The Gay Penalty
Lost in much of the Larry Craig bathroom follies coverage has been the blatant double standard practiced by the GOP. The GOP leadership has stripped Larry Craig of his committee assignments and has pushed him to resign, based on his misdemeanor crime.
On the other hand, the GOP has allowed David Vitter to retain all his committee assignments and has not pushed him to resign. They have taken this relaxed stance, even though Vitter has essentially admitted to criminal behavior (sex with a prostitute).
Now some of this difference could simply be politics. Louisiana, home to Vitter, has a Democratic Governor, so the GOP would lose a seat if Vitter resigned. Idaho has a Republican Governor, so there is no problem for the GOP if Craig quit the Senate.
But the vehement reactions of the GOP leadership regarding Craig intimates something deeper - a loathing of homosexuality. Ruth Marcus nails it in her column this morning.
Now there is the furious swiftness of the GOP's response to Craig. Senate Republican leaders have called for an ethics committee investigation and stripped Craig of his committee assignments; presidential candidate Mitt Romney couldn't boot Craig as his Idaho chairman fast enough. Would the reaction have been nearly so fierce if homosexuality wasn't involved?.
When Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter's phone number turned up on the accused D.C. madam's call list and he acknowledged a "very serious sin" in his past, there was hardly a peep from the GOP leadership. Craig pleaded guilty to a crime, and Vitter wasn't charged, but lawmakers' squeamishness with gay sex, I suspect, played a big role in the differing treatment
posted by BC @ 10:01 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Teh Ghey is icky you see. If you support it you get ghey germs and next thing you know you'll be singing Streisand and have Jeff Gannon on your staff as liason.
I am hoping that the LA democrats take off the gloves and run a full bore anti-sleaze campaign. What I'd do is run a whole bunch of ads with elephants in diapers in buildings labeled "Whorehouse". I'd have Vitter going from an ad with his kids directly to taking off his clothes with a whore. Stick it to the family values types. "DO you support THIS TYPE of person" "What do FAMILY VALUES MEan to the REpublican Party"
They stepped in this shit, and it's up to the democratic party to smear the shit all over them. I am heartened by the "Bobby Jindal is a catholic bigot" ads. These are the right approach.
The Repubs gave Diaper Man Vitter a standing ovation for crying out load.
Yet another of our leaders succumbs to the sudden public awareness of the fact that those who most vehemently espouse the conditional acceptance of other human beings are themselves the most predictably fractured practitioners of their own flawed standards. Now we will all watch as Larry Craig is publicly sacrificed on the same altar he has himself created and constantly reinforced - the altar of bigotry and conditionalism. While sad, it is his just reward. Senator Craig has openly denounced the rights of human beings to live as they please. He refused to give others the simple right to live and love, choosing instead to espouse organized discrimination, all the while disgustingly lurking about in public bathrooms in search of that which he says he hates so much.
It is time for public figures like Mr. Craig to stop projecting their own self-hatred on society. It is time we all figured out that those who speak out so passionately in fostering public discrimination of others - or hatred of anyone - are really just loudly running from themselves. It is high time we figured out that we really can all live together, and that ALL human beings have been endowed with certain inalienable rights. Unfortunately for Mr. Craig, one of those inalienable rights is not to represent the State of Idaho! Resign, Mr. Craig, and begin to do something useful with your heretofore hypocritical life - perhaps you could help the world to understand why it is wrong to judge others - something you will no doubt learn much about in coming months!
Yet another of our leaders succumbs to the sudden public awareness of the fact that those who most vehemently espouse the conditional acceptance of other human beings are themselves the most predictably fractured practitioners of their own flawed standards. Now we will all watch as Larry Craig is publicly sacrificed on the same altar he has himself created and constantly reinforced - the altar of bigotry and conditionalism. While sad, it is his just reward. Senator Craig has openly denounced the rights of human beings to live as they please. He refused to give others the simple right to live and love, choosing instead to espouse organized discrimination, all the while disgustingly lurking about in public bathrooms in search of that which he says he hates so much.
It is time for public figures like Mr. Craig to stop projecting their own self-hatred on society. It is time we all figured out that those who speak out so passionately in fostering public discrimination of others - or hatred of anyone - are really just loudly running from themselves. It is high time we figured out that we really can all live together, and that ALL human beings have been endowed with certain inalienable rights. Unfortunately for Mr. Craig, one of those inalienable rights is not to represent the State of Idaho! Resign, Mr. Craig, and begin to do something useful with your heretofore hypocritical life - perhaps you could help the world to understand why it is wrong to judge others - something you will no doubt learn much about in coming months!
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