GOP strategist Fred Barnes caused a stink Sunday when he suggested that Republican politico John McCain use the gays as a wedge issue during the presidential election. This stance led Chuck Wolfe to wonder, “Will gay Republicans tolerate the Barnes Option?” Our money’s on “yes.” [Gay Politics]
Burny, Itchy Question.
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mark
Will LCRs act like spineless tax-break grubbing Vichy queers?
all signs point to YES
dfrw
And in other news….
This surprises us because…?
Timothy
You know something, that’s just a bitchy stupid hateful thing to say.
There is nothing whatsoever to suggest that gay Republicans will accept anti-gay campaigning from McCain any more than they did from Bush. But spiteful bitterness requires that you claim they will.
This gets so tiresome. For Gods sake, when it comes down to it, you’ve treated gay Republicans far worse than McCain ever has. You show more hate and more bile.
And you wonder why they don’t want to change parties to get closer to you?
Rob Moore
Timothy, I don’t hate gay Republicans. I simply don’t understand them. They puzzle me the same way Nazi Jews would puzzle me. The Republicans have always had a worse outcome of economic policies than Democrats. Clearly Republicans don’t know much about balancing a checkbook. In the last 40 years, the only Republican president who has not tried to socially engineer the renaissance of the 1950s and eroded individual liberties. So what is the appeal of the Republican Party? If you can provide a rational explanation for this appeal, please, educate me.
Rob Moore
Sorry, I made a typo. I meant to say Gerald Ford was the only Republican president who has not tried to socially engineer the renaissance of the 1950s and did not erode individual liberties.
Bob R
I hate gay Republicans. I hate all Republicans for what they’ve helped do to my country since Nixon. And I don’t have any Republican friends and haven’t since the election of GW Bush, and at this point I don’t want any. If that makes me a bad guy, so be it. I can live with that. I’ve lived with their hatred and evil long enough. If a Republican were on fire, I wouldn’t piss on them to put out the fire. To me a Log Cabin Republican is nothing but a gay Kapo.
anonymouse
The Log Cabin types have always left me scratching my head. In the slave-holding South there was a term for the slaves that got to work in the master’s house… How can they not get it?
mark
In the Third Reich there was a term for those cowardly selfish prisoners willing to be coerced to do the dirty day to day inhumanity to other prisoners, to save their own skins…KAPO.
Once the CAMPS were deserted by the Nazis and before the Allied troops marched in, the surviving prisoners killed all the KAPOS.
porsha
LCR’s should get smart and become independent. Their ‘party’ doesn’t support them, and if they remain, they deserve what they have. I do not hate. It’s a terrible emotion. But the ‘Republican Party’ hasn’t been republican since Goldwater! Get smart! Become independent!
Bill
I fukkin hate these neocons. They wrap themselves in a flag, twirl til they’re dizzy, flaunting their fake patriotism, and clapping their hands together in prayer, putting Jesus in a bottle… and spew all that claptrap about deregulation, patriotic war, junkscience, all of that stinkin’ crap they so “fervently believe.”
Bullshit. They are filled with bullshit. They are all traitors and baby-killers and neanderthal rednecks. Filthy ignorant turds, and they should all be flushed. Purveyors of ignorance, fear, hatred and bigotry.
“Oh come on, you can speak plainer than that!!”
You’re right.
They’re much worse than Nazis.
Timothy
Rob,
You misunderstand gay Republicans.
Unlike many (but not all) gay Democrats, they don’t try to argue that their party is always right and the other party comprised solely of evil vile people. They have their eyes wide open and they don’t just go in and vote for the party irrespective of the politics of the candidate. And they don’t try and make excuses for the wrong headedness of Republicans.
They share certain ideological and philosophical views in areas of economics, national defense, freedoms, etc. which are – at least in words – espoused by the Party. In short, they believe in a smaller government, lower taxes, less centralization, respect for the rights of conservatives (even those with whom they disagree), a strong national defense, and fewer rather than more restrictions on speech and religion. If they can get a candidate that shares those views who also believes in the equality of all citizens, they are already organized and ready to campaign for him or her.
I won’t deny that some small number or gays are Republican either because of poor self esteem, fear of cultural change, or even bigotries. But those persons are a tiny minority of gay Republicans and (this is absolutely true) I’ve seen these attitudes expressed more from gay Democrats than Republicans. Now perhaps that’s because gay Republicans are sensitive to these accusations, but I’ve only ever met a tiny handful of Uncle Toms or bigoted gay Republicans, and I’ve met a ton of racist or otherwise bigoted gay Democrats (though I do try to avoid them).
Gay Republicans do not support all Republican candidates, or even most. They did not endorse Bush in 2004 or many other candidates. Their idea of a Republican politician is San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders or Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or Maine Senator Susan Collins or Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Log Cabin does not see its job as providing cover for homophobes. Instead it views its work as an opportunity to lobby Republicans to support equality for all.
Progressive and Democratic gays historically have done a miserable job lobbying Republicans. They just don’t speak the same language. They don’t know how to appeal to their interests or even to their better natures and often alienate the legislator before they’ve gotten half way through their pitch.
And gay Republicans have no pretense that they are going to change the party immediately. But I challenge you to find any major legislative decision that did not need – absolutely NEED – that crucial one, two, sometimes several votes that were provided by Republicans who had been lobbied and worked and cajolled by gay constituents.
And like it or not, gay Democrats simply can’t deliver those votes.
Also sometimes, though not often, the Republican candidate is better than the Democrat on our issues. And partisan Democrat organizations simply will not tell you that. In 1990 when raging homophobe Democrat John Silber ran against pro-gay Republican William Weld, the Democrat establishment – including Barney Frank – endorsed Silber. Only the gay Republicans were out there telling the truth to the community (and fortunately squeeked by with the support of much of the community).
I have no idea if Log Cabin will endorse McCain. But if they do, it will be based on specific measurable criteria and not just because he’s the party’s candidate. They don’t work that way.
But the most important thing to realize is that gay Democrats and gay Republican share the same goals: equality under law for our community. And it ain’t gunna come without support from at least part of both parties. Democrats will offer us nothing more than the minimum and Republicans will offer nothing at all without efforts in both parties.
So gay Republicans will go on ignoring the bigots like those here joyously proclaiming their hatred and ignorance. They’ll let the foolish haters froth about “Nazis” and whatever other names they come up with.
They’ll go right on meeting with Republicans from McCain on down to their local county central committee members. They’ll lobby, provide statistics, sit over coffee, and provide an example of a real breathing gay person (who ohmigod doesn’t have horns and isn’t a leftist radical militant extremist crossdressing child molester, like some folks have been taught to expect).
They’ll keep right on talking about the importance of family and community and faith and about how these are all issues that are shared by gay folks as well. They’ll show how gays are not trying to destroy America or the family or society but instead want to contribute and be a part.
They’ll work to bring about equality in the place where the work is the hardest and few are willing to do it. And they will do it knowing that they won’t get any thanks but will instead get “I hate you” from silly gays who don’t even know the name of their elected officials, much less how they vote.
And you should be very very thankful that they do.
Rob Moore
Timothy,
If I accept your explanation then Log Cabin Republicans seem willing to accept the bigotry of their party with nothing to show for it. For every Republican politician like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Susan Collings, there are at least three like the late Jesse Helms or Karl Rove. As for their efforts to help the Republican party move to a greater level of tolerance, I have to say that after two decades of trying, they have nothing to show for it.
They didn’t endorse the Shrub in 2004. That didn’t change many minds since the Shrub still won. Roy Cohn was a Republican, and I can say I wouldn’t want to share a party with him. LCR at Republican conventions are nonentities who are ignored even more than black Republicans.
As I said back in July, I don’t hate LCRs, but to suggest I should be thankful for their work is silly. They aren’t doing it like missionaries in a land of heathens. They aren’t doing it for smaller government. They are doing it for money. Even then, I don’t get it. The Democrats at least don’t sell off whole industries to Asia to get the money to expand spending and they are the only party to balance the budget in half a century. They didn’t propose massive domestic spying, secret searches without warrants, waterboarding or other torture, morality laws intruding into our bedrooms, or covering a statue in the lobby of the Justice Department’s building in D.C. The Democrats didn’t impose Federal rules on testing and teaching at local school systems or try to open the door of the biology class to religious teaching of creationism. To claim the Republican party is the party of smaller government and fiscal responsibility is simply ludicrous. As we can see in the last week, the Republican party has essentially nationalised Wall Street. The Democrats would probably do the same thing given the choice of another Great Depression, but at least they would find the revenue to pay for it rather than doing it with more debt.
The Republican Party will need to change its name after this to the Republican Socialist Party. So you might forgive me for failing to see even a small effect the LCR has had on making the Republican party better. As for me, after reading your explanation, the only thing that came to mind is prostitution.
I