Halloween Grab Bag

Full-size Twix bar: Maddow scored a sitdown with Obama yesterday (has she officially arrived as Queen of Everything? yes. yes, she has) and asked him about Afghanistan, reaching out to non-insane Republicans, and the possibility of resurrecting some old-skool FDR socialism with a modern Works Progress Administration. Score, score, and score. The only downside? Her lighting was awful. She looked like a Dickensian street urchin, but clean and in better clothes.

Fun-size Snickers: Obama told her he liked her pants!

Fifty of those little Reese's Cups: This may be the most thoughtful op-ed I've yet seen in the Arizona Daily Star arguing against that goddamn Proposition 102, which would protect straight people's third and fourth marriages by amending the state constitution to keep my partner and me from making our long-term two-kid, two-dog family legal. Take a sec and send the writer a thank-you note; I did.

In our learning, there is one truth we do not question. It is that our influence as a straight couple cannot change the orientation of our son, nor will it change the orientation of any non-heterosexual person we meet. Likewise, those of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persuasion cannot influence our straight orientation.

From this truth, we have concluded that to whom we are attracted is not a choice, but rather a continuation of our normal development begun at conception.

As unique human beings, then, our personal and very private rights to love another belong to us alone. We, every one of us, should be free to choose our life partners without fear of laws restricting our natural birthrights.

Fun-size Krackel: Abby Wambach was one of nine US athletes the Chinese government put on a watch list of potential protestors prior to the Olympics. Even though the broken leg kept her at home, the shout-out as a rabble-rousing progressive is all sorts of awesome.

Box of raisins: Thursdays that feel like Fridays, making Friday feel you're having to come into work on Saturday. Yesterday was so totally a Fridayesque day that those of us in the office today are grumpy about it. Also, office Halloween parties without alcohol. Although those are more like a box of stale raisins left over from last year.

Toothbrush: Do you have ovaries, a uterus, a vagina, or any combination of the above? Then you're paying 32, or 39, or 49 percent more for your healthcare than a man of comparable age. You know, because when you're young you might have a baby and when you're old you might be incontinent. Actually, you'll pay more even if you opt out of maternity coverage, because the insurance companies reason that, as a woman, you tend to go in for preventative care and take their prescriptions more frequently than guys who man up and shrug off minor symptoms until their appendixes explode or their prostates swell up and pinch off their bladders or their depression gets so bad that they kill themselves. Or something. If you still need a reason to vote for Obama, think about what your matching X chromosomes will do to your prospects in an open healthcare market. Enjoy that $2500! It should last you about two months.