More from Denver, Our own Gay Rights debate and finished socks for K

Wow - history being made this week, n'est-ce pas? For the first time in U.S. history (and it's about DAMN time IMHO), an African American is being nominated as the Democratic party (hell - any party's) nominee for President. I had one little hearing this afternoon and could not help but mention something to the DSS attorney who also happens to be African American. We talked about the high emotions last night and being close to tears that this was [finally] happening. I told her I had an [internal, non-psychotic, LOL] vision of this man with his hand on the Bible, taking the oath of office from a member of the Supreme Court and the thought that this might actually happen in my lifetime was overwhelming. Heck, it surpasses the day I was driving in my car in 1978 when the phrase "habemus Papem" hit the airwaves shortly followed by the words "Karol Woytila." Only this time I think Mr. O might get a few more things done that I agree with, LOL. And now as I sit here typing this, I am waiting to hear that man with the non-Waspish name speak. With a little disappointment, I realize that Hilary Clinton will not be on the ticket and that saddens me a great deal, although I was proud that she was my first choice when she threw her support behind Obama at the convention last night in the spirit of unity. For it is unity that we need if real substantial change will happen. For the first time in a long time, I have a little hope. A little.

Here's the latest from our family's roving reporter, that denizen of Denver, Robearskin himself (I have to warn you that unlike Rob, I was 14 when Dr. King was shot and later Robert Kennedy and the speech by Edward Kennedy was the most moving thing I think I have seen in my life outside of my family or friends of course:)) Well, heeeere's Rob:

Greetings from The 5280: I ate lunch at my desk today, Thursday, the last day of the DNC. I then ventured outside to witness the teeming masses of people who are walking down the 16th Street Mall toward Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. His Nominatedness referred to it as "Mile High" Stadium at the convention last night. I think Invesco was probably annoyed.
There definitely is a buzz in the air downtown. I half expect The Nominated One to walk down the Platte River to the stadium. I must admit to getting a little choked up thinking about when I was 7 and Dr. King was shot. (It seemed like the next day Bobby Kennedy was shot.) Now a black man has a darn good shot at becoming President. Corny, I know, but pretty cool. Come on, you can admit it. It's cool. My favorite t-shirt of the day was a picture of a donkey from behind with the slogan, "Get Some" above the donkey. I "got" that joke pretty quickly. My least favorite t-shirts and signs said, "Kill the People. Save the Earth." I wonder if that group is against war? I saw some fairly dirty young hippies carrying signs saying that their voices could not be squashed by a cage. Good for them. I think. The Cage is the name the protestors near the Pepsi Center call the area they are allowed to protest in. It is surrounded by a chain link fence. There are some very angry people around these parts. One woman was screaming at another woman with a "Jesus Saves" poster. Why she was mad about a "Jesus Saves" poster, I'm not sure. She was yelling so loudly I couldn't understand a word she said. It was something about 20 million black people...., and "He ain't saved sh_t." Worse, some guy yelled at a young woman with a similar sign and a cast on her foot. She was in a wheelchair. The man yelled, "Hey, if Jesus is so great why can't he get you up out of that wheelchair?" Nice. She replied in rather nice terms that he can yell mean things at her all he wants, but Jesus still loves him. I kind of like the turn the other cheek thing. Speaking of cheeks, yesterday, a bunch of elderly women in small red, white and blue hot pants were standing on the corner near our office. They called themselves "The Missile Dicks". They said they were from Crawford, Texas and they don't like war. They all had a strap-on, large missile sticking out of the fronts of their hot pants. I noticed they wore lots of makeup. I'm confused. Today, someone handed me a "Clean Coal" button. A woman with a large "Coal is NOT Clean" sign was yelling at them. She was yelling that coal is not clean. I don't know. Coal looks pretty dirty to me. My paralegal's mother, whom I have never met, left me an Obama '08 button on my desk yesterday while I was at a seminar across town. I like it. It is not as exciting as some of the other buttons, but I like the direct approach. I just can't bring myself to wear it on my work dress shirt. I don't like holes in my dress shirts. An elderly woman dressed in all pink from CodePinkAlert.org gave me a pink, "Make Out, Not War" sticker. That sounds familiar. The sticker has pink lip prints on it. I think their group doesn't like war, although I can't be too sure because I don't believe I will have the time to visit their website. I also received a leaflet from some people with "Stop Bird Porn" signs. At first, I thought they were kidding. I'm really not sure. They seemed genuinely upset. Their leaflet was in English on the front, and Russian on the back. They seemed to be yelling that people are disturbing birds in their natural habitats, at least that's what they were yelling. Because I own some bird feeders and a few bird books, I was quite concerned. Their leaflet states:
BIRD WATCHERS ARE VOYEURS! According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 48 million people watch birds. A private research group, the Good Conduct Society, has discovered Bird Watchers are sexually more active than others. The elderly find that Bird Watching is not strenuous. And this erotic experience can be enjoyed privately through binoculars. "Most disturbing," said the Society's director, Anaida Krok, "are the groups of Bird Watchers seeking vicarious sexual gratification in the woods. Shamelessly, they blatantly observe God's Defenseless creatures mating." LEAVE THE BIRDS ALONE!
I'm wondering if the Society Director's name is a clue? I hope it is. Otherwise, I'm going to have to start feeling guilty, even if I am only one out of 48 million perverts. Lisa was chuckling a little last night, pointing out how "podunk" our cow town must look. We have news people just walking around looking for "celebrities". Every time one is seen, a big deal seems to be made out of it. James Taylor is in the Magnolia Hotel across the street from my office. I hear His Bruceness, Mr. Springsteen is around. Now, that's cool. An associate in my office named Molly Emmetsberger saw Tom Brokaw just walking down the street in sweats, and no one was recognizing him. This is the second time I heard he was walking down the street and no one noticed him. I thought he was famous. Mark Twain once said, "Every great personage must be shadowed by a parasite who is infinitely little."
I think that's TMZ's slogan now. In true American spirit, people are currently charging $60 to park in their driveways on Federal Boulevard, which is near the stadium. A couple of people in my office began walking over to the stadium a couple of hours ago. Word is that it is taking three hours to get inside the stadium with the security, which is apparently much like airport security, except about 80,000 people are trying to get through in a short period of time. Our office is closing down in a few minutest at 4:00 p.m., because they are closing one of the two Interstate Highways, I-25, in both directions in an hour. I will head east to pick up my wife when she gets out at 5. We will watch The Nominee tonight, and gird ourselves for a weekend with five kids! I hope you are all well. -Rob

Thanks, Rob! Hope you and yours are well and safe! Love you! (whoo - and I thought Baltimore and New York were strange places!)

My family of origin and I are basically of a liberal/leftist bent. We all didn't begin that way, nor did I always stay that way. For about 12 years, I voted Republican and stuck with the conservative side of things because I foolishly believed that, well, never mind it's a long story. But conversations and debates and thinking about things and yes, law school changed my thinking over a LONG period of time. John and I do not agree on many issues, and that is frustrating to both of us, despite the fact that we, unlike the political parties in our country, do not demonize each other - thank goodness.

One example of this is the debate we had the other night about the whole gay marriage "thing." John is of the opinion that the voters of California will vote it down. I am of the opinion that civil rights are NOT something that one votes on - they are God-given and inalienable (that means what God has given, humans cannot divest even by vote). We went back and forth for a while on it, with one of our daughters joining in the debate (agreeing with me).

You see, one of our five daughters is gay. Which one is nobody's business but hers, so I will not name her, but at the end of the arguing - and it was really civil arguing unlike many of our arguments have been in the past - I told John that I knew him better than his hard-assed stance. I knew that if that daughter told us she was getting married or having a commitment ceremony, that he would be there, packing the Grey Goose (and coffee!) into the coolers, aranging for the bus for out of town family, paying for the photographer and reveling in this daughter's happiness as much as for our eldest's. And he couldn't argue with that. Love always wins out and I don't know a man who loves his kids more than John.

And that, too, gives me hope for us and for all the rest of us. Someday, we will get sick of demonizing the "other" side and sit down and listen. There will always be renegade sickos among us, playing out the abuse and pain of their own upbringing. The rest of us have the job of keeping them in check. And loving each other.

So I will keep my mouth shut during the Reep's convention and pay attention to what their fears - and their hopes - are. Who knows, maybe if we actually listen to each other, we may come up with a solution. Hey, it could happen....

As for knitting, I've been doing a lot. I've added two new projects to my list, began them and then set them aside until I'm done with some more. And I have finished one - a pair of socks that I began around this time last year. I finally finished the second sock today. Kristin and Sonny happened to come over this evening after getting new phones (theirs had not been working at all, so they took the plunge). Kristin had just had orientation for grad school today, and is looking forward to class starting. Anyway, I finished that second sock while they were here. Last year when I was starting this pair, I had just finished a bright blue/green pair, but it wasn't her cup 'o tea. Kris said she thought these might be more for her (she was just being polite, believe me.) So I asked her to try them on and they fit her PERFECTLY. However, they are a little thicker than she's used to and a little higher around the ankles, but when the weather is warmer, I think she'll be glad to have them.

Well, Mr. O is talking right now, and I'm going to listen. Gotta start somewhere!

Peace out, bro!

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