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KEVIN NAFF
Friday, March 14, 2008
FROM
NEW
YORK
to
Oklahoma
to
Maryland,
politicians
demonstrated
this
week
that
they
still
don’t
get
it.
The
ubiquitous
cries
for
change
we’ve
heard
on
the
campaign
trail
this
year
are
clearly
not
being
heard.
The
fall
of
New
York
Gov.
Eliot
Spitzer
(D),
who
once
pledged
to
bring
“passion”
back
to
Albany,
was
greeted
with
slack-jawed
expressions
of
shock
by
cable
news
commentators.
But,
really,
what’s
so
shocking?
From
Sen.
David
Vitter
(R-La.)
to
Sen.
Larry
Craig
(R-Idaho)
to
former
Gov.
Jim
McGreevey
(D-N.J.)
to
former
President
Bill
Clinton
(D),
we’ve
seen
it
all
before
—
men
so
blinded
by
power
that
they
forget
laws
apply
to
them,
too.
Even
if
you
believe,
as
I
do,
that
prostitution
is
a
victimless
crime
that
shouldn’t
be
prosecuted,
the
hypocrisy
and
arrogance
of
Spitzer’s
behavior
still
required
that
he
resign.
Spitzer
sold
himself
as
a
squeaky-clean
reformer.
Whether
or
not
you
agree
with
state
and
federal
laws
against
prostitution,
they
exist.
And
a
tough-talking,
sanctimonious
former
attorney
general
could
not
plead
ignorance
and
ask
for
a
pass.
Politicians
were
behaving
badly
elsewhere
this
week.
In
Oklahoma,
the
Victory
Fund
exposed
state
Rep.
Sally
Kern
(R)
as
a
homophobe,
after
it
posted
to
YouTube
audio
of
anti-gay
remarks
she
made.
In
the
speech,
Kern
described
homosexuality
as,
“the
biggest
threat
our
nation
has,
even
more
so
than
terrorism
or
Islam.”
She
likened
homosexuality
to
a
cancer
that
will
“destroy
this
nation.”
Kern’s
remarks
are
especially
disturbing
given
the
shooting
death
of
California
teen
Lawrence
King
last
month
in
an
apparent
anti-gay
hate
crime.
Politicians
who
ridicule
and
demonize
gays
contribute
to
a
culture
that
still
says
it’s
OK
to
discriminate
against
gays.
Sadly,
that
mindset
all
too
often
leads
to
acts
of
physical
violence
perpetrated
against
us.
MEANWHILE,
MARYLAND’S
POLITICIANS
continue
to
betray
their
gay
constituents.
After
the
state’s
high
court,
in
a
4-3
ruling,
upheld
a
state
law
limiting
marriage
to
heterosexual
couples,
gay
residents
looked
to
their
elected
officials
to
right
a
judicial
wrong.
And
once
again,
they
are
being
let
down.
While
gay
couples
in
committed,
long-term
relationships
are
still
viewed
as
strangers
under
the
law
and
remain
desperately
in
need
of
a
legislative
remedy,
lawmakers
have
turned
their
attention
to
more
pressing
matters,
like
banning
cell
phone
use
while
driving
and
upholding
a
ban
on
online
wine
sales.
This
is
not
the
behavior
of
courageous
political
leaders;
it
is
the
hallmark
of
cowards
so
desperate
to
hold
onto
power
that
they
fear
creating
a
ripple
on
the
pond.
And
this
is
in
Maryland,
a
decidedly
“blue”
state
where
Democrats
control
both
houses
in
the
Assembly
and
the
governor’s
mansion.
It’s
become
apparent
that
a
full
marriage
rights
bill
is
doomed
and
the
state’s
lawmakers
aren’t
even
embracing
the
cop-out
of
civil
unions.
That’s
not
surprising,
considering
the
powerful
Senate
President
Thomas
V.
“Mike”
Miller,
a
Democrat,
opposes
civil
unions.
Unfortunately,
you
won’t
hear
a
peep
of
criticism
from
national
gay
rights
groups,
because
the
perpetrators
of
these
wrongs
in
Maryland
are
Democrats.
AND
WHAT
HAPPENS
when
a
gay
person
dares
to
criticize
a
Democrat
for
failing
to
keep
promises
and
honor
commitments?
I
got
a
taste
of
the
Democratic
wrath
last
month,
after
criticizing
DNC
Chair
Howard
Dean
and
his
chief
of
staff,
Leah
Daughtry
in
an
editorial.
In
the
piece,
I
wrote
that
the
DNC’s
response
to
anti-gay
remarks
made
by
Gen.
Peter
Pace,
President
Bush’s
former
chair
of
the
Joint
Chiefs,
was
insufficient
and
weak.
In
response,
Daughtry
sent
two
lawyers
to
the
Blade’s
offices
to
berate
me
and
our
publisher,
Lynne
Brown.
The
meeting
was
beyond
contentious
and
featured
lots
of
red-faced
cursing
and
threatening
of
lawsuits.
They
claimed
to
represent
Daughtry
and
not
the
DNC.
But
DNC
officials
have
gloated
behind
the
scenes
that
since
the
confrontation
in
the
Blade’s
offices,
the
paper
has
stopped
writing
about
a
gay
man’s
lawsuit
against
the
party,
his
former
employer.
Donald
Hitchcock
accuses
the
DNC
of
firing
him
after
his
partner,
Paul
Yandura,
publicly
urged
gay
donors
to
think
twice
before
giving
money
to
the
Democratic
Party.
Of
course,
to
suggest
that
the
Blade
would
abandon
a
story
because
a
couple
of
angry
lawyers
made
a
scene
in
the
lobby
constitutes
wishful
thinking.
One
thing
every
journalist
learns
early
on
is
that
when
people
start
yelling
and
making
threats,
that
means
you’re
onto
something.
One
source
told
the
Blade
this
week
that
in
Dean’s
deposition
in
the
case,
he
denounced
the
Blade
as
“the
Fox
News
of
gay
journalism.”
This
is
what
happens
to
gay
people
who
challenge
Democrats
to
be
better
on
our
issues.
Dean
and
others
at
the
DNC
have
derided
the
Blade
as
right-wing
birdcage
liner.
Both
criticisms
are
absurd;
no
fair-minded
person
could
reasonably
consider
the
Blade
a
conservative
publication
and
judging
by
the
innumerable
references
to
the
Blade
in
the
Hitchcock
case
depositions,
DNC
officials
spend
an
inordinate
amount
of
time
worrying
about
what
we
write.
They
may
line
their
birdcages
with
our
pages,
but
not
until
they’ve
read
them
cover
to
cover.
If
the
Blade
is
the
Fox
News
of
gay
journalism,
then
Howard
Dean
is
the
Gomer
Pyle
of
politicians
—
a
national
laughingstock
whose
amateurish
stewardship
of
the
party
puts
the
prospect
of
a
Democratic
victory
in
November
in
doubt
when
it
ought
to
be
a
slam-dunk.
From
bigots
in
Oklahoma
and
cowards
in
Maryland
to
hypocrites
in
New
York
and
petty
hacks
in
D.C.,
this
nation’s
politicians
prove
again
and
again
just
how
out
of
touch
they
are
with
the
people
they
are
supposed
to
represent.
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