I just read a column in the NY Daily News by Juan Gonzalez about Silvestre Reyes, a conservative Democrat from El Paso (and former Marine captain in Viet Nam, 1968-1969).

“Thirty-five years ago, I found myself half a world away in a place called Vietnam,” Reyes said during the Iraq debate. Now, he went on, “mothers and fathers and veterans come to me and tell me, ‘Please, do not let us get back into a war without exhausting all other avenues.’”

“As a member of the Committee on Intelligence, I have asked consistently the question. … What is the the connection between 9/11 and Iraq and Saddam Hussein? None.

“What is the connection between Iraq and Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda? Very little, if any. As to the weapons of mass destruction … there is a lot of speculation.”

Even a top general who testified before the committee expressed severe doubts about a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Reyes said.

Quite simply, the congressman concluded, “the case has not been made.”

One of the other things that struck me, and should be bigger news, is this: 47 of the 52 members of the House that are either Hispanic or African-American voted against the Iraq war resolution. The news media should be asking why. Is it because they realize that their constituents will suffer so that more powerful people can get richer from the war?

One reason for war you won’t hear from the White House is spelled O-I-L. Iraq has the world’s second-largest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, about 11% of the world’s total.

Kenneth Derr, the former CEO and chairman of Chevron, said it best in a 1998 speech at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco.

“Iraq possess huge reserves of oil and gas – reserves I’d love Chevron to have access to,” said Derr.

I might not post much for a little bit. I think I have the flu, or at least something unpleasant with a cough.

We saw a reading of a new screenplay called “Adam and Steve” tonight, written by Craig Chester, at Fez. The cast included Ileana Douglas, Nora Burns, Mike Albo, and Bryan Batt. It also featured the Dazzle Dancers. I half expected to see Dan’l there. It was very funny, and the cast really got into it.

Two favorite moments:

Two men go into a store in Chelsea, looking to buy a ring. The salesman asks, “Nipple, cock, pride, or finger?”

When asked what it was like to be in the city on 9/11, someone responds, “Oh, you know. The sky was all purple, there were people running everywhere.”

—

I once had Craig Chester as a waiter for Florent’s big Bastille Day celebration outside on Gansevoort Street. This was after Swoon, not before, and he said he was helping out a friend for the day. I remember this was the year that there were a lot of protests over the French resuming nuclear testing in the South Pacific. Chi Chi Valenti, during her performance, unfolded a big sign that said, “STOP FRENCH BOMBS!” The crowd went wild.

Yes, sometimes their owner/publisher, and columnists like Zev Chafets (blaming Jerrold Nadler for not caring about the safety of American Jews) make me want th throw the paper across the room. But then they do something like this:

Gay rights overdue

State Republicans are signaling that a gay rights bill stalled in Albany for three decades may finally come to a vote. Why now? It’s obvious. Election Day is a month away, and Gov. Pataki’s efforts to get the legislation passed this year have come to naught. Gay and lesbian voters comprise a sizable, focused chunk of the voting public.

And so the GOP is scrambling: Pataki’s angling for a preelection Senate vote on the bill. State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno hints that a vote could actually happen – after the November election. Mayor Bloomberg insists the measure will be passed before the end of the year, thanks (of course) to Pataki’s support.

Pataki’s name was booed by many when Bloomberg mentioned it recently at a major gay event, and the frustration is understandable. After 30 years, you’d think that adding two little words – sexual orientation – to the list of personal qualities protected from discrimination under state law would be a no-brainer. Twelve states and 20 New York localities, including the city, have managed to do it. The holdup in Albany? While Pataki has supported the bill for several years, though initially he opposed it, Bruno, who is allied with some of the state Senate’s most conservative Republicans, hasn’t yet struck a deal.

The bill, like so many pieces of legislation that languish in Albany limbo, should have been approved long ago. It should be passed as soon as a new session can be convened. But meanwhile, let’s hear – pardon us – straight talk from state leaders, starting with Bruno: Will the gay rights bill, a matter of simple decency, be passed or won’t it? If they can’t deliver, surely they understand: Voters, gay or straight, can swing both ways.

Maybe they should spend some time reading about world history, other cultures, and an intelligence report or two.

White House staffers gather for Bible study

(via TBOGG)

… has two great articles today.

What is a European, by A.S. Byatt, and Michael Kimmelman on the re-appearance of Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty.

Bay Windows has a great article on the only out gay man in the NY Fire Department — Tom Ryan.

Earlier, in an interview, Ryan, who turns 43 in early November, said that in the last year he found out that 25 closeted firefighters died in the World Trade Center. When Bay Windows spoke to him a week after the terrorist attack, he reported that to his knowledge none had-at least ones that were open about their sexuality. “There also were gay firefighters in the buildings who survived and still are afraid to come out,” he said. “I find that incredible. How could you fear anything after going through that?”

We braved the rain to go to a few shows today, and I strongly recommend two of them:

• Christoph Schmidberger at Nikolai Fine Art (through the end of the month)
• Ray Johnson at Feigen (also through the end of the month)

The Johnson show had me thinking about whether I could sell something to buy one. Also, go see the movie about him at the Film Forum.

I just got back from standing in the rain, watching the firefighters march up Eighth Avenue from 14th Street to Madison Square Garden for the memorial service there. When I awoke this morning, the first thing I heard through my apartment windows was the sound of bagpipes.

There were only a few people standing on the sidewalks watching. The barricades that had been up since 5 last night seemed overkill.

They all seemed fascinated by the NYSC on the corner of 23rd and Eighth. Maybe there was a class with pretty women happening — all of the ones I saw do that were men. The departments from Florida and Texas were notable for the amount of Latinos/Latinas in their groups — a lot more than we have.

I saw men in kilts, bagpipe players having finished their march, carrying five cameras at once to take pictures for their friends that were still marching.

Most of them were Americans, but there were a lot of Canadians, and we saw one small group of Italians and one that was French. I’m sure there were more countries, but I didn’t see the whole procession. A policeman standing near us was telling a neighbor from my building about going to Ground Zero to try to help — “they were turning people away, there were so many.”

I could hear the ceremony starting a little after ten on the loudspeakers that were set up along the avenue. I think Giuliani’s living with a gay friend in his apartment for a while has been good for him. The first thing he said was that he wished that Father Mychal Judge were there to speak first. He also said that the people who died were trying to rescue people regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation.

There are police barricades everywhere along Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue in Chelsea. Those were the only avenues I saw tonight. I don’t know if they’re on Seventh too.

The waiter at dinner — a new idiosyncratic Italian place called Morelli’s at 21st Street and Ninth Avenue — said it was because of a firemen’s march.

What, are they planning a riot in my neighborhood tomorrow?

They won because they’re the best technology, right?

Microsoft discloses security flaw

Microsoft Corp. disclosed a security flaw Thursday of “critical” severity in its Outlook Express e-mail programs.

…

The security bulletin is the company’s 58th this year.