Two In One Night

First of all, Keith Olbermann had his last show about five hours ago and I'm really sorry to see him go.  He was not a perfect man and I usually fast-forwarded through most of the 'talking head' parts of Countdown, but I dearly loved his Special Comments and I think that for the most part, he was on the side of decency, even if he didn't always express that decency well.

He's a good man and there's a shortage of those on our airwaves.

I don't watch Rachel Maddow regularly, though I may have to start since she's the closest cousin to his on TV right now.  

Still, I doubt that I'll watch her with quite the regularity that I watched Keith, probably because I think in some ways, she's a better journalist.  Her style is very different, however, and at times she's hard for me to follow.  She doesn't do the 'talking heads' quite as much - rather, her show isn't nearly so easy to fast-forward through for 'highlights,' which means that one cannot be lazy when watching her. 

In any case, no more Keith, :(.

My second ending came with the end of "Medium".  Remember my dilemma about watching it?  It looks like that's been solved by them ending the show.

In the worst way I could ever have imagined.  BLEH.  I know they see it as a 'bittersweet' sort of thing, but wow, that was really made of suck, :(.

So I had two in one night.  Two shows I watched and fast-forwarded through are no longer around.

Granted, Medium hasn't had the same impact on me as Keith Olbermann, but in some ways I had a lot of the same frustration.

Keith Olbermann is a flawed individual and I didn't always agree with him or how he did his show or presented the news, but I found myself watching in spite of myself.

Weird that the same could be said of "Medium", as a show, not an individual.  They could have done a lot better with it and instead made it something that consistently treated the audience like fools.  Not that Keith Olbermann treats his audience like fools, but yeah, there were times when he reached a little too far for a "Worst Person" or called Sarah Palin a whore (I actually wrote an e-mail complaining about that one, because I felt he was being unfair to whores by denigrating their profession in that way) when I definitely felt he could have done better.

So very weird that they ended on the same night. 

ETA: This song started going through my head when I saw the post about Keith on ontd_political and yeah, I know he's not dead and that this song's about Bill Hicks, but it still seems oddly appropriate...

ETA 2:  Sign this petition to stand with Keith Olbermann.

For or Against

Back-Alley Abortions in 2011: How Anti-Choice Zealots Force Women to Go to Dangerous Clinics Like Dr. Kermit Gosnell's

I've spoken about reproductive rights before, but always with the understanding that some people out there are Pro-Life.  I haven't been respectful of that position, but I've at least tried not to judge it too hard.

To be clear, my definition of Pro-Life is NOT someone who is against abortion, but against women having the freedom to CHOOSE an abortion.

( Everyone is against abortion. EVERYONE. )

This is my line in the sand, friends' list.  I don't mind if you believe that life begins at conception (even though I disagree) and work to give women other options.  I'm 100% in favor of women having the freedom to HAVE THE BABY if that's what they wish to do - reproduction should never be a financial concern, even though it always is, :(.  The issue here is about giving women the freedom to be able to choose what's right for them and what they will be able to live with. 

However, if you identify as Pro-Life (rather than Pro-Woman, which is how I identify because Pro-Choice has become synonymous with Pro-Abortion), and are someone who actively demonstrates against abortion, who supports politicians who vote against my right to choose and who believes that every pregnancy should end in a baby regardless of the wishes and/or physical and mental well-being of the woman carrying that baby, please defriend me now, as I don't want to be anywhere near you, even virtually. 

Reproductive rights must be absolute and the rights of the born must outweigh the rights of the unborn, 100% of the time.  Otherwise, women are nothing more than broodmares.

Neigh.

Words Have Meanings: First, Do No Harm

Inspired by more than one comment on the post that this post links to, I'm finally going to weigh in on the whole anti-PC, thought-police, this-word-has-another-meaning-and-no-one-can-own-a-word, I-don't have-to-change-simply-because-you're-offended school of thought.

I'm going to begin by saying that I'm guilty of using pretty much every word that is at issue at one point or another, some as recently as last year, so I'm not saying that I'm not in a glass house here. 

However.

For those who are against changing their language to remove certain words from their vocabularies because another person is offended by it, I ask the following question:

Who does it hurt? 

Seriously, who does it hurt to make the effort not to use words that others have found offensive?  I know that it's an effort to do so, so I guess someone could argue that it's hurting them by virtue of the fact that changing one's vocabulary and deleting certain words is hella difficult...  Well, I have to say that it's more difficult in the offline world, but online?  It's as easy as being careful of what one types.  I realize that for some, who type as quickly as they think, that could be a challenge, but seriously?  Who does it hurt?  Why is it such a big deal to just not be an asshat when someone asks you to do so?

( Cut for possible triggers and an incomplete list of incredibly offensive slurs that everyone should know not to use. Ever.  )

And because I've been educating myself a bunch lately, here are a bunch of links that all say all of this a lot better than I just did.

101 Primer

sparkindarkness' entire journal.

Read all of that and then come back to discuss, if you wish, :).

ETA: Proof that not being an asshat is an ongoing battle: Weak is ableist.  Thank you to 51stcenturyfox  for letting me know, :).

ETA 2: My comment thread on the post that started all of this is here. 

ETA 3: Drama communities are probably not the best place to start, lol, but if it were not for them I never would have found most of this stuff out, which is why I mentioned them.  The best place to start is with the 101 Primer and go from there, :).

This post has now been edited because my essential message was being lost and I was doing more harm than good by defending my position on one phrase.  Most of the comments regarding that phrase have now been screened.  I'm not a PoC, so my feelings on that phrase don't matter whatsoever and continuing to argue about it only detracts from the essential point of what I was trying to say. 

I apologize for the drama.

For the record I am US-born, white, queer though I easily pass for both female and straight, and able-bodied.  I have no personal experience with physical, racial or ethnic discrimination and I apologize for speaking for those groups as if I were personally invested in those particular slurs not being used.

The areas in which I have personal experience and/or a personal investment include: feminism/sexim, sex work, body image/food, sexual freedom, BGLTQP rights/homophobia, bullying, child abuse, the US foster care system, the US health care system, PTSD, anxiety, depression and mental health.