"Soulless" by Susan Estrich

Do you miss the good old days when there wasn’t such a huge rift between political parties? As illustrated in Susan Estrich’s 2006 nonfiction masterpiece “Soulless”, people like Ann Coulter have taken that rift and turned it into a monstrous black hole. Centerism is dead because of the conservative pundits who use harsh language and venomous tones to talk down to their liberal counterparts in order to rally up those who watch them. When today’s conservatives watch Ann Coulter say things like, “My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building.”, they don’t think, “Man, what a nut job!” They think, “Let’s go kill some liberals!” It makes political sense, but it’s bad for the country. Very bad. Ann Coulter can get away with stirring up this kind of hatred because of a few nuances that she has going for her. One, she never uses curses words, which would place nicely into the Christian right’s hands. Two, she peppers her phrases with Christian references, also playing nicely into their hands, obviously. Three, and this is the part that really drives things home, she looks good in a dress (or such is the common wisdom). Why do you think people like Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell, and Michelle Bachmann can get away with the things they say? Because they’re just Ann Coulter clones coming fresh off the assembly line. Of course, this book was written in 2006, so those three people weren’t as popular just yet. But you know who else was popular around that time? Glenn Beck. No one will ever want to see him in a dress, trust me, but he is every bit as vicious with language as Ann Coulter is, which is why people listen to him instead of writing him off as a lunatic. Susan Estrich intricately details how unless the conservative base stands up for itself and listens to reason, it will never get out of the dredges of the fringe. The worst part about all of this? Everyone appears to be just fucking dandy with this! See, I could never be an Ann Coulter wannabe! I just swore! That and I also don’t look good in a dress despite having huge knockers. Plus, I’m too liberal for that crap. Buy Susan Estrich’s book. Even after 2006 is in the rearview mirror, the book is still relevant in today’s modern era.
　

***LYRICS OF THE DAY***

“Calling all demons, this is the season. Next stop is therapy. We’re the retarded and the brokenhearted, the season of misery. Here’s to the wasted, I can almost taste it. The rejects, the wastes of times. Going to take it further, get away with murder. And no one here is getting out alive. Here’s to all God’s losers. The bottom-feeders frenzy. Here’s to all bloodsuckers, sing along with me. ‘Cause we don’t say no, scream one, two, three.”

-Green Day singing “Dirty Rotten Bastards”-

"Red Blood, White Knuckles, Blue Heart" by Garrison Kelly

All of this reading of quick novels had to lead somewhere. For me, it lead to me publishing my first book on Lulu.com under the penname Garrison Kelly. It’s an anthology of my best work called “Red Blood, White Knuckles, Blue Heart”. You’re probably wondering why I chose to publish under a penname instead of Garrison Haines-Temons. It has nothing to do with my need for privacy, though that would be nice. To be honest, the name Kelly is harder to butcher than Haines-Temons. Throughout school, I’ve been called “Hynes-Tea-Moans”, “Hainees-Tee-muns”, and a bunch of other weird names that are obviously a product of linguistic ignorance. I used to embrace the idea of having a page in my books that told people how to pronounce my name, but I opted not to since Kelly is a more attractive last name anyways. But if you still want to know how my last name is pronounced, here it is. Haines rhymes with “chains” and Temons rhymes with “Simmons”. I know it seems weird that the E in Temons would be pronounced like a short I, but trust me, that’s how it’s said. Temons is a very old Gaelic name. It looks strange, but it’s pronounced only one way. Same thing goes for the name McLeod. It’s not pronounced “Mick-Lee-Uhd”. It’s pronounced “Mick-Loud”. I chose the name Garrison Kelly because it’s easy to say and we don’t have to have a debate over how it’s said. You’re probably wondering why I chose to talk about my last name instead of the actual anthology I’ve published. The answer is simple: if you want to know what to expect from my book, go to the link provided and read either the description or the back cover. I’ll warn you right now that none of these stories, letters, and poems are intended for the squeamish. I don’t do TV-G stuff except for on very rare occasions. This is not one of those occasions. There’s a reason why there’s a TV-MA logo on the American flag book cover. And yes, that is my older brother with the knife in his mouth. I took that photo of James back in 2006 and thought he would make a great Waldo Spiegel, one of the characters in the book. You’re probably wanting the link right about now. Okay, here it is. Happy reading!

　
http://www.lulu.com/shop/garrison-kelly/red-blood-white-knuckles-blue-heart/paperback/product-20672921.html