The "Gay Friendly" McCain
A US politician tipped as the next US President and known to flavor state power to define gay marriage laws will address the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth next month, according to reports.
John McCain, senior Senator from Arizona, who voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and has been praised by gay lobby group the Log Cabin Republicans, will speak at the opening evening of the Tory annual gathering. [...]
He has previously been critical of President George W Bush’s stance on gay marriage, but more recently has fallen in line with Republican policy as seen in his support of the more recent Federal Marriage Amendment, in what commentators describe as political pandering to cement his candidacy.
He was recently criticized for endorsing the actions of anti-gay activist Jerry Falwell after agreeing to keynote the spring graduation of Liberty University. (source)
Well, if I were being crude and flippant about this, I would say, “gay friendly my ass”. But I would never say such a thing. The fact is, John McCain is just like any other Republican candidate for President. He has to appeal to these right wing whackos just to get a place at the poker table. Otherwise, he’s out. We all know that.
And besides, who am I go criticize him when we have our own gay whackos (yes, I know... some would say that I’m one of them) within our own community. I won’t mention any names because that would be indiscrete of me (Log Cabin Republicans). I can understand that they think he’s wonderful because he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004, but you know, that’s just really not enough.
And more recently, he now supports the Federal Marriage Amendment in an effort to be more in line with his bigoted Party, along with keeping company with the likes of Jerry Falwell, when he gave the keynote address at Liberty University.
So, why on earth would the Log Cabin Republicans support this man? Because in the Republican Party, this is the best they can do. What they should be saying is, “Please, now that you’ve knocked us to the ground with that sucker punch, please kick us some more so that we know our place in society.” It’s pathetic, and the Log Cabin Republicans are pathetic.
How on earth are we going to come to a place where we can demand equality when we endorse someone who has no interest in giving us equality? I’m not a single-issue voter, but to me, if a candidate starts out with this view, the only way he would get my vote is if he really could come through with a plan to end our part in Iraq, solve the problem in New Orleans, and feed the people in this country who are homeless and unemployed. Then, I would be able to vote for him because my own desire for equality would be outweighed by the good of the country.
Oh, and while he’s at it, maybe McCain can fix this “immigration problem” that has been a problem for the last fifteen years, but has only become “an issue” in the press in the last year or so (President Bush to the rescue). I’m sure politics have nothing to do with that since everything seems to be going so well in Iraq (2,855 coalition deaths, 2,628 Americans).
It’s all about diversions, all of it. I just wish more people could see through this stuff. We can hope that the voters will see through it this November.
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and don't forget McCain is also adamantly FOR "DONT ASK DONT TELL" - a postion he re-asserted this summer. he is NOT naive about us, as one commenter here suggested - he has given this stuff lots of thought, and feels we are 2nd class citizens (at best)
Yes, I remember reading many of those. And, I remember that while that was going on, McCain did NOTHING to counter them (not to my recollection at least). I suppose I can admire that, in a way. One could argue that the vile stuff they were saying was simply beneath his dignity.
I personally think that John McCain is a decent man, although naive about our issues. But then again, not many politicians are savvy when it comes to our community. But because of his silence, he has the same effect on me as Joe Lieberman - I don't really know where either one of them stand on anything, because they are too busy shifting their opinions with the wind of politics.
I guess I'm disappointed in McCain, more than anything else. I thought he would be a more forceful political foe. When I heard him talk years ago, I remember thinking, "Now that is one man I wouldn't want to piss off." Now, all that fire seems to be gone.
In South Carolina, Bush supporters circulated church fliers that labeled McCain “the fag candidate.” [Washington Post, 2/18/00; Rich op-ed, Austin American-Statesman, 2/29/00]
Among the rumors circulated against McCain in 2000 in South Carolina was that his adopted Bangladeshi daughter was actually black, that McCain was both gay and cheated on his wife, and that his wife Cindy was a drug addict.” [Ivins column, The Nation, 6/18/01]
“A smear campaign of the ugliest sort is now coursing through the contest for the presidency in 2000. Using the code word ‘temper,’ a group of Senate Republicans, and at least some outriders of the George W. Bush campaign, are spreading the word that John McCain is unstable. The subtext, also suggested in this whispering campaign, is that he returned from 5 1/2 years as a POW in North Vietnam with a loose screw. And it is bruited about that he shouldn't be entrusted with nuclear weapons.” [Drew op-ed, Washington Post, 11/19/99]
“Some of George W. Bush's supporters have questioned Republican presidential candidate John McCain's fitness for the White House, suggesting that his five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam drove him insane at the time.” [Lansing State Journal, 11/23/99]
Bush supporters in South Carolina made race-baiting phone calls saying that McCain had a “black child.” The McCains’ daughter, Bridget, was adopted from Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Bangladesh. In August 2000, columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that the McCains “are still seething about Bush supporters in South Carolina spreading word of their dark-skinned adopted daughter.” [Time, 3/6/00; Boston Globe, 3/4/00; Dowd column, New York Times, 8/9/00]
In 2000, McCain operatives in SC accused Rove of spreading rumors against McCain, such as “suggestions that McCain had committed treason while a prisoner of war, and had fathered a child by a black prostitute,” according to the New Yorker. [New Yorker, 5/12/03]
Bush Used Fringe Veterans Group to Attack McCain as “Manchurian Candidate.” “In the case of Ted Sampley, the same guy who did Bush's dirty work in going after Sen. John McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries is doing the job against Kerry this year. Sampley dared compare McCain, who spent five years as a Vietnam POW, with ‘the Manchurian Candidate.’” [Dionne op-ed, Washington Post, 4/27/04]
I just can't get over how he allowed Bush (Karl Rove) to smear him personally to get the GOP nomination back in 2000.
Rove started rumors in the Southern states that McCain fathered illegitimate children, supports homosexuality, and that his wife is a drug addict. They also started hinting that McCain's time as a POW resulted in permanant mental problems.
One of the most unbelievable rumors started by the Bush campaign was that McCain's adopted daughter (who is South Asian) is actually his illegitimate daughter -- the result of an affair with a black prostitute!
He should have switched parties.