Sure...
I spent some time at Andrew Sullivan tonight, and have decided to address the curious world of Bush loving gay Republicans that, while it appears to exist almost exclusively on his blog and in feature stories about the gay Republicans, is nonetheless compelling.
Long story short, I am all for gays agreeing with Republican principles. If you are gay and hate welfare, or what cash in the form of tax cuts, or hate terrorists pathologically with no qualifying statements, more power to you. That is your right. But what people wrestling with this issue have to realize is, that Republican party's hatred for gay people is not a principle that can be steadily amended.
It is an instance of political pandering that will not disappear until major schims in the current Republican coalition occur. The GOP's position on gay people is categorically different than their regular positions. I have no doubt that G2, Karl Rove, etc. don't really give a shit about whether gay people can get married or not. But the way the current GOP domination is run, political concerns de facto trump substantive concerns, and that means, inevitably, a very hardline stance about hating gay people and using that hatred in the most exploitative and manipulative way possible. They don't wanna do it, but...
Log Cabin Republicans, Andrew Sullivan, and the rest of them have to understand this, and probably do. And they probably think that they can go on separating out the gay piece of themselves from the "Oh man do I love G2" side of themselves. Unfortunately, the GOPs gay-bashing is going to be around a lot longer than they think.
Short of another terrorist attack, the administration's focus on the 'war on terror' to the exclusion of all else is on the way out. Regardless of whether Kerry wins or not. If not, politics dictates that Bush is going to have to sweep Iraq under the rug right quick. But where domestic issues are concerned, all he has is left are the extreme wedge issues, and, if the fundies win this election for him, expect that he will be far more amenable to their wins in a second term.
Long story short, I am all for gays agreeing with Republican principles. If you are gay and hate welfare, or what cash in the form of tax cuts, or hate terrorists pathologically with no qualifying statements, more power to you. That is your right. But what people wrestling with this issue have to realize is, that Republican party's hatred for gay people is not a principle that can be steadily amended.
It is an instance of political pandering that will not disappear until major schims in the current Republican coalition occur. The GOP's position on gay people is categorically different than their regular positions. I have no doubt that G2, Karl Rove, etc. don't really give a shit about whether gay people can get married or not. But the way the current GOP domination is run, political concerns de facto trump substantive concerns, and that means, inevitably, a very hardline stance about hating gay people and using that hatred in the most exploitative and manipulative way possible. They don't wanna do it, but...
Log Cabin Republicans, Andrew Sullivan, and the rest of them have to understand this, and probably do. And they probably think that they can go on separating out the gay piece of themselves from the "Oh man do I love G2" side of themselves. Unfortunately, the GOPs gay-bashing is going to be around a lot longer than they think.
Short of another terrorist attack, the administration's focus on the 'war on terror' to the exclusion of all else is on the way out. Regardless of whether Kerry wins or not. If not, politics dictates that Bush is going to have to sweep Iraq under the rug right quick. But where domestic issues are concerned, all he has is left are the extreme wedge issues, and, if the fundies win this election for him, expect that he will be far more amenable to their wins in a second term.
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