Blogging Blue

Earlier today this blog had its 15,000th visitor, and July 1, 2008 marked the one year anniversary since I submitted the first post here on Blogging Blue. From the inception of Blogging Blue back in July of 2007, it took 10 months to hit our 10,000th visitor, and since hitting 10,000, it’s only taken two months to hit 15,000. Each month more and more folks are visiting Blogging Blue, and I wanted to take a minute to thank my three regular readers for sticking with me, as well as all those other folks who have visited.

It’s been a great first year, and here’s hoping to an even better second year.

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It’s only a matter of time before we hear Sykes, Belling, and many other conservatives simply loose their cool over the newest hit in music - - a song about a girl wanting to kiss…a GIRL!

“I Kissed A Girl,” by Katy Perry, is jumping up to #1 in the Billboard US Charts. UK newspaper The Guardian has the scoop:

Pop stars reinventing themselves is not a new phenomenon. David Bowie relaunched himself as Ziggy Stardust and then became the Thin White Duke. Kylie Minogue was the girl next door who suddenly acquired a taste for black basques. But few transformations have been as total as the one that has taken Katy Perry to the top of the US singles charts.

Perry, 23, began her career with a collection of Christian gospel songs. Her parents are both Protestant pastors, so many of her former fans are astonished to find her topping the charts now with a single celebrating the pleasures of a lesbian kiss.

‘I Kissed a Girl’ is poised to be the hit of the American summer and is the 1,000th number one since Bill Haley and His Comets’ shocked the music business with ‘Rock Around the Clock’ in 1955. The lyrics are mild enough: ‘I kissed a girl/and I liked it … Us girls we are so magical/Soft skin, red lips, so kissable/Hard to resist so touchable/Too good to deny it.’

Perry says her parents, who once banned rock music from the home, are now supportive of her despite the new musical direction. ‘Well, I’m not strung out on crack and doing centrefolds,’ she said last week. This is not the singer’s first foray into edgy areas of sexuality. Perry’s last single, ‘Ur So Gay’, poured scorn on effeminate metrosexual males and, in particular, on Perry’s ex-boyfriend who ‘wore more make-up’ than she did. ‘I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf,’ was one of the more memorable lines.

Perry’s background has led to consternation from the Evangelical Christian community. ‘What a sad picture of a lost child who has been swept away by the carnal pleasures of the world,’ reads one entry on the Christian website Planetwisdom.com. ‘We need to be lifting this gal up in prayer. While we’re at it, let’s toss up a prayer for her parents, too. Not to mention the countless young girls who will buy into this lesbian chic message.’

Talk about being a rebel in the family…an Envangelical Christian promoting lesbian behavior, and then saying after kissing the girl, “It felt so right.” I’m sure her parents are “pleased” but boiling in secret. No need to panic, for anyone that’s concerned about the theme will soon have Rush, Mark, Charlie, and the rest of talk radio scorning any parent who let’s their child listen to the tune.

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While he might have had a blockbuster ratings bomb in Hancock this past weekend, Will Smith has higher aspirations…which weren’t even thought of by him!

According to People Magazine, Barack Obama stated that if there’s a movie made after him, he’d probably like to see Smith portraying him.

When asked by Tyra Banks who should play him in a movie, Sen. Barack Obama said, “I think initially Denzel [Washington] would be the choice but somebody pointed out, with my ears, it might have to be Will Smith.”

What an honor!

Personally I don’t see how Smith and Obama even come close to being alike…except the ears. But who says the ears mean everything?

It goes to show that Obama is “da man with the plan.” I mean, who could portray John McCain?

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I’ve heard a lot of conservatives talk about how Wisconsin’s citizens need more guns, as if our state’s lack of concealed carry laws have made our citizens somehow unsafe. “More guns” seems to be a common mantra among conservatives, but their rationale that more guns equals less crime simply doesn’t hold water if one takes a look at crime statistics.

For example, let’s compare crime rates per 100,000 inhabitants (2006) for Wisconsin as well as Florida and Texas, both of which allow residents to carry firearms:

Wisconsin:
• Robbery - 100.2
• Forcible Rape - 20.4
• Murder - 3.0
• Burglary - 485.8
• Vehicle Theft - 226.6

Texas:
• Robbery - 158.5
• Forcible Rape - 35.6
• Murder - 5.9
• Burglary - 917.3
• Vehicle Theft - 405.9

Florida:
• Robbery - 188.8
• Forcible Rape - 35.8
• Murder - 6.2
• Burglary - 944.6
• Vehicle Theft - 422.5

One look at the statistics and it’s obvious Wisconsin has much lower crime rates than states like Texas and Florida. Unless there’s something I’m missing, I’m not exactly sure why Wisconsin needs citizens roaming the streets packing heat, considering how safe our streets are when compared to other states.

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What is patriotism?

How do you define it?

Is patriotism defined by which politician wears a flag pin on his lapel more consistently, or is patriotism defined as a blind obedience to one’s country and its leaders, no matter the circumstances?

A recent article by Peter Beinart in TIME Magazine prompted me to start thinking about how I define patriotism, and I can’t think of a more fitting day than today - our nation’s Independence Day - to both share my thoughts and have a discussion about what constitutes patriotism.

In his article, Beinart discusses two types of patriotism: a patriotism of affirmation, which he says appeals more to conservatives, and a patriotism of dissent, which is particularly cherished by liberals. Of course, I consider myself a patriot precisely because I choose to dissent when I believe my leaders are wrong, just as our nation’s founding fathers chose to dissent - and ultimately revolt - when they believed their British rulers to be wrong. I believe dissent and debate are patriotic because they’re precisely what our founding fathers had in mind when they created our democracy, and so I believe dissent and debate to be at the very heart of patriotism.

What’s more, I believe the love and defense of the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence that constitutes the true meaning of patriotism:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

These are the ideals upon which our nation was founded - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - and I believe anyone who loves and defends those ideals, regardless of party affiliation or political ideology, is a true patriot.

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