MyDD :: The Backbone Of Our Society

The Backbone Of Our Society

by Josh Orton, Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:57:21 AM EST

Via John, Bill in Portland Maine celebrates his 15th anniversary:

Where were you on the night of May 30, 1993? I was in a Saginaw, Michigan bar called Bambi's, staring across the room at a tall, dark and handsome guy drinkin' a beer. Through luck of the draw Michael and I ended up as partners that night in a four-person card game (in Michigan it's more like a religion) called Euchre. A blink of an eye later and here we are celebrating 15 years of Wilde's "love that dare not speak its name" together.

We are, as I like to say, the religious right's worst nightmare: a same-sex couple in a long-term, committed, monogamous relationship. The state of Maine even recognizes us as domestic partners. Oh, how the fundies hate that. An ounce of legitimacy for us is worth a pound of discredit for them.

The Wisconsin in me knows that Euchre is quite possibly the most boring card game around. Romance in strange places...

Congrats to Bill and Michael - we wish them many more.

Tags: gay marraige, gay rights (all tags)

Permalink :: 26 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (2.00 / 2)

I haven't run into a single person who plays Euchre since I left Michigan. How funny.

"Another problem we have...is that in election years we behave somewhat as primitive peoples do at the time of the full moon." --Harry Truman

by Steve M on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:59:17 AM EST

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (none / 0)

I am former Michigander....I love playing Euchre. And it's not boring! Live in Ohio now and still play occasionally.

by hopeful on Sat May 31, 2008 at 09:45:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (2.00 / 1)

A quote from the Orange Santan?

Oh My!

It's time to restore balance and fairness to our economy,... It's time to stop giving tax cuts to corporations that ship jobs overseas... - Barack Obama

by Lefty Coaster on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:03:35 AM EST

OK Josh, that does it! (2.00 / 2)

Your first full day as a front pager, and you are already disrespecting Euchre? Is nothing sacred anymore? ;-)

Congrats to Bill and Michael - whoever the hell they are. :-)

Your attempt to change the subject to "the issues" is irrelevant.

by itsthemedia on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:05:06 AM EST

Congratulations.. (2.00 / 2)

..Bill & Michael!!!!!!!!

A useless "Community Organizer" from Pennsylvania as noted by Republicans, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin

by hootie4170 on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:06:05 AM EST

Re: Congratulations.. (2.00 / 1)

yeah, congratulations; because of them and their commitment to eachother, I'm getting divorced... that's what gay partnerships do. Or something.

Just kidding...

"Don't let it end this way; tell them I said something." -the last words of Pancho Villa

by shef on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:10:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Congrats to Bill in Portland Maine (2.00 / 1)

and his partner Michael.

No Way, No How, No McCain!

by GFORD on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:08:30 AM EST

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (2.00 / 2)

The Wisconsin in me knows that Euchre is quite possibly the most boring card game around.

Bite your tongue. Or... uh, your fingers.

You've apparently been playing euchre with the wrong crowd.

Happy anniversary, Bill and Michael.

Join the Matthew 25 Network and help Democrats win the next generation of evangelicals.

by mistersite on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:11:21 AM EST

Happy Anniversary! (2.00 / 3)

we just hit 21.

And Euchre rocks. We have very fast, very heated games... :~)

-chris

Donate!

by chrisblask on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:48:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Ugh (none / 0)

If this is what we have to look forward to with you, Josh, then I say...

Bring back Jonathan.

I proudly support Barack Obama for President!

by Zeitgeist9000 on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:20:32 AM EST

Re: Ugh (none / 0)

What do you mean?

by Josh Orton on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:33:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Ugh (none / 0)

Welcome to the drive-by. There will likely be no further response.

Thankfully, these will inevitably start to die down next week.

by NeverNude on Sat May 31, 2008 at 05:25:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Ugh (none / 0)

This was your second post on gay rights--with respect to marriage--in a week.

What I like about the three main guys (Todd, Jonathan and Jerome) here is that they present the machinery of the progressive process in a way that gives me the tools to go out and fight for whatever I might believe in without pushing a specific aspect of any progressive agenda on me.

Capiche?

I proudly support Barack Obama for President!

by Zeitgeist9000 on Sat May 31, 2008 at 04:09:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Ugh (none / 0)

"Ugh" is a pretty strong word. To what part of Josh's post does it refer?

John McCain, like George Bush, doesn't care about sick children

by Ms Bluezone on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:41:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (2.00 / 1)

Euchre is huge in Ohio also. And it kicks ass.

by blinkingidiot on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:49:11 AM EST

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (none / 0)

Saginaw... Good democratic town... Man, I really like Michigan... why I got stuck in Red Ohio is beyond me...

It profits a PUMA nothing to give their soul for the whole world... but for McCain? --Sir Thomas More (if he were here now)

by LordMike on Sat May 31, 2008 at 02:18:08 AM EST

I grew up in MN playing "500" (none / 0)

with my family and a special guest, a nun named Sister Valeria who taught my dad in Grade School and, if I remember correctly, liked to eat Hoarhound Candy while we played.

Sister Valeria, needless to say, was exceptionally good at Euchre.

Congrats to Bill and Michael!

k/o: politics and local blogs

by kid oakland on Sat May 31, 2008 at 02:24:09 AM EST

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (none / 0)

Congrats to Bill and Michael.

Congrats to Josh again.

Congrats to my sis & her partner who will be getting married in August-if things don't backslide in California. Poker got them together only 11 years ago (and poker now, along with the color scheme in the kitchen, are their only sources of tension).

Imagine having to wait 11 years to get married.

McCainuire, The Wrath Of Not Enough Naps.

by catilinus on Sat May 31, 2008 at 02:24:25 AM EST

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (2.00 / 1)

My husband and I will be celebrating two years together in July. I was concerned about moving to MT, but amazingly the libertarian streak that runs a mile wide here has allowed a sort of live and let live attitude about almost everything. Who woulda thunkit? Openly gay in the Mountain West...

No politician ever lost an election because he underestimated the intelligence of the American public. - PT Barnum, paraphrased...

by jarhead5536 on Sat May 31, 2008 at 03:28:53 AM EST

people are more tolerant all over the country (none / 0)

Last year my friend's sister-in-law and her lesbian partner moved from Chicago back to Des Moines, partly because of the lower cost of living, and partly because Des Moines is a good place to raise kids.

As my friend said, you know things are changing in Iowa when lesbians are moving back here to start a family!

John McCain: 100 years in Iraq "would be fine with me."

by desmoinesdem on Sat May 31, 2008 at 08:56:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (none / 0)

Bill and Michael's marraige pretty much totally destroys the bonds my wife and I have cultivated for 30 years...NOT!

As one who has found a life-mate, my congrats to Bill and Michael. Live well.

BTW, WTF is Euchre?

by Bleeding Blue on Sat May 31, 2008 at 04:20:35 AM EST

you beat me to this comment (none / 0)

I was just about to point out that I can feel my seven-year marriage cracking under the strain of someone else's stable gay relationship.

John McCain: 100 years in Iraq "would be fine with me."

by desmoinesdem on Sat May 31, 2008 at 08:57:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (none / 0)

The Wisconsin in me knows that Euchre is quite possibly the most boring card game around.

Ever heard of a game called "solitaire"? Yeah, I think it's pretty hard to beat that one in the boring department. Typical 'sconie -- your perpetual state of intoxication clouds your judgment. Euchre kicks ass.

by RP McMurphy on Sat May 31, 2008 at 04:56:39 AM EST

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (none / 0)

Euchre is fast and requires a bit of strategy to play, but it isn't so complicated that it takes years to learn. As a former Michigander, I recall many enjoyable rounds of Euchre at lunchtime at work or sitting around in dorm rooms. I even recollect once playing a three-hand round with a couple across the aisle from me on a bus ride from the lower peninsula to the upper peninsula. When you know the game and you're playing with people who also know the game, it's a real fast moving game. I can't think of a card game I like more.

I now live in The Cheesehead State, where the locals play THE most complicated and boring card game of all: Sheepshead. Snore.....

by grapeshot on Sat May 31, 2008 at 11:02:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (none / 0)

That's great, congratulations to BIPM and Michael!!
Josh, not everyone here is familiar with all things KOS, so you might want to explain things a bit, perhaps link to a couple of Bill's more famous "Cheers and Jeers"?

by skohayes on Sat May 31, 2008 at 07:35:46 AM EST

Re: The Backbone Of Our Society (none / 0)

Best of to Bill, but more importantly, best of to those learning about Euchre. You had your chance to escape, now it's all over.

Also, I wholly endorse KOS/MyDD games of euchre on yahoo to see which blog reigns supreme in that which REALLY matters.

by ManageWA on Sat May 31, 2008 at 09:00:29 AM EST

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