Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Why does the sexuality of a McCain staffer matter?
Never met Mark Buse. Couldn’t pick him out of a line-up. I know he is John McCain’s chief of staff and that means there’s not much we agree on. That’s enough for me. His sexuality, just like the love life of “singer” Clay Aiken, are bits of information that do not need to be added to the flotsam and jetsam in my head.
Yesterday Buse’s supposed gayness became a talking point in the gay blogosphere. When the rumor first hit my email box, I rolled my eyes. Mainly because this type of conversation is as dated as watching a rerun of Beverly Hills, 90210. Isn’t outing a technique we have moved away from?
Aside from the moldiness of it all, why the shock? A gay man shills for the GOP and its candidate? We’ve seen this story before and it ain’t new. Can the choir say former senator Rick Santorum’s communications director Robert Traynham? And who can forget Mary Cheney (love the fact she got paid a whole lot of cash for a book no one read)? Are we so naive that we continue to be shocked when we find there are gays and lesbians who actually are Republican? The horror. The horror.
Yes Virginia, there are gay Republicans; instead of being shocked about that, it might serve us better to come up with reasons on why we disagree with them. And reasons do not include using the terms “Nazi” or “self-hating.”
I’ve said it before and have no problem repeating it. Sexuality does not equal ideology. Never has. Never will
Matt,
Not to split hairs, or show my status as a moron; however, I do note, a few times, that Buse and I do not agree on anything.
I for one can’t imagine a gay person who would have ANY reason to join the right wing. It makes as much sense to me as anyone who’d join the KKK (white, red, yellow, OR black) The republican party is against our very existence! In my view, a gay republican is WORSE than a straight one, because they KNOW how intolerant and evil that party is and yet they embrace it. I would sooner be diagnosed with cancer than join those people!
I couldn’t agree more!!
You really took the words out of my mouth.
Withers, what bothers people is that these hypocrites are actively working to hurt other people as well as themselves. Don’t you get that you moron?
I suppose if it were discovered that Jesse Jackson was actually a grand wizard for the ku klux klan, that would not be worth mentioning as well. When you provide aid and comfort to the enemy, it is always worth pointing that out.
Pointing out hypocrisy is always a good idea. And if “self-hating” doesn’t apply, what should one call believing he himself isn’t worthy of the same rights as the rest of the country? Perhaps Mr. Withers should rethink his position.
Of course there’s no issue with Mark Buse’s hypocrisy. The issue is McCain’s hypocrisy in having Buse as a campaign manager — and you know it. Your attempt to confuse the controversy in this way fits in with this site’s larger pattern of reverse, conservative political correctness and as of today, I’m deleting 365gay.com from my browser bookmarks.
It would be a sad day indeed if we ever got to the point where we found the Roy Cohn’s of this world so blase as to be unmentionable and un-newsworthy.
Don’t be a naive spin-doctor, Mr. Withers.
The shock isn’t about a gay man being a Republican, or selling his own kind down the river. We’re not talking about Mr. Buse himself (well, maybe YOU are).
The shock is about McCain’s hypocrisy. It’s okay to have gays work for him, but not for him to treat them equally in any legal way. It’s okay for McCain to employ a gay person, but it’s not okay for that gay person to know that he CAN’T get fired just for being gay (not WON’T, but CAN’T).
This whole issue is insight into McCain’s (IMO, flawed) character, one more on his list of double standards.
But hey, thanks for trying to make it seem like the gay population at large is somehow responsible for Mr. Buse being “outed”, with your “we have moved away from” commentary. Thanks for taking the actions of a small few and translating that to a larger group because you felt like it.
Valid point, James – outing people no longer causes shock to most Americans. The major point of these stories (and the reason why there are *3* of them at the top of 365gay.com today) is that people still like to gossip. Lindsay and Clay aren’t surprises to most, but there’s a substantial demographic who’ll be at the water cooler this week saying “Mmhmm, girl, I *told* you so!”
The difference in pointing out that we are present supporting the campaign of the party whose platform has an entire section dedicated to “Preserving Traditional Marriage” is the GOP’s not-so-subliminal message that “we still think you’re icky.” The platform calls it “unbelievable” that the other major party has pledged to repeal the noxious Defense of Marriage Act, not because the GOP are concerned about increased divorce or co-habitation, but because same-sex couples might be granted equal rights with opposite sex couples.
And there’s the rub: I have no personal issue with gay political people who support the GOP because they believe that the economic and foreign policies of the last 8 years have made the US a more respected and prosperous nation, since those policies affect GLBT and heterosexual people equally. I do have a concern when GLBT folks – or anyone for that matter – actively supports a candidate whose platform contains such blatant discrimination against us.
It is important to point out hypocrisy is never acceptable: either in politics or religion and the Republican Party had made politics and religion one subject. Jesus’ greatest condemnation was leveled at the hypocrites. And the Religious & Political Right have been and are being hypocritical. You can not ‘condemn’ homosexuals as a group, which is what the Right Wing of the Republican Party does, and then deem it acceptable to have one running your campaign. Human Rights are applied equally or they become a vehicle for hypocrisy. Jesus never discriminated against anyone, and it follows that those who claim to follow him should not discriminate either. The choice of Sarah Palin as VP is a blatant appeal to the Religious Right and McCain can’t have it both ways.
“it might serve us better to come up with reasons on why we disagree with them”
You mean you don’t KNOW “why we disagree with them”???!!!
Okay. Howzabout the fact that it is part of the Republican party’s platform to deny us equality before the law? Or doesn’t America ‘promise’ that ALL citizens are created equal anymore?
Howzabout the fact that the Republicans are working very, very hard to deny gay citizens the right to their own liberty, and likewise to deny gay Americans the right to their own pursuit of happiness?
Howzabout the fact that John McCain supports changing the Constitution to enshrine gay citizens forever as 2nd class citizens?
Howzabout the fact that McCain is likewise encouraging States to pass their own anti-gay laws, and also to change their own State Constitutions to forbid us equality?
Howzabout the fact that McCain doesn’t want to let gays serve their country in the military?
The stench of GOP hypocrisy comes right thru my computer monitor.
Geez, Mr. Withers, if YOU have to be reminded of “why we disagree with them”, maybe you and Buse cold get together and burn your fag licences to better show the world your support of discrimination. Your repeated support of anti-gay folk and their excremental policies does us no favors.
Sexuality may not equal ideology, granted, but repeatedly engaging in self-destructive behavior does equal insanity; thus I have no interest debating or understanding the motives of LGBT republicans. Personally, I don’t understand why anyone straight or gay would identify (at least publicly) with the GOP at this point in history.
Well Said! The Gay Community is a very diverse group, which means some of us are Republicans and some of us are Democrats. When I see people going off on someone who is gay and a Republican, it reminds me of people who say you can’t be Gay and Christian, this sort of attitude is just ignorant. Now had it been John McCain or Sarah Palin with the secret life, this would have been a different story.
McCain’s VP belongs to a church that believes in Gay conversion to straight. For this guy to support anti gay candidates is such hypocrisy I just can’t stand it.
Palin is one heart beat away from being the President.
Being gay in this matter does count. It counts big time.