Iowa Senator Merlin Bartz Cleared of Ethics Complaints

Welcome back to the Good Ole Boy's version of IOWA.  Where we can drink beer and shoot at all the queers in line trying to get marriage licenses...and we can flex our political muscle and try to bend people to do our bidding if we are in elected office and not have it be against the law.

Such was the case with Senator Merlin Bartz this spring when Iowa first approved Gay Marriage in the state.  Senator Bartz wrote a letter (memo, post-it, or whatever!) to all of the people who were to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples on the first day of it's legality urging them to follow their feelings and to NOT issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples if it was against their beliefs.  State District Attorney Tom Miller was wise enough to jump in the middle of that before it truly got off the ground though, issue a statement saying that any person who refused to issue the licenses would lose thier jobs.  Thank God for Mr. Miller, as what was a wonderful day in the life of many same-sex couples here in Iowa could have turned out much differently.

When Ed Fallon, former representative in Iowa, got ahold of this information, he recognized it for what it was, a blatant misuse of Senator Bartz's power.  He hence filed a complaint with the Ethics committee.  My sig other, Dana, and myself have been writing complaints up and sending them off to ethics committee members so the outcome of this was a very big disappointment to us.  Mr Bartz was let off the hook without so much as even a slap on the wrist.

Shame on you Ethic's Committee.  As a state, we cannot allow this type of behavior to stand.  People using the pressure and influence of their political office in order to push one's own personal agenda is unacceptable, and I don't know how you folks can live with yourself after such a pathetic display of non-justice.

Since no one ever reads my blog, I'm going to stop here.  

Bah!

A Britney Spears critique.

I'm finding myself being drawn back into the Britney Spears thing again with the release of this latest single, which shocked, awed, and dissappointed me a little bit no matter how good it really is.  I guess that's why I feel the need to offer up a new critique on this girl and where I believe that her career is heading.  Aren't you just excited as heck about that?

I blasted her and the press and just about everyone out in cyberland about her back in January of 2008, telling you all that I expected her to be back after that breakdown bit and to be even better than ever--IF she could avoid killing herself.  Well, she's back with a vengeance with a great new dance album but I think we still have yet to see her true tour-de-force.  While "Circus" has merit as one of her best albums to date, I really think that she's stuck, has fallen behind (this album is about two years too late), and is trying to catch up with her career.  I think that "Circus" is beneficial for her in one respect though, as it's getting her through what a lot of oversexualized star's have to go through before they get to move into the more serious stages of their careers.  They all have to learn one simple thing:  There is no such thing as an enduring sex symbol, as everyone eventually gets old, familiar, and comfortable.  That doesn't bode well for the average sex symbol's staying power.  They have to change--to become something even better than a sex symbol.  Britney needs to become a Siren.  Siren's can keep their clothes on and still sing you out of your pants.

What I see here with Britney is almost a duplicate copy of Madonna and her sex crazed years back in the late 80's and early 90's (think "Justify My Love," "Erotica," and her "Sex" Book) and Brit's latest video "If U Seek Amy" is solid validation of that.  The song is totally amazing--incredibly dancy, fantastic beat--but once again, it's about sex.  "All of the boys, and all of the girls are begging to If U Seek Amy." is that tag line of the song which many originally thought was about Amy Winehouse, but well...it's not.  Perhaps the verses in the song are about Winehouse, but the chorus is certainly not!  She even offers up a little giggle at the start of the chorus as if to say "I tricked ya'all--this is a song telling you I know you want to F you C K me!"  In this stage of Britney's career though I feel a little disappointed.  I guess I expected much more from her, expected her to be more grown up...perhaps better supervision and management would have fixed that?  

She should take the cue from previous sex symbols LIKE Madonna and even Olivia Newton John (perhaps a better example having gone from innocence to Sex Goddess, much like Britney herself.) and NOT take it too far.  Do Sexy for an album or two and then reinvent yourself, otherwise, the public will get tired of you and start to think of you as what--Oh yeah...a slut?

So, like I was trying to say, I guess I was kinda wrong.  While she's still a pop princess extraordinaire, she's got a long way to go before she gets to be taken any more seriously with her music than that.  She needs to clean up, step up, and keep her clothes on before that can happen.  I can hardly wait, because it's going to be incredible when it happens.  I think it's going to be an original, delightful musical treat.  In the meantime, enjoy the bouncy club beat for a while longer...someone has to do it, and no one can do it like Britney Spears can.