“Grit and Grace”

Ted’s endorsement:

"With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion. With Barack Obama we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay."

On that latter point, no other candidate has defended gay people as "brothers and sisters" without prompting in front of a non-gay crowd in the height of an election campaign. The Clintons don’t do that. In fact, they have often done the opposite, using the fear of gay people as a way to triangulate for their own purposes. That matters to me. It should matter to gays and straights who care about equality under the law. On policy, there is no difference between Clinton and Obama. In terms of character, there is all the difference in the world.

Poseur Alert

"The sensual act of chewing, the voluptuous warmth of rebelling saliva, the artificial and secretly aseptic fragrance which spreads from the mouth as a promise and missed kiss. The synthetic fleshliness of the pink color, the obsessive square shape of the product unwrapped and ready to be shred to pieces by the power of the tongue, all compete in crashing on the senses. Applying all this to the power and energy of the Sculpture and its history causes a short circuit having the capacity of turning the ludic into stately and vice versa. The strict minimalism of parallelepiped is subverted by the uniform coating with many bars of chewing-gum completely cover it, rendering chewable to desire, soft and provoking to forbidden touch, what was abstract and distant," – a critical appreciation from Pastaficiocerere of an Italian sculptor who uses chewed chewing gum as a material.

A Dish Awards glossary, including "Poseur Alerts", can be read here.

Among The SOTU Guests Tonight

A woman whose very presence in the US is against the law:

 Tatu Msangi, a nurse and single mother from Tanzania: Tatu Msangi is a 35-year-old single mother from Tanzania.  When Tatu became pregnant, she went to the antenatal clinic at KCMC and discovered she was HIV-positive.  Tatu enrolled in a Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) program and delivered a healthy daughter, named Faith.  As part of her treatment, Faith received a dose of nevirapine after she was born.  She is now over two years old, and she is HIV-free.  As part of her work at KCMC, Tatu counsels HIV-positive women and encourages them to participate in the PMTCT program.  KCMC is supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief’s (PEPFAR) through the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.  Tatu and her daughter Faith are examples of the hope and compassion that is transforming lives with support from PEPFAR.

Tatu is also legally barred from coming to America. The administration must have found a way to get Msangi a special waiver from immigration authorities allowing her to enter the country. Another reason to support the Kerry-Smith proposal to end the still-valid Jesse Helms ban on all HIV-positive non-Americans visiting the U.S.