Mike's Blog

This just in: Some Republicans don't like "the gays."

Shocking, I know.

Here are some of the highlights from a NYT article on the relationship between the GOP and homosexuals. The text in brackets is my own witty and trenchant commentary. I've numbered my inappropriate jokes for the reader's conveniance.

Vocal Gay Republicans Upsetting Conservatives

On a rainy Friday in early May, 200 members of the Log Cabin Republicans, a political advocacy group of gay men and lesbians, boarded buses at Dupont Circle, a popular neighborhood among gays here, for a pilgrimage of sorts. Their destination, the White House, was about a mile away. But for many, it had long seemed out of reach.

To gay Republicans, the visit, which included a policy briefing with senior administration officials in the Old Executive Office Building, symbolized their progress under President Bush. Although Mr. Bush did not attend, gone are the days when Bob Dole, a Republican candidate for president, refused a campaign contribution from the Log Cabin group, founded 25 years ago to promote the interests of gays in the party. >[I wasn't aware of Dole's refusal. The guy better hurry up and die before my personal esteem for him drops any lower. I hear he's worried.]"In '96, Bob Dole returned a check," Randy Boudreaux, 33, a Log Cabin leader from Louisiana, said as the bus rolled through the streets of the capital. "Now we're going to the White House."

But the emergence of gays as a more vocal presence in Republican politics is angering some leaders of conservative groups. In recent weeks, those groups have been sending pointed messages to the White House warning that President Bush's re-election is in jeopardy if he continues to court what they call the "homosexual lobby." >[Watch out for them gays, soon they'll be wanting, uh, you know, the same rights everybody else enjoys].i>

But the current tension between gays and conservatives illustrates the risks of that strategy, suggesting that the two main tenets of Mr. Bush's brand of Republicanism — the "big tent" philosophy and the "family values" agenda — may be on a collision course, just in time for the 2004 election campaign. >[Awesome. I hope the "family values" crowd gets reamed by the Log Cabin Republicans "big tent" (1).When Senator Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania, commented on the case, he angered gays of all political stripes by likening homosexuality to incest and bigamy. Gay Republicans, however, say the remark emboldened them, giving them new leverage on party leaders.

But leaders of conservative and Christian groups, angry at what they say is the president's tepid defense of Mr. Santorum, assert that they will use the court's decision to demand that Mr. Bush, who is on record as opposing gay marriage, take a more vocal stand.

"Candidate Bush said in the second debate that he felt marriage was a sacred covenant, limited to a man and a woman," said Ken Connor, president of the Family Research Council, an advocacy group in Washington. "That was not a huge issue in 2000. Mark it down. It will be a big, big issue in 2004." >[Chimpy McSmirkster never said anything of the sort. He said, "I'm not in favor of gay marriage," and "I'm not in favor of special rights (in reference to gays). He never mentioned any bullshit about sacred covenants and all that crap, although I'm sure he wanted to.]

Mr. Connor and other conservatives say they are incensed over a March meeting between Marc Racicot, the Republican national chairman, who is expected to become Mr. Bush's campaign chairman, and the Human Rights Campaign, a nonpartisan group that advocates equal rights for gays. The session was the first time a Republican Party chairman had met with the group, said David Smith, its spokesman. [They're incensed over piece of shit Racicot meeting with the Human Rights Campaign. These FRC fuckers are out of control.]

Mr. Connor recently sent an e-mail message to his supporters questioning whether the party chairman, whom he described as "out of touch with George W. Bush's most loyal and committed voters," was fit for the campaign job. [If by 'loyal and committed voters' he means 'bigots,' then yeah, Racicot might not be the man for the job. The GOP can't win without the bigot vote.]

Leaders of socially conservative and Christian groups also demanded — and got — their own meeting with Mr. Racicot. Participants said they told the Republican chairman they would bolt the party if leaders continued to make overtures toward gays. ["..if leaders continued to make overtures towards gays (2)....picture Bush and Santorum making "overtures" toward gays as they meet in the oval office...i'm laughing too hard at this sentence to come up with anything funny right now.]

The main message that we delivered was that you are playing with political fire if you are seen to be in any way compromising with the homosexual lobby," said Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, who was present. [Sounds like Weyrich must know a thing or two about "compromising with the homosexual lobby (3).]

There's more to read. And just so I'm clear, the Log Cabin Rebublicans can go fuck themselves (metaphorically or literally (4)) since just because I play for their team on this issue (5), they're still fucking wrong (not in the way Santorum means (6)) on every other political issue out there.

The GOP Beats Themselves Silly Thinking About Gays (7)

Posted by mike at May 31, 2003 05:19 PM