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As discussed on Blue Jersey Radio!! Fashion! (0.00 / 0)

Jay_Lass on Twitter.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 09:38:01 AM CST

that's barbara buono btw... (0.00 / 0)

...who is so chic they design the rooms around her suits.

Jay_Lass on Twitter.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 09:38:50 AM CST

[ Parent ]

someone get that woman a cheeseburger (0.00 / 0)

What is the deal with gay men and their affection for anorexic women?  This is government, people, not a modeling agency.

Jay fawns over Buono.  If I remember correctly, Jeff was the one with a thing for Valerie Huttle a while ago.  And Steven can't get enough of Carla Katz.

I'll take natural-looking women who shop at Macy's like Linda Greenstein and Loretta Weinberg anyday than these others who look like they spend more time at the gym than they do with their constituents.

Mind you, this is not to say that Buono, Huttle, et al do not spend enough time with their constituents.  I just don't get the fascination with them and their outfits.

Then again, maybe I am just pissed off that Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ended and they never responded to my application.  Although, I did get to meet the one who gives hair tips while working on the Dean campaign and he gave me some good advice.

Still, I really wanted the free clothes and new furniture.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 13:11:53 PM CST

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Equal Opportunity Offenders (0.00 / 0)

If you think we're bad with women, just wait til the new term begins.
;)

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by: Jeff Gardner @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 13:41:07 PM CST

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for shame (0.00 / 0)

You guys are just so shallow.

Doesn't anybody find Dick Codey to be hunky, or at the very least cuddly?  What about Tom Giblin?

The big question is whether or not you would have given Bill Baroni the time of day before he dropped 200 pounds.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 22:35:56 PM CST

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enough, already (4.00 / 1)

First off, why are any of you talking about this?  It is truly silly and, even worse, not even entertaining.

But I must say, father of Rachael, you are one strange cat.  It is shallow to 'objectify' women, but not men?  It is offensive to have a preference for thin woman, but acceptable and/or admirable to have a similar preference for women of  Greenstein/Weinberg figure?  Do you really not see the hypocrisy?

You are clearly less an ideologue than a contrarian.  Some of the things you have said on various topics in the past prove this out.  I have personally always been mystified about the fact that you seem to lament your heterosexuality and express such disdain for your own gender.

I am not suggesting that you need professional help, but I would most certainly suggest that you explore your contrarian tendencies to better understand yourself.

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by: Somewhere In The Swamps @ Sun Dec 02, 2007 at 00:19:14 AM CST

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thank you for the psychobabble (0.00 / 0)

Just because I was a fan of the show, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" doesn't mean that I lament my heterosexuality.

I probably lament my heterosexuality as much as Steven Goldstein laments his homosexuality.  To quote the great Broadway musical, 'La Cage Aux Folles', "we are who we are" and we are both very proud of who we are.

And because I take issue with our society's narrow definition of what is beautiful doesn't make me a hypocrite.  Being a father of a daughter and a student of media literacy, I am especially conscious of the images and messages that mass media transmits to our society's young people and our young women in particular.  They are a problem for everyone, but have proven to be dangerous, if not deadly for girls in particular.

Also, being involved in Democratic politics since 2000, I have seen clear patterns in the way that women have to present themselves to be successful and create opportunities for advancement for themselves.

While this is generalizing men and women in our party to some degree, there are two primary paths that women have been given for achieving success in our party.

One is to be very pretty in the traditional sense, well-spoken, but most important, flirty and deferential to the male powers that be in our party.

The other is to be extremely competent, very well-informed, a tireless organizer and networker, and as tenacious as necessary to get what you want.

Obviously, one of these paths is the path of least resistance and the other is the path of greatest resistance.

Because I don't know anything about Barbara Buono and the path that brought her to where she is today, I won't presume to guess which path she followed.

However, I do know that being very pretty in the traditional sense had little to do with Valerie Huttle's rise to prominence, knowing as I do the battles that she has fought in Bergen County on her own and alongside Loretta Weinberg.

Obviously, what I have described above is a common problem throughout our society, so why should the Democratic Party be any different?

Because it should be.  Because it should be an example for all other institutions, public and private, and the fact that it isn't, and in many ways is far worse than most, is one of many things about that makes it difficult to support.

Unfortunately, as long as most of our political institutions continue to be governed by the current two-party system, the Democratic Party will remain in most, if not all instances, the better option.

As far as my disdain for my own gender goes, when the day comes that I no longer feel like part of a very small minority of men in our society, who approach women as equals (at the very least, if not the potentially superior beings that they are) and eschew the societal constructs of male-domination that continue to be erected generation after generation, I might change my mind. 

Until then, I will continue to approach most of my fellow men with the disdain that they probably deserve until they prove otherwise.  That said, the desire/willingness to participate in a blog like Blue Jersey is usually a good sign of a man's evolution from the cro-Magnon norm, and as such, I usually make the converse assumption about most of my fellow men here until given reason to believe otherwise.

As far as being contrarian goes, in a society such as ours where so little is as good as it could or should be, what is the difference between a contrarian and an activist?

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by: rachael'sdad @ Sun Dec 02, 2007 at 11:57:44 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I see a lot of ugly things in trenton (3.00 / 2)

so if i want to remark on something pleasant or lighthearted then no one should begrudge me that.  anyone who does is a jerk.

buono is on "my" side on the issues: environment, civil rights, et al.  so i can assure you that my afection is waaay more that skin deep.

Jay_Lass on Twitter.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Sun Dec 02, 2007 at 07:50:26 AM CST

[ Parent ]

of course it is, Jay (0.00 / 0)

Both Barbara Buono and Valerie Huttle are great progressives.

I am sorry if it wasn't more apparent that my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Sun Dec 02, 2007 at 11:10:20 AM CST

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"Jerk" / "Be Civil" (0.00 / 0)

Perhaps one of these is the antonym of the other.  I am not going to touch on the "discussion" elsewhere on this thread.  However, it doesn't show a good example for those of us who sometimes get criticized for being too "harsh" when the people who supposedly know better resort to name-calling.

I haven't had a chance to catch this week's BJR so I can't comment on the balance between "lighthearted" (fluff?) and "substantive" (boring?).  :-)

I would be interested in hearing more about the "ugly things" Jay sees in Trenton.  I know in DC one would see that you can't even get sixty Senators to agree that our National Guard should have as much time at home as they do deployed to a foreign country that we aren't at war with.  I would be curious to hear about stuff in Trenton as "ugly" as that.

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by: Creed Pogue @ Sun Dec 02, 2007 at 17:29:23 PM CST

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fundraising idea for Garden State Equality (0.00 / 0)

How about a Men of the NJ State Legislature calendar?

Pick your 12 (or 13 or 16 if you want to cover more months) hottest Assemblymen and Senators, get them to agree to be photographed in choice (I will leave this to Jeff's imagination) outfits and poses.

I guess you could also do a Women of the NJ State Legislature since there will be at least 12 women representing us in Trenton in January, but I don't know if it would be appreciated by the bulk of GSE's female constituency in the same way that a men's calendar would be.

If I am right about this, it will prove my theory that men are shameless, objectifying pigs whether they are straight or gay.  The only difference is who we shamelessly objectify. 

Meanwhile, women, being the fairer gender in every possible way are much more deep and thoughtful in the way that they view men or other women.

We should let them run the world.  I just wish that any other woman besides Hillary was running for President.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 22:57:26 PM CST

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More of Interest (0.00 / 0)

It may not have the runway appeal, but it would be more interesting to get a feel for the Appropriations Committee chairmanship battle.  How did Barbara Buono figure that if she delivered votes the other way in the leadership fight that she would still get what she wanted???

Regarding your other picture, if you start fawning over freshman South Jersey Republicans, I am not sure if they'll be able to handle it.  :-)

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by: Creed Pogue @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 21:33:59 PM CST

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caucus (0.00 / 0)

What kind of place is Costa's?  Is it family friendly?

I just need to know whether I should plan to come alone (or make babysitting arrangements for Rachael if my wife wants to come as well) or if it would be an OK environment for Rachael.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 13:23:01 PM CST

Costa's (0.00 / 0)

There's nothing "un-family-friendly" about Costa's. It's an italian restaurant with a huge banquet room where the event will be taking place.

But, the event itself might be torture for a 2-year old. And, we all know how democrats feel about torture.

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by: Jeff Gardner @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 13:33:42 PM CST

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trying to get her started early (0.00 / 0)

Rachael is actually only 13 1/2 months.  Fortunately, my parents still live in Cranford, so if she starts to get cranky, it wouldn't be difficult for Robin to leave with Robin and take her there.

Either way, thanks for the heads-up.  This sounds like a great event.  I wanted to do something similar in Dunellen on the night of the Iowa Caucus as a fun way of getting local Democrats involved without asking them to do too much.

It still might happen, but I have just had a very difficult time cobbling together enough resources and support.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 22:31:13 PM CST

[ Parent ]