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Charles Moran, the babyfaced head of the Log Cabin Republicans, won’t be among those criticizing California State Sen. Roy Ashburn. And neither will GOProud’s Jimmy LaSalvia. That’s because these two organizations put their political affiliations first, gay Americans second, and common sense in the incinerator.
Nevermind that Moran, a gay man, used the no-no word “admit” when discussing Ashburn’s coming out. (“Admitting” something implies there was something shameful to hide; sexual orientation does not qualify. Then again, even the gay blog Towleroad used the word.)
But both organizations, whether through public statements (LCR) or noticeable silence (GOProud) are refusing to go after a Republican that actively endorsed discriminatory measures against a community they both claim to represent.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Perhaps we should expect as much from this pair of bumbling entities, which are really nothing more than “spokesmen” issuing “press releases.” After all, it was LCR that endorsed Sen. John McCain for president in 2008, despite his horrific record on LGBT equality. Moran blames “the culture in public politics that really forces people on the left and the right that they need to hide their sexual orientation to be successful in politics.” This is certainly partly to blame. But none of it excuses a politician, gay or straight, from voting against equality. That alone is enough to warrant criticism. Ashburn’s sexuality is not even a factor in deciding whether to criticize him; his voting record is. And yet Moran won’t demand this guy step down.
Neither will GOProud’s LaSalvia. Thus far, we haven’t seen any public statements from LaSalvia about Ashburn. Meanwhile, LaSalvia is just fine going after former Rep. Eric Massa, the maybe-gay Democrat, in insulting terms. On Thursday he tweeted, “Just wondering when Eric Massa is going to have his ‘I’m a gay alcoholic’ news conference? http://www.bettyfordcenter.org/,” which we assume is in reference to Chuck Klosterman.
Indeed, Massa appears to be guilty of predatory behavior, while Ashburn is merely responsible for that oh-so-harmless crime of drunk driving. But Massa’s voting record doesn’t include supporting Prop 8, refusing to recognize out-of-state gay marriages, and banning sexual orientation discrimination in insurance policies Ashburn’s does.
Shamefully, both LCR and GOProud act as cover for anti-gay Republicans. As evidenced at CPAC, conservatives get to say they’re open to listening to queer views by letting these organizations in the door, without actually doing anything for this community. And now, even anti-gay gay Republicans have someone to make excuses for them.
Tim W
If you go over to gaypatriot.net you’ll see what they think. The gay conservatives are way out there including one who said it was ok for politicians to legislate against us because we are just like other groups they legislate against like pedophiles. I was shocked and challenged other gay conservatives to denounce what he said. Guess what not a one would. There’s your answer.
tjr101
These two groups don’t give a rats ass about gay rights. It’s all about their selfish obsession with tax cuts and their DADT membership to the local country clubs. Gay Republicans are among the biggest hypocrites in society and in fact inflict more damage to gay rights then even their straight counterparts.
GOP leaders like Dick Cheney, Meghan McCain and Steve Schmidt?!? All supposedly support gay rights that are not elected members of the party, quite laughable.
DICK only “supports” gay rights because his daughter is gay and she has the same twisted view as the Log Cabiners. DICK uttered not a single word for gay rights during the eight years in office and allowed gays to be used as red-meat by Karl Rove for their rabid right-wing base.
Looking forward to seeing more gay Republicans outed!
Leon
Log Cabin and GOProud have been very clear in focusing on the hypocrisy of Massa while supporting Ashburn in his painful time of coming out. Let’s be clear, Ashburn was never hypocritical because he has always represented himself as a Conservative and against the ‘gay lifestyle’. GayPatriot wrote a great article citing how liberal Democrats always blame closeted Republicans for not coming out. The new meme among gay Republicans is that one can be gay and still oppose all gay-related legislation while not being a hypocrite. This was even floated when Andrew Sullivan questioned whether or not Matthew Shepard was really gay-bashed and also said that hate crimes legislation is an unnecessary boutique legislation. Gay Conservatives have been pretty quiet about loudly opposing gay marriage, but they are getting more bold in that respect. Some of them are defending Ashburn by saying that kids deserve both a mother AND a father. I think Ashburn will try to fit this niche where he advocates traditional values, says that the gay lifestyle is unhealthy and immoral, but still savors his late night rendezvous with young Latino immigrants. This is nothing new. Ashburn is the new Terry Dolan.
Leon
I forgot to mention: but another white elephant that people seem to be ignoring is that not only has Ashburn been known to be gay for years (glass closet), but he’s carefully selected young gay men for his staff: scroll video to 1:39 http://tinyurl.com/ydqmkju
damon459
I don’t get it who say’s gay marriage changes the fact that straight people divorce 50% of the time? I would have been happy to have two parents growing up but I wouldn’t have given a damn if they were male/female, male/male,female/female. So gay marriage has nothing to do with my parents breaking up and using the argument of a two parent household to raise children to prevent two loving people of the same sex from giving a loving child home is B/S, but then from what i’ve seen these gay republicans usually come from “happy” heterosexual 2 parent households.
Tucker Neel
Charles, I know you. I went to Occidental College with you I was the President of the GSA while you were there and a member of the GSA. I have enjoyed many debates with you and have seen you grow in you devotion to your beliefs. While we have nearly always disagreed, except with a few instances where we found the same guy hot, I do find a few aspects of your personality to be admirable.
One of the best things about you is that you are someone who sticks to your guns. Even when we fundamentally disagreed I knew you were full of conviction. But now, even when seeing prominent Republicans acquaint homosexuality with necrophilia, you still stick by the party. I think you have not only a big stomach but also a thick skin (real thick) when it comes to seeing your party demand that all constituents openly oppose the constitutional right to marriage for all people.
I have a great respect for Charles’ dedication to his ideals. He says that he’s happy to see Republicans move on gay rights in the 21st century, but I’m wondering how this has manifested in real world changes. It’s astounding to fathom how he stands up for a political party that openly boos speakers from the Log Cabin Republicans – a group he heads. I guess its very important to the gay rights movement that we have people working within the Republican party to create change, to show them that their own are “different” embracing and “alternative lifestyle.” The courage and resilience that requires is inspiring, but also baffling. I must say I’m not so brave. But I grew up in a good Democratic family that always supported me and never ever told me that my sexual orientation was anything but natural and wonderful and deserving of full equal rights.
It’s inspiring to see Charles stand up for what he believes in, which I’m sure is good old Republican values, like lower taxes, smaller government, and deregulation. That said, I have always disagreed with him, pointing out that the war in Iraq he supported proved to be based on irrefutable lies, that the tax cuts he champions have made America a financial serfdom, and the deregulation directly caused this current financial crisis. Prove me wrong Charles, prove me wrong.
But all those understandable Republican ideals aside (which I could totally understand because, in the end, they are based on subjective judgments on what society SHOULD BE, and are not so, say, personal) I have absolutely no idea how he stands by a party that either wants him to visibly shut up, or worse, seal himself to the damnation their God prescribes for him. Really, how does he wake up and play for a team that wants him to deny who he is?
I’m very happy that Charles talks about the trouble of both Democratic and Republican politicians feeling they need to stay in the closet when it comes to their own sexual orientation. I think Charles and I would agree that the world would be a better place if politicians embraced not only their own sexuality, but, also the rights of those relationships, demanding that they be given equal tax benefits, marriage rights, adoption rights. Unfortunately, the party he supports is openly hostile (to the point of supporting death sentences for homosexuals in Uganda) to homosexuals. Sadly the “fringe minority” he cites make up the bulk of the party.
Of course there are enlightened Republicans. But they are few and far between. George W. Bush, Pat Robertson, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, bill O”Riley, Trent Lott, Newt Gingrich (who denies his gay sister), the list is very long. Seriously Charles, how can you live your life knowing that the political party you support openly condemns who you are on the most basic level?
Certainly the Dems are not perfect. I’m livid with Obama not repealing Dont Ask Don’t Tell. The lack of movement on gay marriage rights makes my blood boil. And I know Clinton signed DOMA. I will never forgive him. If I ever get to look him in the eyes again I will certainly let him know that his actions have personally denied my access to the American dream. But he has acknowledged his faults, which is far more than we can ever wish to get from George Jr.
I openly protested Prop 8, campaigned against it, and donated money to get it repealed. But Meg Whitman? Are you OK with that woman being a Republican? Really? Are you satiated with how much other people hate you that you are willing to stand by them just so you can win minor ideology victories, even if they deny your basic emotional instincts and deny your ability to love? There are many Deems who have supported anti-gay agendas. But this bias is miniscule compared to the neo-conservative anti gay movement in the last 20 years. To deny this is not only to be ignorant to history but also to be willfully self- hating.
In 2004 Bush endorsed a ban on same sex marriage. How you could continue to be a Republican after this statement is beyond my imagination. It defies logical thinking.
Seriously, your support of the current Republican platform (especially the Tea Party element) ends with J. Edgar Hoover and Roy Cohn.
As much as you are out and proud your cohorts will always think you are working for the Devil. I mean this seriously. These are people who believe that gay people can be cured with shock therapy.
I don’t want you to join the Dems. I think I’m registered Independent. I vote Green all the time. I have even voted for Libertarians every now and then (never LaRouche-that would be wrong- like marrying an infomercial). The world is a politically imperfect place. Let’s have lunch and talk about it.
Lanjier
Ridiculing the gay Republicans used to be a lot of fun. But when the Democrats controlled the government and kept the hate laws on the books, and vigorously defended them in court, the joke became less funny. Democratic inaction has kind sucked the laughter out of the room for me.
hephaestion
GOPround?
Constant misspellings make a web site look like trash.
Queerty and Americablog are both choked with misspellings that are never corrected, even when readers point out the errors. This degrades the web sites that represent us. It is embarrassing.
Mike in Asheville
Why Aren’t GOPround + Log Cabin Republicans Going After Roy Ashburn?
BECAUSE THEIR HEADS ARE UP THEIR ASSES.
Timothy
“Go After”??
Like what, spank him?
Everyone already knows that Ashburn is a jerk and there’s nothing to be gained by LCR and GOProud lining up to get in their punches.
Instead, use this as an object lesson on how living in the closet is damaging, which is what I think LCR is doing.
But for those who just want to scream and rant and whine, it’s soooo much more fun to just point and be nasty. Not effective, but it sure feeds into our own insecurities to find someone else to be “better” than.
D'oh, The Magnificent
As you can see a long your comment thread, the answer is that GOProud like many of your posters are fucked in the head.
You may as well asked why is that insane guy in a metal institution talking to himself. It is what crazy people do.
One of the hardest things to accept in life for any minority group is that there will be members of the group who identity with those oppressing them. The best advice is to ignore them, and point out that they are nothing more than house slaves defending the virtues of slavery.
You will note that no one was defending Massa, neither the Democratic leadership or gay groups, but they some how see equivalence nevertheless between Massa (because he was a Democrat) and the self hating gay bigot. The self hating gay bigot was not required to make speeches in which he attacked other gays in order to represent his district. He could have , if he believed that he should represent their interest, a) chosen to voted his district’s wishes without the homophobic speeches or b) convinced his district that their position was wrong. Either would have been arguable. Neither are true here. We have a guy who attacked us openly in public who is being defended by nutjobs.
Jimmy
Many of these gay Republicans are no doubt Objectivists, subscribing to the ideology that the little Russian weirdo, Ayn Rand, came up with after she became inthralled with a sociopath/serial killer who dismembered little girls.
http://exiledonline.com/atlas-shrieked-why-ayn-rands-right-wing-followers-are-scarier-than-the-manson-family-and-the-gruesome-story-of-the-serial-killer-who-stole-ayn-rands-heart/
Dale G
As a gay Republican, I do have have a response to this posting.
You guys are full of shit. Go fuck yourselves.
Dean
Ray Ashburn was made for gayorevangelical.com
tjr101
@Dale G:
As expected you take the easy way out… having nothing to say!
Tom Degan
For people like me, what makes American politics so much fun are the gold mines chock full of unintentional humor – generously provided to us by the likes of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove! Seriously, these two (and daughter Liz) are the gifts that keep giving and giving and giving!
It’s going to be a hoot in the next few years as the Bush Mob try to rewrite history in their memoirs. I imagine it will be the equivalent of trying to put a smiley face on a dead pig: “Well, looky thar, Mildred! Ain’t that purdy?”
In 2000 when the people of the United States stupidly sent George W. Bush to the White House, we effectively pointed the proverbial loaded pistol at our own collective heads. Four years later, on Election day 2004 – make no mistake about it – we pulled the trigger.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
Marianne Seggerman
The most important thing is to come out. The next most important thing is to come out. Roy Ashburn came out. Either give him moral support now, when he needs support, or BACK OFF.
Cam
The old head of the Log Cabins had some integrity. Patrick Guarino (sp) took a bunch of crap if I remember right because he refused to endorse Bush for President, his statement I remember reading on some of the blogs said basically that Log cabin supported GOP historical positions blah blah blah, but that they couldn’t endorse a candidate who was working against gays. Now THIS guy on the other hand, when McCain was running would PURPOSLY try to confuse the issue by claiming things like “McCain didn’t vote against (Insert anti GAy Bill) in Arizona so he is supportive of gay issues. He would of course leave out that the fact that as a National Politician he doesn’t have a vote in the AZ legislature so COULDN’T vote on that issue. Typical Partisan bullshit putting the party before everything. Whether I agreed with Guarino or not I really respected his integrity…this guy is the lowest form of political hack.
annoying
Queerty can produce such boring and uninspired political analysis.
Deal with the fact that 1/4th of all self-identified gays voted for John McCain in 2008, and pull your head out of la-la land, where everyone agrees with your sanctimoniousness.
bob
This is a cute re-write of a much better story at On Top Magazine (http://ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=5417&MediaType=1&Category=26), which you clearly ripped off without so much as giving credit where its due. Both stories appeared on the same day, what a coincidence.
Jimmy
@Marianne Seggerman “Give him moral support?” WTF? He may have said that he is gay but he also is of the opinion that HE is OK as a gay man, but the rest of us are NOT OK.
He believes LGBT are second class citizens.
Fuck him.
Cam
No. 19 · annoying
Queerty can produce such boring and uninspired political analysis.
Deal with the fact that 1/4th of all self-identified gays voted for John McCain in 2008, and pull your head out of la-la land, where everyone agrees with your sanctimoniousness.
____________________________
And your comment was quality analysis? The article is about how a GAY organization isn’t going after somebody in their own party voting against gay issues from the closet. That is a valid topic to question, unbunch your panties.
The Milkman
“Why Aren’t GOProud + Log Cabin Republicans Going After Roy Ashburn?”
The answer is simple.
It’s because their organization isn’t at all interested in advancing the cause of GLBT equality.
It’s about one (or more) of three things:
1. They’re more interested in protecting their monetary assets than fighting for GLBT equality.
2. Their status as a conservative Republican is the only part of their lives that their conservative Republican families can relate to and support.
and/or
3. They are contrarians who enjoy espousing a conservative Republican identity simply to go against the direction of the majority. If most GLBT people were to join the GOP, they’d become Dems.
Brown Gay Al
As someone who is libertarian and voted for McCain simply because I didn’t think Obama will do anything on gay issues while being weak on Islamic terrorism and further bankrupt this country via universal health care his actions so far haven’t caused me to regret my vote.
Its not as if we hate ourselves just that we see on balance that Democrats aren’t much better except the lip words and vote accordingly.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Brown Gay Al: You never talk about the issue being discussed in the article. No one gives a shit who you voted for. The question is what do you think should be the response to the Republican official. Apparently, your response is to change the subject, which tells us it is not about the policy at all for you.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@The Milkman: You can see that in the responses of all the Republican types along the thread. They essentially say nothing about the topic at hand, but go off about the Democrats. Like one justifies the other in their mind. What they are really doing, of course, is deflection because they have no response for the reasons you state. I think a large number of them fall into category too. They want to fit in to their background so they end up endorsing absurd arguments. Take Brown Gay Al for example, he’s supporting the GOP because the Democrats have done nothing to advance gay rights, and meanwhile, he has nothing to say about a Republican, who specifically worked against his rights. In other words, in Brown’s warped mind (which is typical of a libertarian “Objectivism”), indifference is the same as open hostility. If someone shots you, it is the same as someone ignoring you. Get it?
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Brown Gay Al: One more nail in the coffin of your claims to be a “libertarian.” it is funny to read someone claim to be a libertarian whine about government inaction to protect him, but then ignore government action by the GOP which actively targets you out for harm. I have no idea what definition of “liberty” you are using, but it ain’t based on any that is logical.
ousslander
These groups should comment on how his actions are bad and not offer him cover. However they are doing nothing more or less than the major gay orgs do for their DNC brothers and sisters.
That’s because these two organizations put their political affiliations first, gay Americans second, and common sense in the incinerator. NOw this had me laughing. It’s exactly what HRC and the rest do.
Robert, NYC
Of course, they’re not going to say too much, ditto the GOP. They have their own house to clean up…Larry Craig, Sanford, Fossella, Ensign, now Ashburn. No surprise there!
B
To be fair, it seems that Ashburn didn’t actually introduce any anti-gay legislation, but did vote the way the vast majority of Republicans voted. From that standpoint, he’s no better or worse than most of them.
He did officially sponsor an anti-same-sex-marriage rally, with a short description in Ashburn’s press release in 2005, which you can find at http://cssrc.us/(X(1)A(aj5UwAz7ygEkAAAAOWE0ZTE0YzMtNzkwYy00YjcwLTg1ZmEtMGVhOTljZjg4OTJkz_xPDvdCXNQn2XmHMYc-Uyk36hA1))/web/18/news.aspx?id=1870&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 . Interestingly what he is quoted in his press release as saying is, “We need to preserve traditional values for the future of our children,” and “Children must be raised with morals and principles. As a society, we must provide them with a secured and loving environment that allows them to flourish.” As a general statement, divorced from its context, it is pretty innocuous. Others (Lou Sheldon and company) were no doubt a lot more rabid. According to http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/10/MNSE1CDBEB.DTL one of the local pastors, Chad Vegas, commenting on this rally, indicated that Ashburn was not very enthusiastic and that Vegas had suspicions that Ashburn might be gay:
—
Vegas said he had suspicions about Ashburn as long ago as the rally. For one thing, protesters – who vastly outnumbered their opponents – kept shouting, “We know you’re one of us, Roy!”
And then, Vegas said, there was Ashburn’s relative lack of enthusiasm.
“Let’s just say it was not a great effort in rallying the troops on Roy’s part,” Vegas said.
—
Given his performance, he’s not exactly public enemy number 1.
He was more like a “reluctant Nazi” in some now-dated Hollywood comedy where an actor would say “Heil Hitler” while looking like he was yawning at the same time – someone whose main goal was to muddle through without being sent to the Eastern Front.
Brown Gay Al
The only reason I would consider voting Democrat is if I feel that they can deliver on gay issues because at the end of the day I am a gay man. Other than that I have nothing in common with Democrats. On every other issue I more or less agree with Republicans (war or terror, Islamic extremism, illegal immigration, taxes, health care, unions, environment) than I do with the Democrats. So if I believe that there isn’t much difference in between Democrats and Republicans on gay rights why would I even vote Democrat.
BTW I support the Republican position on hate crimes and ENDA. I am opposed to hate crime laws ( also for other suspected classes like me being non white) and non discrimination laws in the private sector.
I know what I am getting with the Republicans on gay rights. You guys voted on repeal of DADT and DOMA. What are you getting with Democratic supermajorities and the most liberal president since Jimmy Carter. The right to attend parties in the Democratic convention like HRC does. Ha ha.
Robert, NYC
Brown Gay Al, you say you agree with republicans on health care which is NO health care. Tell us, if you lost your job, your home, your money, your health insurance and had no other source of income, how would a republican and you get access to health care? Since you support republicans on several issues, you obviously would not apply for medicaid since that’s a government run program. Right?
Regarding ENDA, so you think its ok to discriminate against gay people in housing, jobs and the like, based on their sexual orientation? No other group is discriminated in such a manner. What if any other minority including blacks were denied access to both based on their color, ethnicity, you would not say its not racism and you’d be comfortable not supporting a law to ban it? Be careful what you wish for.
The only way to reach the goal of full equality is to put democrats on notice that they can no longer count on our votes unless they deliver the goods first. By the way, republicans do not support full equality either. A handful only support ENDA, not many but there isn’t any other legislation that they’ve authored, co-authored or sponsored in favor of any semblance of equality for LGBT people. Can you name any? I can’t.
Brown Gay Al
@Robert, NYC: There is no right to health care in the Constitution. If I don’t have the money why the hell should you be responsible for me. I am a queen that doesn’t automatically mean that I am a welfare queen.
@ENDA It is racism or homophobia but your desire to eliminate homophobia doesn’t give you the right to trample upon someone’s private property rights.
Robert, NYC
Brown Gay AL, you’re not answering my question on health care. I never said health care is a right provided by the constitution, show me where I said that? READ my question very carefully and respond please. In a system where private health insurance delivers health care, not doctors, how would you gain access to any semblance of care if you lost everything? Explain!
Regarding ENDA, nobody said it would end homophobia, that will never happen no matter how many laws are passed, but it does have consequences for those who see no problem with it, such as yourself. As for private property rights, I take it you support discrimination of anyone then based on your statement? That said, do you think the civil rights act that opened full equality for African Americans should be reversed, just to be consistent with your statement and do you think it was wrong for the federal government to pass it seeing that you believe in discrimination where appropriate and without government intervention?
Bill Perdue
@Brown Gay Al: You’re right. Many necessary and fundamental rights are not in the current Constitution.
The Constitution is an antiquated and unworkable set of laws and should be changed to:
1) Add an article mandating the confiscation of all private income in excess of 100 times what the average auto or rail worker makes.
2) Articles guaranteeing that all workers, including immigrant and imported workers be unionized, have access to free education or retraining, socialized medical care, a living wage with annual increases equal to inflation, a 30 hour work week, a 30 day annual paid vacation and a years paid paternity leave for both parents.
3) An article providing for prosecution of government officials who foment war to profit private corporations as war criminals.
4) An article providing for the immediate, total and permanent withdrawal of all US military, mercenary and ‘security forces’ to US home bases.
5) An article declaring that the dissemination of bigotry including homohating, misogyny, anti-Semitism, racism, islamophobia and immigrant bashing are serious felonies and setting harsh penalties.
……
And yes we have an absolute right to take back the stolen riches amassed by the looter class. The only welfare ‘queens’ eating at the public trough are the looter rich and their hired guns in the White House and Congress.
Bill Perdue
@B: I see ‘B’ back at it, dreaming up even lamer excuses for quisling scum like Ashburn.
We now know what ‘B’ stands for – Benedict. Now if we can just figure out what the ‘A’ following it stands for.
Brown Gay Al
@Robert, NYC: AFAIK You can still visit the doctor even if you don’t have insurance. You should have a look at CA hospitals ER overrun with illegal immigrants getting free health care while bankrupting CA.
On the contrary the current Obamacare forces everyone to take insurance from private insurers. Thats such a great improvement LOL.
If you are sick and poor go to a Catholic charity hospital. It is much better than bankrupting the country with 40 trillion in Medicare costs.
call me heartless but health care is not a right.
I have the same position that Barry Goldwater had 40 years ago. I support anti discrimination laws in the public sector or govt but vigorously oppose it being applied in the private sector.
B
In No. 36 · Bill Perdue, our bald-faced liar with a grudge wrote, ”
@B: I see ‘B’ back at it, dreaming up even lamer excuses for quisling scum like Ashburn.”
Perdue apparently doesn’t like the facts – that Ashburn’s voting record on LGBT issues matches that of all but one Republican in the California State Senate – an Equality California score of zero, that Ashburn did not introduce any anti-LGBT legislation, and that in the “pro family values” rally Ashburn was involved with, other family value types thought his performance was kind of lame. Put all of that together, and what you get is a guy who was pretty ineffectual at opposing LGBT issues: if there was an LGBT bill that passed or failed by one vote in the state senate, let’s see if Perdue can produce it – the site I found (QUEERTY linked to it too) did not produce any examples of that.
One can only wonder what Perdue’s real agenda is given that, if you want to win, you better assess the opposition as accurately as possible and Perdue throws a fit whenever I state the facts. Wasting energy going after Ashburn is truly lame – if you somehow forced him out of office, it would not improve the situation because there is no way you are going to get someone supportive of gay rights given the district he represents.
Robert, NYC
Brown Gay AL….so by your statement, everybody without health insurance can go to a catholic charity hospital and get treated freely? Hmmmm, anyone can go to an emergency room without insurance and lie as to who they are so they won’t get billed. There is NO such thing as free health care in this country. I reiterate what I said earlier, I never said health care was a right under the constitution,lets be clear about that.
For those who go the route you describe, who foots the bill in the long run? Its you and I when health insurance providers jack up their rates to offset the losses billed by hospitals and other facilities.
The republican party has no health care reform plan and as far as I know, it wasn’t on their agenda in the last eight years of the Bush regime, not that I’m defending Obama either. If obama hadn’t made it a campaign issue, that situation would still not have changed under the GOP. I’m not a democrat but an independent who usually votes Green. The republican mantra that the free market should allow citizens to buy insurance across state lines ins’t going to resolve anything in terms of health insurance premiums and accountability. Right now, no insurance company covers pre-existing conditions, something that the party of no tolerates and is perfectly willing to retain. Since single payer was off the table after Obama was elected, there will be NO universal health care in this country. Encouraging people who don’t have insurance to use emergency rooms and other facilities without having any means of paying is nothing more than condoning fraud, a class A felony. Some in the republican party are espousing just that. So much for their other mantra, taking personal responsibility for one’s actions and being self-reliant. The republican party should be ashamed of itself. It cares only about scoring political points than the needs of people who are hurting in a recession brought about by a reckless Bush administration. Many in the repubican party actually subscribe to a government run health plan, I don’t see them calling for an end to that either. Not all emergency room users are illegal immigrants either. 45 million Americans have no access to affordable health care. So the solution I suppose for them is to go to a catholic charity or some other facility offering so called “free” services? I think NOT!
Regarding shifting part of the blame on illegal immigrants is lame. During the last 8 years of the Bush regime, they did fuck all to halt illegal immigration. The only way to stop it is to police both borders with impunity, no matter the cost, but no government, democrat or republican is going to touch it but they’ll spend government dollars on government funded senseless, unwinable wars and we hear NOTHING from the republicans about government spending on that, started by them. Come to think of it, why is it during their campaigns they aren’t calling for an end to all government programs starting with medicare and medicaid, social security, public school systems, public libraries, NASA, NIH, NIAAA, FAA, FCC, CIA, DOJ, HUD,Social Services, Homeland Security and come up with a way to privatize all of them since they don’t believe in government involvement in anything? Where would they get the revenues from to fund all of those programs without increasing taxes?
So, since you’ve not really answered my question, do you mean to say you would have no problem using a catholic charity to get health care if you had no coverage and couldn’t afford insurance? Of course, no self-respecting republican would ever do such a thing, they’d rather die than seek or rely on government handouts, let alone health care. Don’t forget….those facilities get reimbursed by “government” dollars as do health insurance companies. We can’t have that now can we, government involvement in health care, not if you’re a republican?.
Cam
No. 31 · Brown Gay Al
The only reason I would consider voting Democrat is if I feel that they can deliver on gay issues because at the end of the day I am a gay man. Other than that I have nothing in common with Democrats. On every other issue I more or less agree with Republicans
(war or terror, Islamic extremism, (So far in his time frame as president, under Obama more high ranking members of Al Queda have been captured or killed)
illegal immigration, (Which part? Half the party, including Bush and McCain supported the comprehensive bill, which fox news called Amnesty, the other half of the party didn’t. So how can you agree with a party that is split down the middle
taxes, Everybody making under 1/4 million a year is currently paying lower taxes then they were under Bush…so are you for higher taxes?)
health care, (Which area of health care? The GOP is very much behind the largest socialst program out there…Medicare)
unions, (In which way? Union membership is down, however contributions from GOP focused lobbying groups are way up, so if you are against one, are you against both?)
environment (In which way? Your presidential candiate was against drilling in ANWAR, even though he would yell “Drill Baby Drill” on the campaign trail, he was against drilling in the major area with proven reserves in the nation, so his environmental approach was the same as Obamas in that area.)
Brown Gay Al
@Cam:
1) islamic extremism I doubt labeling Pakistani Taliban as Al qaeda serves your purpose but well done Obama if true.
2) Illegal immigration – I support the half that says no amnesty. Thats better than the Democrats like nancy Pelosi here in CA where they establish sanctuary cities.
3) taxes – together me and my bf make more than 250K. However the mandates for health care will negate whatever tax cuts he is giving to anybody.
4) health care – i agree with the republicans that we cannot add one more entitlement when medicare et al. is facing bankruptcy.
5) unions there is no way there is anything common between me and democrats on this issue. our CA unions are the worst they must be worser than the UAW.
6) environment – offshore drilling and nuclear power