Told 'Ya

I've been playing a lot of San Andreas lately. The game is everything I hoped it would be. Well, almost. But it continues to surprise: the ability to steal street sweepers and cement trucks trumps some of my gameplay complaints.

I've also got two major writing projects to wrap up today: another bit for the RPG I've been writing for, and a short story for a contest that needs to leave in tomorrow's mail. Liz might do some Get Out The Vote stuff today; I did mine at work, registering people, trying to organize carpools, etc.

New Horror Movie Rule

New rule, after watching The Grudge - little kids never get to meow like cats. Ever again.

Just sayin'.

Mosh With Em

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the new Eminem video, Mosh. He's really turned to rap's roots as political rage music, and he nailed what a lot of younger people are feeling - and it's very empowering.

Total Request Live has been getting innundated with requests for it, so lots of people are going to see it, too.

Good.

Voting With Dollars

I almost forgot: last night, I made the last payment on a credit card held by MBNA America, and cancelled the card. I had actually considered keeping the card, until I learned that MBNA is a major contributor to the Republican party.

I gleefully cut that fucker up last night. I will continue to actively avoid companies that make such contributions - and inform them when I do so.

I felt bad for the poor phone rep last night, she said, "well, you realize that those contributions don't necessarily reflect the opinions of the company's employees," and I said, "yeah, I do." Oh well.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

I don't really care for the name "blogosphere," but that is how I occasionally find other sites worth reading - in this case, from a comment someone left here. Pineapple & Macadamia Breeze is written by a person who apparently works in a bar in Waikiki, and this person has some really good people-watching-type posts, about folks he or she has met in the course of his or her job.

Sorry for being gender-neutral, but when I guess about such things, I tend to be wrong. But the blog is worth checking out.

Coming Alive

The last few days at work have been wholly refreshing, because I've been able to put aside a lot of the inane website work I normally do to tackle a big public relations project we're doing. I forgot how fun it is to work on something like this; after leaving it for insane levels of stress, and coming back, it's like a gust of fresh air. I love it. I am actually surprised at how much I've missed doing this stuff; I seem to have a knack for it, and it's damn fun to do. I feel more alive than I have in a long time.

In other news, San Andreas debuts tomorrow. This evening, we watched Matchstick Men and I'll play some Vice City one last time to tide me over. Seth got his copy early, and is playing it right now. I am jealous. He'd better be at work tomorrow.

I finished my RPG writing, and the company wants me to do some more work. That makes me exceptionally happy. I turned in a book proposal today, and I've got a short story to make a few changes to, and it's ready for a contest. I'd also like to work some more on the next novel - I have to try to remember to find time to do that. Liz is almost done with the first run through Crocodile Man, so I should have that to edit soon, too.

Growing Up

It's a strange birthday so far. I woke up, skipped the video games to do some work on an RPG project, and now I'm thinking about aging. I actually have a signed contract for this RPG, so if they like it, it's the first paying gig I have for writing a game - and, incidentally, the first paying gig for writing something fictional. Not too shabby. I'll accept that as a birthday present of sorts.

I don't usually like to celebrate my birthday, but Liz threw a surprise party for me last night, and all of my friends came out, and it was a really good time. We just kind of played games and ate snacks, and it was one of those great, "wow, these folks care about me" moments. Not to sound too mushy, but those really are the best kinds of presents - just having your friends around and having a good time.

Today I've got about four thousand more words to write on the game, a not-too-ambitious goal I hope, and I'd like to finalize a book proposal so I can turn that in tomorrow (I try not to talk about those kinds of things too specifically until I know for sure whether it happens or not, so pardon my superstitious dancing around the subject matter). And I'm gonna play some more Vice City, because San Andreas bows on Tuesday and my free time for things other than video gaming will come to a screeching halt soon after.

Speaking of video games, I picked up Midway Arcade Treasures 2 the other day, largely because it contains the only "true" 'port of the arcade classic Mortal Kombat II. I wasted many hours and many quarters playing MKII as a youth; it was one of the first games I can remember that had little secret fiddly-bits that my friends and I raced to discover (Fatalities, Friendships, etc.) I remember it being a fun fighting game, one that we would go after school to play at the ISU Student Center, or down at the arcade in the mall. The console 'ports, although acceptable, never managed to capture the fun of the original, so I was pretty stoked to try the "true 'port" on Midway Arcade Treasures 2.

They say you can't go home, and you're right. I have no doubt that it is a very accurate 'port, everything I remember is there, but the years have built the game up in my mind so much that playing it again is goddamned depressing. I've been corresponding with Ken over email, one of my friends from back in Illinois and one of the guys who used to play MKII with me, and talking to him and catching up has been a much better experience than loading that game and walking down memory lane.

I could do one of those "ever forward" touchy-feely conclusions here, but I don't think I will, because it's not like I've learned a lesson or anything. It's just a little sad that memory whitewashes things so well.

Be an Artist

Create your own Garfield comic strip.

For Liz

This one's for Liz: what if the Justice League crossed with My Little Pony? My Little Justice League!

Good Triumphs Over Evil

Tonight, the underdog from Massachusetts came back from behind - in fact, made a historical comeback from a spot so far behind no one thought this dog had a chance - to use their innate skill and pluck to defeat a financial juggernaut that once straddled the country, claiming it didn't have to play by the rules because it could afford to create and change them at its whim, and if anyone cried foul, it whined like a baby, gnashed its teeth, and viciously and illogically attacked the underdog.

Good job, Red Sox.

I can only hope this is prophetic, so the other team from Boston can repeat in two weeks.

Animated

Watched Re-Animator tonight. Surprisingly good. Not sure why I'm writing in incomplete sentences. Probably because I feel so burned out from work. Playing Civ 3, trying not to think about the utter cool-ness of San Andreas, or the election.

Voting

I'm breaking my no-post-at-work rule to report that I just cast my ballot in the 2004 Presidential election. God bless Washington state's absentee ballot system.

Primer-ey Colors

At Seth's suggestion, I took in Primer on Saturday evening. It's certainly a though-provoking piece of filmmaking, but not necessarily in the philosophical sense, but more in the "what the hell was going on?" sense. I'm not opposed to those kinds of movies at all; I enjoy David Lynch films quite a bit, and part of the fun is using the film's logic to try and deduce what's happening. Lynch is a stickler for in-film logic and continuity; he's so meticulous (on the set of Blue Velvet, he went as far as to put dust bunnies under the radiators and furniture) that it's doubtful anything in the film is arbitrary.

Primer was 95% of the way there. Throughout the film, they used really sharp editing to tell the story very quickly - several times, you had to make logical leaps as you realized a good deal of time had passed since the last scene and the next, and then play catch-up. The sound was mixed terribly. There's a scene of the main characters standing in a fountain, and it sounds like it was recorded with one boom mike on a camcorder - so the dialogue was lost for some stupid sense of "realism" that could have easily been cleaned up in post-production. And, sadly, in the last 15 minutes of the film, the editing style began to work against the picture, to the point where you could no longer tell what was going on. Things happened so quickly, you could only take bits and pieces and try to assemble the whole, which is a pretty sloppy way to finish a movie.

All in all, it was a great premise with solid acting and pretty good filmmaking skills, but the limitations of the medium - and the director's own artistic vision - cut the story off at the knees. It's really kind of sad when the director's own attempts to be artistic ended up shortchanging the entire picture, but that's what seemed to happen: it was a great build-up with a confusing and unsatisfying end.

I guess I'll have to watch Lost Highway again.

Early Color Photographs

The other day, I stumbled across an interesting link from Metafilter about early color photography, from the World War I and Tsarist-Russian eras. Photographers used three color plates, took an exposure, and could then combine them to create a color image. Most of these plates were lost to time, as the process then was too lengthy to be effecient, but thanks to digital technology, people have begun to restore these pictures, often with no more materials than a home PC and a copy of Photarshop. Even better, the Library of Congress has made many of the plates available as digital files free of charge, so you can engage in your own home restoration work, if you have the time and inclination.

The results, in many cases, are breathtaking. Whether images of French soldiers from World War I, other images from World War I, galleries from Tsarist Russia (and another, and another), or stunning pictures from Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, the images are amazingly crisp and bring to life the world from a hundred years ago in ways that traditional color pictures from fifty years ago never can. Check 'em out, they are beautiful.

Quote of the Weekend

In reference to who you'd want as a drinking buddy, Bush or Kerry:

"Personally, I'd much prefer Kerry. He'd be the one to appoint himself designated driver, make sure everyone got home safely, and buy the first round. Bush would be the one to get totally shitfaced, throw up on you, throw up on your date, throw up in your car, and then drive his own car up onto your lawn, taking out your mailbox, and then into your living room." - Poster at Daily Kos.

Inside the Enemy

Seth pointed me to an interesting Rolling Stone article about a guy who volunteered for Dubya's campaign earlier this year. It's decent - Seth's right that he makes a pretty gross generalization that seems somewhat unwarrented based on the evidence presented in the article - but it's one that I've often thought about. He says, basically, that conservatives are happy so long as they have an enemy to fight. For them, it's not about winning a battle, it's about fighting the enemy, no matter if that enemy is liberals, gays, communists, Islamofascists (whatever they are), pro-choicers, rock music, civil rights leaders, whatever. This was going to be one of the underlying premises of my next novel (the one I started before 9/11 and I'm just now coming back to), and it's certainly something I've observed before. I think the idea has quite a bit of merit, and is especially chilling when you take into account the last lines of Orwell's 1984: it doesn't matter whether the enemy is Oceana, or East Eurasia, so long as the enemy is out there somewhere.

The problem is, I'm not sure if the freedom we've had/have in the country has never existed, and it's always been an illusion, or if we really have lost it.

Long Time, No Post

I haven't done one of my "what I'm doing in my life" posts for a while, because my life has been really busy, so there isn't much time for posting that kind of stuff here. It's Friday night, and instead of going out and having fun - not that I really do that anyway - I'm getting into a game of Civ 3 that I hope will tide me over until San Andreas. I've got some movies to watch this weekend; I have to say, Netflix is worth it.

Last Monday, I attended a meeting of a local writer's group. Wolfgang and Jeff invited me, and it was an extremely positive experience - not just being around other writers, but getting some damn good feedback on a story I recently wrote, that I hope to polish up enough for a contest at the end of the month. Unlike my writer's group back in Tulsa, ego played little role in this, and the criticism was consistantly helpful; I really felt like I walked out of there with some good suggestions to do a much-improved rewrite.

Tuesday was World's Largest Dungeon, Wednesday was Skull and Bones and the debate. I didn't live-blog or even really comment on it; the media has made a mockery of the whole thing by playing up this Cheney's daughter bullshit and not even mentioning Bush's baldfaced lie about bin Laden not being a concern. Rove's troops are on the march, and Kerry is once again on the defensive. If there's a win, it's gonna be a Hail Mary at this point, unless something major happens in the next couple of weeks.

Last night I stayed in, and right now, I'm playing Civ 3 and listening to the Gladiator soundtrack, one of the nice instances when the music to the film is better than the film itself.

I've got some other stuff backlogged I'll post in a second.

More From the Hypocritical Republicans Department

The Smoking Gun has posted information about a sexual harrassment suit against Bill O'Lie-ly over at Faux "Fair and Balanced" news. It's pretty obvious from the quotes that she has O'Lie-ly on tape saying these things.

Yes, that's the same O'Lie-ly who recently released a children's book.

Blast From the Past

Because it came up in a conversation at work today, I found the Herding Cats Ad from Superbowl 2001. It takes a while to load, though.

One-Sentence Story

As Susan stared at the chaos overtaking the city beneath her, she found that her mind could no longer make sense of the sounds, smells, and sights of death, and she smiled as it quietly folded into itself.

Quote of the Day

"When the enemy advances, withdraw; when he stops, harass; when he tires,
strike; when he retreats, pursue." - Chairman Mao Tse-tung

RIP Superman

Chris Reeve has passed away.

Thank you, Mr. Reeve, for making me believe a man can fly.

They Won't Give It Up

After I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 with my parents, my dad made a comment like, "now that they're in power, they aren't going to let it go. What happened in Florida last time will happen all over the place this time."

At the time, I didn't want to believe that. It would truly signal the end of our democracy, and a crippling blow to whatever freedoms we still possess.

Yesterday, Karl Rove told Sean Hannity that they have a couple of "October surprises" lined up. Whether it's Osama bin Laden or something else is anyone's guess. But I have my suspicions; on conservative clearinghouse site Newsmax, there is a list of headlines:

• Left-Wing Vote Fraud in Pennsylvania
• Left-Wing Vote Fraud in Ohio
• Left-Wing Vote Fraud in Minnesota
• Left-Wing Vote Fraud Across Florida
• Democrat Vote Fraud in Jacksonville

Gee, it almost sounds like they are trying to establish groundwork for a case that tens of thousands of Democratic votes in battleground states should be discarded for fraud? Wouldn't it be wretched if all the hard work we've done to register new voters was actually what does us in?

I'm thinking of relocating to Iceland, before they force me to take my soma and forget it all.

You Forgot Poland! Pt. 2

Last night's debate wasn't quite as clean-cut victor-wise as the first, but it was quite telling. Bush paced around the stage and seemed angry; he tried to cut this act with humor (and lies about his reported income from a timber company - but that was three years ago, so I don't expect him to remember those little details with all the hard work he's got to do). He was surprisingly strong - or at least sufficiently confusing - on domestic policy, but Kerry looks more like a leader, while Bush looks more like a spoiled child used to getting his way. Especially when he got so angry at Charlie Gibson.

And, of course, he mentioned Poland.

Something that has always disturbed me about Bush is that he's never gotten or done anything based on personal qualifications. He went to Yale because Daddy went to Yale. Daddy pulled strings to get him into the Air National Guard instead of going to Vietnam. Daddy's friends bailed him out of several failed business ventures. Perhaps worst of all, he traded Sammy Sosa to the Cubs! He ran for governor with the help of Daddy's friends, and he ran for president as a figurehead with people like Rove and Cheney behind him because - and I believe this more and more - he can be easily manipulated. This creates an attitude of entitlement. I didn't like it when it was the neighbor kid whose parents bought him all of the cool toys because they had the money to spoil him rotten and the lack common sense not to. I didn't like it in college when the people who were obviously not there to study - whose parents went to Drury so they were there to drink and fuck and have a good time - interrupted my learning experience. More than anything, that attitude of entitelment that nepotism creates raises my ire, and the more Bush parades around in these kinds of forums, the more it rises to the surface.

On a less-personal level, Bush's treatment of the last question, whether he has made any mistakes, is quite revealing as well. Not only does it carry with it the attitude I've outlined above, one of entitlement, but it really does show that he's living in a fantasy world. I have to wonder, with the carefully screened and scripted campaign events, Bush's responses in the two debates, and things Bush has said along the way, if his handlers really are keeping him isolated. If true, it would be sad. And very very very scary.

Just judging on last night's performance, I would certainly want Kerry representing me.

Quote of the Day

"We've got a kinder, gentler machine gun hand." - Neil Young

Just One Year of Blogs

Today marks the Paper Anniversary for Subversive Puppet Show (formerly known as The Pirate Log or something). In that time, I've made 597 posts for a total of 107,568 words. I've switched jobs - twice - but I'm still at the same company. Liz was downsized, but found a better job. We're still in the same place, but we're looking at buying a house.

When I started this blog, my goals went something like this:

So, I'm turning to this blog as a means to write something other than training manuals, responses to customer service inquiries, and announcements about the Next Big Thing at the office.

I'd say I've been reasonably successful. Puppet Show has forced me to write, and in turn, that's helped my fiction. I did finish Crocodile Man and start on another, as-yet-unnamed novel. And just last night, I finished the first draft of a story, one that's a bit of a departure from what I typically write.

I'm still doing the political rants and movie reviews and other opinions, and I'd like to think that at least some of what I've written has proven insightful to someone, but I'm not sure I'll allow myself that arrogance. For me personally, it's a tool to use when I want to walk down memory lane and see where I've been, when, how, and what I was thinking.

And cheers to me for keeping at this project for so long. I certainly don't show any signs of stopping.

Quote of the Day

"I've been ionized. I'm fine now." - Buckaroo Banzai

No Blogger No More

I'm getting sick of this thing either not allowing me to post, or deleting my posts after I write them. I'm probably going to switch to a paid hosting and a blog run by Moveable Type in the next few days. If anyone has any other suggestions about blog software, or nice, reliable hosting, let me know.

Debate Stream

There is an audio stream on Air America Radio. I'm going to listen until I have to go to dinner.

Edwards is going to wipe the floor with Cheney's cheap toupee.

No Debate

I'm stuck at work, so unless I can get this streaming video working, I'm watching the debate on VHS later.

For What It's Worth

OK, my first post about this was deleted, so this is take two.

This weekend, Angela mentioned something interesting, one of those things that worms its way into the back of your head and sits there, waiting for you to chew on it. Yesterday morning, I finally brought it back and started thinking.

She talked about how her boyfriend, John, isn't getting "paid what he's worth" at his job. Capitalist commodification of self aside, I thought about what someone had told me a few months ago: that a person doing my job should be making more than twice what I'm making, because I can do HTML and public relations. And yet, two years ago, I was making almost half of what I'm making now giving out food to hungry people and helping kids get away from abusive parents.

So what am I really "worth?" If it's what I think I'm worth, then I would be making a million gazillion quadrillion dollars to sit on my island base and write horror stories and occasionally come up with some crazy scheme or another - but that's only what I think I'm worth, and no amount of wishing will make it true.

Then I got to thinking about other factors: the economy, and the "value" of labor in an oversaturated market. And I came up with this analogy.

Let's say back in 1997 I bought a comic book for $500. It was a rare printing, and the only place to get this important story (if you care about continuity). If I had tried to sell that comic book to a non-comic collector, in 1997, for $500, they would have laughed at me. So right there, the comic is only worth $500 to someone willing to pay for it.

Now it's 2004. I try to sell my comic book, and find that the guy at the comic shop will only pay $50 for it. I try another comic shop, and another - the highest anyone will pay is $50. I try eBay - again, $50. So how much is my comic book worth?

Sure, I may think it's worth $500, 'cuz that's what I paid for it once upon a time, but no amount of wishing will make other people pay $500 for it. If all someone is willing to pay is $50, then it's worth $50. A pretty simple lesson in economics.

I know, because Liz just did the job search thing, that someone with my experience in this town would be making right around what I'm making now, and maybe even a little less. So what am I "worth?" Whatever someone is willing to pay for me - and right now, that seems about right. Even a little better than average.

Someday I'll have that island base. Right now, it's OK to be where I am.

Good TV (Again)

Liz and I just wrapped up watching the second season of Jeremiah. It wasn't great in the way that Firefly was great, but it was certainly satisfying. Most post-apocalyptic fiction is really just survivalist masturbatory fantasies, and Jeremiah excells by being more a story about hope than about getting a bigger gun and killing all of the people who stand in the way of Truth and Justice, or Your Version of the Future: whatever. J.M.S. is to be commended for creating such a good show, and Showtime is to be commended for allowing it to run.

I lost a post earlier today; I'm seriously considering hopping ship to a blog hosted elsewhere (possibly on my own server). I've got almost 110,000 words invested in this stupid thing, and I really don't care to lose it.

Quote of the Day

"I don't train for sprints, I train for marathons." - Dilated Peoples

From the Relationships = Food Department

Thanks to Seth for pointing out what zombies need in a relationship.

A Dream of Sweet Illusion

So for the second night in a row, I'm doing a movie review.

Today we hit the Museum of Flight, something that managed to completely recharge my love for airplanes in one fell swoop. It wasn't nearly as large, and didn't have as many planes, as the Air Force Museum (I used to live just a couple of miles away from it when I was a wee lad), but the exhibits were much better and in-depth. I suppose that's the difference between corporate and government backing. The result: once we get this computer room cleared out, I'm going to set up a desk in here, dig out some of those models I never did, and do them.

Then we met up with Angela and saw Garden State. I had originally suggested seeing I Heart Huckabees (I'm not going to try to make a stupid heart image in the browser), but since it wasn't here, I thought of Garden State, since a couple of people recommended it.

It's good. It's really goddamned good.

Most of the time, I find that independent films - well, most films - are too damn self-aware. Its like somehow, either in the writing, the acting, the directing, or something, someone is trying too hard, like they know they're in a movie. On one level, it ruins the versimilitude of escaping into the film, but on another, it's substituting ego for talent. The movies that don't do this are rare - off the top of my head, I can think of The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, and American Splendor - two of which are Sofia Coppela movies. But Garden State pulled it off wonderfully. The dialogue was down to earth, the directing was nice and tight, and there was an underlying sense of capturing life rather than recreating it, which is really what moviemaking is all about. And the soundtrack was dandy, too.

That's all I've got as far as movie reviews go. I'm going to sleep early, again. Tomorrow, I have a room to clean and a table to set up.

A Break From Politics

You can't talk about politics all the time, eh?

Tonight Liz and I watched The Last Samurai. I admit, when this movie came out, I put off seeing it, because I thought it was going to be a lame Tom Cruise engine. Cruise is one of those actors that, when you see him in a movie, you think, "hey, that's Tom Cruise!" because he's got all these signature mannerisms - ways of talking, idiosyncacies, whatever - that you ignore the character and focus on the actor. Robin Williams is also guilty of this. And because of that, I generally don't care to watch movies with those actors in them.

But Cruise did a damn great job here. He wasn't Cruising it up at all, and the story and direction was good enough to create a really moving film.

That's a pretty lame review, especially considering I haven't written about movies in a long time, but it's about all I've got. I'm going to crash into bed in about five, four, three, two..

Own3d

Captured from DailyKos. Nice work, unknown artist. 

A Change

Before the debate tonight, I supported John Kerry because he wasn't George W. Bush.

Afterwards, I will support him because I truly believe he will make a great president.

Getting Messy

Kerry is so obviously kicking Bush's ass, I'm not sure what else I can say about it. It's kind of like watching the Seahawks beat the shit out of the 49ers.

Bush Looking Dumber

Bush keeps repeating points that Kerry has refuted more than once. It really goes to show that Bush has nothing to stand on but lies.

Out of Touch

If you doubted Bush was out of touch with the feelings of common Americans, watch this debate.

Mixed Signals

Repeating talking points over and over: it's not a debate or a discussion, but it's a great way to lead the herd. Gotta give the Chimp points on this.

Bush Repeating Points

He's repeating talking points and lies.

Wrong war, wrong place, wrong time - Kerry never said that.

Kerry Kicking Ass

I gotta admit, this is a pretty involving debate considering the idiotic rules. Kerry's hitting him hard. I'm enjoying this; Shrub really looks like he wants to do a line.

A Good Chimpism

"Of course we're after Saddam Hussien, uh, I mean bin Laden."

La Chimpa Nikita

The way the monkey is poking the podium, he reminds me of Kruschev, but not in a good way.

Chimp Learned a Word

But he's dodging questions and repeating talking points. And, he just lowballed Bush with the 9-11 commission's factual findings on Iraq.

Bush looks physically ill. Perhaps he'll hork on the podium.

Oh yeah - if you think this is going to be a fair assessment of the debate, you have another think coming.

Chimp Learned a Word

But he's dodging questions and repeating talking points. And, he just lowballed Bush with the 9-11 commission's factual findings on Iraq.

Bush looks physically ill. Perhaps he'll hork on the podium.

Oh yeah - if you think this is going to be a fair assessment of the debate, you have another think coming.

60 Seconds into his Game

It took Kerry about 60 seconds to get going. Good for him, he sounds great. The Chimp looks like, well, a Chimp.

Best Feed

In the Seattle area, apparently ABC has the best high-def feed of the debate. Not a single one in Widescreen. Sheesh, you can get Widescreen for the Oscars.

Live Debate-Blogging

I'm going to try to make a few posts live, during the debate, so I can capture the raw feeling of response rather than giving it time to percolate and decay. I'm not doing this to be vain; I'm doing it for myself, so I can go back and read what I thought at the time later. If you enjoy the ride, cool.

Forgot to Add:

Work has been just swell this week. I realized how long I'd been neglecting the PR side of my job, and how both jobs cannot be done at once (or, at the very least, done right.)

50 Minutes Left

I can't believe I'm looking forward to a presidential debate like this. I haven't ever gotten this excited about a football game before, let alone two white guys following oppressive rules to regurgitate canned talking points.

Still... it will be great.

Reasons to Like Daily Kos

I've been frequenting a great liberal political website lately - Daily Kos. It's a blog run by a guy who is, basically, a professional political blogger. And he's damn good. Reasons I like it:

1. It's updated several times a day.
2. There's a very active user network - many posts have over two hundred comments, most of them good.
3. They seem to have a zero-tolerance policy on trollskis.

The last is important, as my last Internet debate experience was absolutely ruined by a person who made it his life's goal to make other people miserable by personally attacking them online, to the point where he soiled my image of conservatives. I've worked very hard to get that stain out, and so far, it ain't goin' anywhere.