Sonya Sotomayor, A Plus-Sized Woman,On Her Way To The Supreme Court!

DAHLINGS -

I am beside myself! Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee for the Supreme Court! Not only is she a perfect candidate, she is a beautiful plus-size female!



Oh, yes, and she is Latina as well. In my excitement I forgot that for a moment. Below is an excerpt from an article from today's USA Today.

by Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor by a 13-6 vote Tuesday,
along almost perfect partisan lines and after two hours of debate.
All Democrats voted for Sotomayor, President Obama's first nominee to
the high court. All Republicans except Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, opposed. The nomination of Sotomayor, a 17-year veteran of the federal bench, now goes to the full Senate for a vote. That is likely to be held the week of Aug. 3, just before the Senate leaves for its summer recess.

Graham said he was backing Sotomayor partly because he believed President Obama, having won last November's election, deserved wide latitude to make appointments within the judicial mainstream.
Graham deemed Sotomayor "well qualified," of "good character" and within "the mainstream." Sotomayor would be the first Latina justice in U.S. history. "Now that's a big deal," Graham said.

And to his fellow conservative Republicans, Graham added, "She can be no worse than Souter, from our point of view." Newly retired Justice David Souter, whom Sotomayor would succeed, was named by the first
President Bush in 1990 yet became a reliable vote for the liberal wing.

Democrats currently control 60 of the 100 votes in the Senate, and an easy majority vote for Sotomayor is not in doubt. Sotomayor, who would become the 111th justice in history, would be the third woman ever appointed and the second current female justice. Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg is presently the only female on the nine-member high
court.

Must dash to the phones--I am certain a woman in that position needs a stylist, and I am that stylist!

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

Twitter & My Plans for World Domination (Including Sham-Wow)

DAHLINGS -

I confess. I have become rather a fan of Twitter, if not of most of its users. Do I really need to know someone feels bad because they broke their diet because they ate some gnocchi? At first, the 140 character length left something to be desired. Such as intelligence. But soon I learned that brevity is levity when one works on it. And now, through sheer grit and determination, I have as of today 306 followers!

My initial goal was 300 followers, but I want at least 1,000, so that I may plot my plan for world domination. Or at least the domination of a part of the world. Here are some of my promises if I become a World Leader:

1) World peace, because you have to say that first.

2) Recast all of the situation comedies on television that have fat men married to beautiful women, so that fat women are married to handsome young studs. Because, my dear readers, that is how it is in real life far more than you think.

3) Force-feed Megan Fox pastries as if we were stuffing a goose for foie gras. In fact, stuff Ms. Fox with foie gras as well.

4) Ban all diets except those medically mandated. Destroy any and all height/weight charts. Ban all stock footage of heavy people's midsections used for news footage about obesity.

5) Ban Photoshop on advertising. In fact, perhaps we should ban advertising. (Comments are welcome on this one, dahlings. After all, I would be a most open World Leader.)

6) Legalize same-sex marriage. But I do not care how devoted it is, you cannot marry your dog, cow or parakeet.

7) Ban informercials for colon cleansing, exercise machines, and...oh, let's simply ban all infomercials. (Comments are welcome if you have a "thing" for the Sham-wow gentleman.)

8) This is going to get a bit complicated, so bear with me:

• Bring women's salaries to the same level as men's
• Allow women of any country to wear what they want
• Allow women of any country to attain any level of education they want
• Allow women of any country to aspire to any political position they want

9) Any suggestions? Please do leave your comments.

If you agree with my plans, please do follow me on Twitter. Together we stand, divided it's just the same old mess it's always been.

Ciao,

Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

Meghan McCain vs. Laura Ingraham In The Weight Wars

DAHLINGS –

Your faithful correspondent generally avoids the topic of politics because:

a) they tend to be divisive and fights break out at cocktail parties (during the election, a food fight broke out at a soiree I was hosting that involved a large toasted Brie…I still shudder at the memory).
b) in my case, they cause Deep Thoughts, which tend to give me pounding headaches.

A disclaimer: some of my best friends are Republicans, and some of them are Democrats. And during my recent sojourn in Washington, DC (cf. earlier entries) I helped women of both parties get ready for the "new glamour"(sic) coming to the White House.

However, I am addressing the topic this morning because it involves one of what one might call one of my “causes,” which is loving one’s beautiful, bountiful body. Meghan McCain, Senator John McCain’s 24-year-old daughter, wrote an excellent column in The Daily Beast about that lunatic extremist Ann Coulter

(who has, by the way, used her physical image in no small way to get media attention) and how Coulter’s extremist politics alienated the people of Meghan's generation.

McCain was blasted by Republican “pundit” Laura Ingraham not for criticizing Coulter, but because she was "too plus-sized to be a cast member on the MTV television show The Real World." (Ingraham has also parlayed her physical appearance to become, as one website suggested, "an official Republican babe.")


McCain accurately characterized Ingraham’s response as petty, juvenile and off-topic, and asked the question: why are we still judging women by their size? McCain is voluptuous and extremely beautiful .




Ingraham, of course, did not answer, but instead lashed out on her radio station's website: "Now the Left is seizing on one satirical line from our show to paint Meghan as the victim of a right-wing hate crime."

Uh, no, Laura, you have gotten it all wrong. Judging women by their body size is neither left-wing nor right-wing, it knows no politics. It only knows convenience, hatred and opportunity.

To answer Meghan's question from a politically non-partisan view: because judging women by their size is more rampant than at any time your faithful correspondent can remember. The paparazzi simply cannot wait to publish pictures of celebrities sporting double chins, “baby bumps,” or being caught in the act of…gasp…eating.

There are entire ongoing feature columns on some websites devoted to showing how famous women have gained weight, and those columns are NOT meant to be flattering. Occasionally a man makes it into these columns, but only if he is a sex symbol who has happened to develop love handles. All famous women, on the other hand, are fair game. Look at the flack JLo had to take at the Golden Globes because of her supposed “back fat”!

Yes, I also confess that I comment on models and other gaunt women in a less-than-flattering way. I believe strongly that they are part of the problem.

At the Edward Steichen exhibit, the fashion models were real women, with real bodies, as were the movie stars. (These days "real women" is often used as a euphemism for "fat," have you noticed?) One could imagine them dieting and exercising, but hardly to the point of having colon cleanses and working out five hours a day, as Madonna does. And yes, some women are meant to be extremely thin. But not that many.

Characterizing us by our bodies removes our personalities, intellects and politics from the equation. Women become nothing more than those—pardon me for the vulgarity—but we become nothing more than full-page vaginal shots in pornographic magazines (yes, I’ve seen them).

Both celebrities and ordinary women in private life are affected by this obsession.
Yes, we have always expected movie stars to be attractive, but not to be perfect. This unreal, elusive and dangerous demand for “perfection” of size and appearance diminishes and distracts all women in America.

I think I might have been a size 10 once in my life (detailed in an earlier entry) through a combination of starvation and bulimia, so I like to think I have a wee bit of expertise in this area. By embracing the voluptuous body I was meant to have, and not the body society thinks I ought to have, I am free to concentrate on more significant matters.

Fortunately, not politics. This might sound mean-spirited, but I do hope Laura Ingraham chokes on the Splenda she stirs into her black coffee.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, and do have a green beer for me, dahlings!

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

Bringing Beauty to Washington, DC!

DAHLINGS -

With the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Obama, the media has begun squawking away about the impending "return to glamour" and "re-emergence of Camelot" and similar nonsense. Female politicos are panicking. Suddenly there is tremendous pressure about not appearing their best in the new administration. During the Bush administration one could look like a billy goat and it did not hurt one's credibility. In fact, it helped.

But with the elegant Michelle Obama becoming First Lady, suddenly all of the Capitol Hill femmes, particularly those of high profile and dumpy blue suits, are terrified that they will be scrutinized as closely as celebrities. That could mean appearing in the pages of "US" magazine in the "Why Did She Wear That??" section. And then how could you get your appropropriations bill passed?

So, your faithful correspondent and an entourage of assistants were whisked off to Washington this past weekend with a truckload of designer fashions! We were booked into several suites in the fabulous Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, a mere block or two away from the White House. My hand still aches from signing all of those confidentiality agreements!

Our floor had to be "Secret Service Cleared" so that all of the luminaries could be fitted in comfort and safety. Several lady Secret Service agents requested their uniforms be tailored in a more shapely cut. My seamstresses had their work cut out for them (pardon the pun), particularly because of the body armor and holsters.

The biggest obstacle to my work was not the figures of the women--I believe there is beauty in every shape and size, as you well know. It was the mindset: rigid conformity to outdated fashion norms, fear of change, fear of appearing "weak" if wearing anything too feminine. Since you, my faithful readers, know that I do not appear "weak" in the least, even wearing a wisp of chiffon and stiletto heels, you also know that these fears were simply too maddening! Several times I had to retire to the hotel's Round Robin Bar for a quick mojito to quell my rising temper.

Difficult clients are one thing; but difficult clients with immense legislative power must be handled with tact and delicacy, something I could only manage with some alcohol sloshing through my system.

If I may opine for a moment, I believe that suits are detrimental to women in politics. For one thing, female politicians have to wave all of the time. And we know that suits bunch up and pull over to one side when a woman waves--particularly if there are shoulder pads. Now, we are used to men looking that awkward, but women should be spared. Hillary Clinton, if you are reading this, please do stop wearing suits! You have such lovely curves, why not a dress now and then?

Oh, and the Inaugural Ball gowns...MTV is hosting the Inaugural Ball, which also wreaked emotional (and public relations) havoc amongst the women. High-neck? Low-neck? Contemporary look? Conservative? (You try getting a Republican who isn't Sarah Palin to wear a fitted, low-cut gown...a recipe for blinding migraines, mon chers.)

However, I was flown back from Washington, the trunks empty, my coffers bulging, and my wrist aching. If I have just a tiny bit of impact on how women in Washington look, that is all I ask.

That, and a hefty fee.

God Bless America.

Ciao,

Elisa & Bucky The Wonderdog

A Letter From Some Colorado Doctors...

DAHLINGS -

At first I resisted, but then I felt I simply had to bring this letter to your attention. It is was sent to me by a dear friend from the past, and I have reprinted it from http://squarestate.net/diary/6932/#35532. Your faithful correspondent has never been in Colorado, nor does she ever intend to be in Colorado, but as the old saying goes, "it could happen here."

*************************************

A 62-year-old man, who we'll call Joe Smith, came to the emergency room for the third time in 2 weeks. He had no other place to go. Two weeks before, at another hospital, he had been diagnosed with cancer. Only he didn't have health insurance, because neither of his two jobs offered coverage.

Joe couldn't afford to buy an individual health policy and was too young to qualify for Medicare. Now, because of his cancer, no insurer would accept him. It was an all-too-familiar American tragedy. Joe needed his cancer treated, but without insurance the cost of treatment threatened to bankrupt his family. To date Joe's cancer remains untreated.

LindaB :: A Message from Colorado Doctors
As physicians in Colorado (see our signatures below), we see a case like Joe's every day. As doctors, we see it as our ethical obligation to advocate for the interests of our patients. In this year's presidential election, John McCain and Barack Obama offer two starkly different visions of what is wrong with our healthcare system and two different prescriptions for "change".

Sen. McCain's plan focuses on an unregulated market for health insurance, makes no commitment to provide insurance to all U.S. citizens, and doesn't address the health delivery system. His plan uses the $360 billion/year of new taxes generated by eliminating the current employer/employee pre-tax exclusion for health insurance benefits to create credits for buying individual health insurance in an unregulated market. The consequence for Colorado could be fewer employers contributing to health insurance, increased taxes on workers, fewer people able to afford insurance and growth in the number of uninsured.

Sen. Obama's plan provides access to guaranteed, affordable insurance. His plan allows those who like their employer based insurance to keep it. For those without good health insurance his plan creates new, affordable insurance options by pooling them into larger risk pools. In each case, premiums and direct costs will be made affordable, and people will not have to fear losing their coverage or entering bankruptcy if someone in their family becomes ill.

America's health care system is broken. A privileged few can get extraordinary health care. However, compared to most developed countries, the overall quality of our healthcare is poor; management of chronic illness is limited; and investment in health information systems that improve care is minimal. Our system is the most expensive system in the world, but in Colorado alone we have almost 800,000 men, women, and children living without health insurance. An additional 500,000 Coloradans are underinsured. This lack of insurance is associated with early death and disability. It leaves thousands of Coloradans one illness away from personal bankruptcy.

For Joe and all of our patients who are uninsured, underinsured or will become newly uninsured under McCain's plan we are speaking out. We believe Sen. Obama's plan can lead us closer to an affordable, equitable, and accountable health care delivery system that secures our patient's future.

Suzanne Brandenburg, MD
Laura Donigan, MD
Daniel Jamieson, MD
Danielle Loeb, MD
Joel S. Levine, MD
Judy Zerzan, MD
Agreed with and signed by an additional 96 physicians and 21 medical students from Colorado

**********

My goodness, I really have to stop this political jag I have been on, dahlings. I am actually starting to watch CNN over my assistant's shoulder, and after the season finale of Project Runway I watched the last part of the presidential debate!

Has anyone noticed how oddly assymetrical Sen. McCain's face is? His consultants should only have him photographed from the right, so that you don't notice that odd little bulge on one side. And besides, it's only fitting that he be photographed from the right, don't you think?

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

Sarah Palin - A Man-Made Woman?

DAHLINGS –

Forgive me for writing about politics, but the events of recent days have been causing me to think Deep Thoughts. Since I am not in the habit of doing so, I keep getting these blinding headaches, which are not helped by my assistant’s insistence on watching the news. I’ve ordered the fool to keep the plasma on the Style Network, but does she listen? Non!

I try not to keep up with popular culture, but it seems I remember a movie some years ago about two teenage boys who concocted a machine that would create their “perfect woman.” It was called Beard Science or some such. Of course I’ve never seen it, but the premise does stick with one.

Particularly when watching Governor Sarah Palin delicately tip-toeing through this God-awful campaign, trying to say as little as possible (at least when there are no teleprompters around). Today she made the news in two significant moments:

The Prime Minister of Pakistan proclaimed she was “gorgeous”.

And she managed to answer a whole four questions from a small group of reporters. Oh, my! Very good, Sarah dear! Most of it was the usual la-di-da about September 11 (I apologize, but when you live here, it does become a wee bit tiresome having one of your greatest local tragedies turned into a device that can be pulled out like a secret decoder ring whenever a politician feels threatened).

This woman may soon have the second-highest position in the United States government, and she is even less prepared for it than Flava-Flav.



One might say that Sarah Palin does represent the hockey moms of America (not that I know any personally), because if you walked up to one at Mall of America and asked them to give a substantive answer to a question about the House Financial Services Committee, they would probably give you a blank stare and respond, “Huh?” Dans la stupidité qu'il y ait unite, if you don’t mind my saying so.

Obviously Palin was chosen because of her ex-beauty queen good looks, her ability to act (she was a weather girl or sportscaster or some sort of broadcast bottom-feeder), and her ability to walk across a wide stage looking resolute. She is the tabloid audience's dream of a female politician, capable of baking cookies with one hand and slaughtering moose with the other. Not like Hillary, who kept insisting on being well-informed.

For gravitas, Palin wears unneeded glasses and keeps her long hair piled up (the unconscious suggestion being to the viewer that she could be on “Female Politicos Gone Wild” if she took it down). If she does not become the Vice President, Palin would make an ideal morning show style reporter.

Only men could have thought up a woman this perfect.

*

As long as she doesn’t say anything. That is, anything former Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully hasn’t written for her.

Oh, dear, I must go take some aspirin and lie down with a copy of Marie-Claire. This has been simply too much for moi.

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

* "Vogue" cover courtesy of Salon.com

Governor Sarah Palin--Bucky Wants You To Read This!

Dahlings -

I do try to steer away from politics, but I simply had to share this with you. I've seen the advertisement referenced, and I urge anyone who loves animals to take immediate action! Those of you who enjoy hunting, please do not send in your comments...they will be immediately deleted. Nothing personal, but yours truly feels that certain kinds of arguments belong only in the areas of hemlines and lipstick colors, no reference intended.

*******************************************************************************

Tell Everyone You Know About Governor Palin's Brutal Record
Our hard-hitting TV ad is running in key swing states right now.
Tell others about Governor Palin’s wolf killing record and help us reach even more voters today.


Thanks to the unprecedented support of more than 14,000 donors, our ad is on the air in Ohio and Florida where millions of voters are learning more about vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s values -- and her brutal record on aerial hunting of wolves and other wildlife.Encourage your friends to watch the ad online and help us reach even more people with the awful truth about Governor Sarah Palin’s brutal record aerial wolf hunting.

With your help, we’re breaking this story wide open. This hard-hitting TV ad has already been seen by nearly 300,000 people online. It’s been covered by many news outlets, including CNN, ABC, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, several Ohio newspapers and more. And thanks to the generous donations of people like you, millions of people in Ohio and Florida know the truth about Governor Palin’s brutal record. Now, thanks to the phenomenal contributions of wildlife supporters like you, we’ll be able to extend our TV ad buy in Ohio and Florida, air it in Michigan -- and beyond.You can help us reach even more potential voters online. Help spread the word about Governor Palin’s support for aerial killing of wolves and other wildlife. The more voters learn about Governor Sarah Palin, the less there is to like.

Nearly 300,000 people have watched our ad on YouTube. Here's what some viewers are saying:
"Shooting animals from an airplane is as low as it can get. I take that back, offering $150 for each paw is even worse. "-- utubewtch
r"I'm an independent voter - when I heard about Palin's support of aerial wolf killing, I knew right off that 'she's definitely NOT like me'."-- 33tracker

But as you can imagine, running a TV ad during election season is expensive. There are still millions of potential voters across the U.S. who haven’t learned the truth about Governor Palin’s brutal aerial hunting program -- millions who don’t yet know about her proposal to dole out $150 for the severed forelegs of dead wolves.Help us expose the awful truth about Sarah Palin before it’s too late. Tell others about Governor Sarah Palin’s record on the brutal and unethical hunting of wolves from airplanes.With your help, we can ensure that voters know the truth about Sarah Palin.

With Gratitude,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

P.S. Right now, my team is preparing another powerful TV ad to air in key swing states. To help us reach more voters with the ad above and place our new ad, please make a secure online contribution now. Or call 1-800-425-4632 to contribute by phone.
Privacy Policy Contact Us Donate Now Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Home


© Copyright 2008, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund can be contacted at: 1130 17th Street, NWWashington, DC 20036

Get Out And VOTE, Dahlings!

Dahlings –

You may not believe it to gaze upon me, with my lush décolletage, long legs, creamy skin and blonde hair, not to mention my impeccable fashion sense, but I do think about Deep Issues. Quite often, until they give me a headache, which is usually after about ten minutes.

But I felt compelled to express myself to you, dear readers, about tomorrow, which is Election Day.

And while I admit it is not as important as who won Project Runway (shudder), it seems from this vantage point that we will be seeing a remarkable shift from Republicans to Democrats, at least in the House. Since I myself am a registered Independent…at least I think I am, I’ll find out when I go to the polls tomorrow…

(Note to self: look up where the damn polling place has moved to. We don’t want to end up in an elementary school gym again, surrounded by goggling schoolchildren.)

IN ANY CASE, President Bush seems to be having quite a reaction on his fellow Republicans when he shows up to “support” them--they tend to run screaming over the hills. I fear the dear First Chap has not read the newspapers in recent months, except perhaps the New York Post. That little hometown paper of mine is so over to the right it’s about to fall off the face of the earth. And at times I wish it would. (Especially when the paparazzi are awaiting me outside of restaurants! They only print the UNFLATTERING pictures!) Today in Pensacola a Republican candidate leapt off a bridge and swam away, ready to risk death by gators rather than political death by association with Dubya.

I shall of course be going to a very exclusive post-election party. My ensemble must be carefully chosen so that I don’t look too conservative, or too liberal. One doesn’t wish to be harangued by the losing side.

Oh, dear, I feel a headache coming on. Bucky, let’s turn our attention to the nude couple who had a fight at the waffle house, shall we? Ever so much more fun.

Remember to get out and VOTE! And then reward yourself by buying one of my trinkets! (Or if you are a man, buy your significant other a trinket.)

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky The Wonderdog

Coming Attractions: a review of 70s Fashion Fiascos by Maureen Valdes Marsh, by none other than moi. I confess, I screamed when I pulled the book out of my mail pile and saw the hideous caftan on the cover, but it is a fine work after all.