent drawing Hitler moustaches on Obama posters.
