Inclusion Wins


The delusional dolls from the Island of the Misfit Toys have made their way to NY looking for crumbs. The Log Closet reputhuglicans are threatening to withhold an endorsement of Bush this year. Woooo, Im sure they're shaking in their boots.

Earth to LCR - your party doesnt give two shits about you, noticed that yet?

My opinion of the LCR's will jump drastically if they choose not to endorse the chimp, but I'm not holding my breath. I expect a watered-down non-endorsement at best. It appears from the posters on this board that they will still vote for W. (with glee) or Nader (out of stupidity) no matter what the LCR decide on the endorsement. A decision that should have been made back in February, BTW.

Suicidal comes to mind. Why? Two words...SUPREME COURT.

Perhaps someone on the right can tell me if what I heard yesterday is true: that the GOP platform wackos went even further than FMA, and pushed for provisions opposing same-sex domestic partnerships or civil unions created by states as well?

I do know that the platform affirm the recent House bill HR 3313, which strips the courts of any say over DOMA. Really, really quite awful, and a total slap in the face of all homosexuals, even the ones who are these people's thrall.

Inclusion??????

... the party went beyond its unprecedented call for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to go on record, too, as opposing all legal recognition of gay unions, including shared employee benefits

Yes, they did. This from the lcr website:

Couple of places mention that the NY delegates include 50 out gays and lesbians as a response to this.

But of course, Pataki, Bloomberg, Specter, and Weld went courting the Loggers again and Cabin-fevered will buy their twaddle yet again. In 2000, they were wooed during the campaign and promptly thrown over for the religious right as soon as the Inauguration ended. You'd think these boys would have figured out how fickle the Republicans are, but I guess three months of attention every four years is enough for them. Why the Log Cabin folk want to be part of a party that says "we hate you with our every fiber....but we'll still tease you every four years" is a puzzlement.

~Adam

Its beyond me too Adam. wink

Well it looks like the Log Cowards have a new TV ad running in NY.
Sad

..."The radical right has hijacked the party, and we're fighting back," Bill Brownson, a spokesman for the Log Cabin Republicans, said at a news conference.

"We are here in the best tradition of Ronald Reagan, begging the party to do the right thing," said Patrick Guerriero, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, at Monday's news conference.

So, you're "fighting back" by begging ??
Way to go!!!!

I don't think "fickle" is the right word since I think the GOP is very decisive in its hate mongering.

LCR haters will like this unintentionally funny photograph from their Big Tent Event on Sunday.

Edited to add:

I just noticed that the photographer is Jessica Craig-Martin, so there was nothing unintentional about it. She's an awesome photographer--she mimics society/party photos, but then uses cropping and detail to make a point (often making the subject look awkward or vulnerable).

[ August 31, 2004, 07:28 AM: Message edited by: TomFord ]

Was he serving that to someone?
Then hanging around to pick up the crumbs.

We Republicans love a good war.

can one get deferments from a cultural war?

I've found that hangovers help.

William said
We Republicans love a good war .
Even including ones you can't win???

Who's going to do all the fighting though?... you're all chickenhawks.

See, Raze, in your little world, this would be the perfect "war" for Republicans because there's no actual, physical combat involved - it's a war of ideas, rhetoric, policies, campaigns, etcetcetc. Sometimes I like to help you understand why you're not making sense. I'm a compassionate conservative.

So William are you on the "fighting back" team or the "begging" team?

By the way, how's that war coming along?

Looks like your side hasnt even come close to any victories, keep "working within" though.

Skins.

[quote]William1865:
[QUOTE] I'm a compassionate conservative. [/quote]Bullsh*t... I haven't seen any evidence of either one.

Back to the actual thread topic...

NBC Nightly News did a segment on the LCR and its anger at the party platform, and whether the moderate "face" of the GOP @ the convention was in conflict with the party platform. I was surprised to see this make the evening news, and if that is a measure of influence the LCR has gained, at least with the media, that is a step in the right direction. It also marks gay issues as mainstream, which is a huge step forward.

They interviewed Gurriero, and I was again impressed with his poise, his clear comfort being interviewed, and his willingness to speak frankly (not to mention his good looks - although he clearly is looking very stressed as well). Say what you will about the LCR, since Gurriero took over, they have been more than willing to criticize the Republican party when warranted. I do believe they have to withold their endorsement, though, if they are to have any credibility (it really would be a long-term step, to gain more influence with moderates in the future for standing strong on a key issue).

It also seems to me that Cheney's statement may have inadvertently backfired by highlighting the cultural divide the GOP seems to be trying to hide this week. I certainly don't think this is the kind of publicity they want, and I couldn't help but wonder (hope?) whether this attempt to be moderate would backfire even worse. They could end up alienating a small but significant segment of the base while at the same time alienating the moderate voters with the attention being paid to the extreme anti-gay language in the platform.

Although a majority of voters are against gay marriage, a clear majority (at least in polls I've seen) are in favor of basic domestic partner benefits, like health insurance and hospital visitation, which the party platform opposes. Meanwhile, the ultra right wing is feeling "dissed" because they aren't getting any attention. This could get interesting.

The savvy combatant fights a war on two fronts - from the outside, and from within. The LCR has earned plenty of ridicule, and some of it is VERY deserved. But they serve the purpose of the GLBT society at large, at least from a long term perspective.

Good luck, Cabiners! Keep up the fight. If you win, then the GLBT community wins. If you fail, then the REST of us will be there trying to bury the goddamned Christian Taliban through other means.

Unless there are significant concessions made to LCR by the president himself, any endorsement of his candidacy would condemn the LCR to complete political irelevancy. HOwever, as sure as I am that we will see no consessions to the LCR, I am equally sure they will not endorse Bush for this election. Taking a stand here will make them relevant to the party, particularly if the numbers on gay Republican voters in the last election.

Ray Suarez interviewed Guerrerio tonight during PBS's coverage of the Republican Potemkin Charade, and you could see the LCR president's visible anguish on his attractive face, and hear it in his comments, which were direct and disdainful of the hatefulness the party is displaying.

He mentioned the troika of Giuliani-Pataki-Schwarzenegger twice, opposing them to Falwell, Santorum, and someone else, but the sad thing is, W isn't going to win either California or New York State, and the power in the party resides among X-ian Talibaners, who though not on camera, got their way with the platform.

Suarez DID point out that Senator Stepford, I mean, Dole, made a point of slamming gay marriage--what happened to that woman???--and Guerrerio again appeared to be quite hurt. I just wish he'd stop begging, and bolt--or tell off the freaking fanatic hypocrites to their shrock-and-awe faces. Tell them what kind of non-Xians and hatemongering zombies they really are.

i, too, saw patrick interviewed last night, and was pleasantly surprised that the media are paying attention to this rift and the intolerance of the current republican powerbrokers. (giuliani, schwarzenegger are not powerbrokers within the party. they are currently pawns.)

i stopped being impressed, however, when the interviewer posed, "will you be endorsing president bush in his reelection effort?" and the response came, "we're still exploring...."

how much is enough, already?

it is time to run to the rooftops and shout, "we're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore!" when you finally get the spotlight you've been fighting for, you don't roll over and play loyal lapdog with threats like, "we're still exploring..." (essentially saying, "no story here") you take that spotlight and make sure it stays trained on you and you alone until you get what you want. scream. shout. rant. rave, but be heard!

i hope i'm wrong, but i assure you guerrero's answer assured that lcr's 15 minutes are up, after a paltry 15 seconds.

thersis,

To be realistic, Gurriero does not have the authority to determine if the LCR will endorse Bush or not, as the group does not meet until next week, and it is not his decision to make alone.

Secondly, I had figured the "we're going to wait and decide next week" stuff actually gives LCR more of a chance at publicity. If they announced during the convention that they were not endorsing Bush, the news could very well be lost in all the other convention news. But if the convention ends, and just as the pundits are analyzing its effectiveness, then the LCR pulls support, it could make a bigger splash.

AU Tiger, thanks for the good wishes. Just one correction: if by some mischance we do not win, we'll still be fighting the good fight, within or without the GOP. Just don't look for us "among the usual suspects." wink

FT, no one in LCR is "begging" for anything. As a wordsmith, you know the context in which PGurriero first used that term and know better than to take it out of that context. While some textual restructuring is to be expected in a campaign, viz. President Bush's volte face on whether the war on terror will be won, this is not a candidate for such surgery.
And Thersis, timing is everything in politics. We'll make our announcement - put money on JQ's prediction - when the timing is right, even if only to gain another 15 minutes of fame. If nothing else has been established by the give and take over LCR on this board, it should be pretty obvious that we're a much more patient lot than most other gays and lesbians. We'll bide our time(s).

Here are a couple of recent articles that give some insight, from both sides, into LCR. There's a lot of humor and some truth in the second one - until the author starts playing psychiatrist.

Interview with one of LCR's Founding Fathers

A Fevered NYer's View of Cabin Fever

Finally, don't look for our latest ad on CNN - they refused to air it! (Sorry about length of reprinting press release - no link available.)

CNN Refuses to Air Log Cabin Republicans
Television Ad

Images in Ad in Response to Politics of Fear and Intolerance Deemed Too Controversial

(Washington, DC)—CNN has informed the Log Cabin Republicans that it will not air their new television advertising campaign, which is a response to the politics of fear and intolerance. Unlike CNN, other broadcast outlets are airing the ad. The network claims that images in the ad are "too controversial." "We are deeply disappointed that CNN has refused our voices the opportunity to be heard. Last week we told the Republican Party that you cannot sugarcoat the vicious and mean-spirited platform, today we want CNN to know that you cannot sugarcoat the politics of fear and intolerance that lead to hate," said Log Cabin Executive Director Patrick Guerriero.

The 30-second commercial is being broadcast during the Republican National Convention in New York City and on other cable stations nationwide. The ad begins with footage from President Ronald Reagan's 1992 speech at the Republican National Convention in Houston. President Reagan said, "Whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears." The commercial offers a clear choice for the GOP: follow President Reagan's lead by uniting Republicans on common beliefs or follow Jerry Falwell, Pat Buchanan and Rick Santorum's lead by dividing the GOP with an intolerant social agenda based on fear and exclusion. The ad closes with images of the Reverend Fred Phelps holding a sign that reads "God Hates Fags," at the funeral of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard.

The ad can be viewed at www.logcabin.org.
_____
*"Trust CPT Doom, learn from CPT Doom!" wink

[ September 01, 2004, 07:41 AM: Message edited by: gmginsfo ]

Hey gmg - Why are you responding to your own post? I guess that's the ultimate in "working within."