A Whack Upside the Head from the "Whiny Gay Left"

Although I'm (at least temporarily) glad Barack Obama won the election, by and large I'm as disenchanted with the Democratic Party as I was before. That's why I had to take a hike from it for a while, and why I gave myself some real exposure to libertarian and conservative ideas. I have conservative friends who still accuse me of not understanding them, but that's only because they can't stand to think I might reject their views precisely because I DO understand them.

My biggest problem with them -- besides the simple fact that I've come to disagree with them (for reasons now more rational than emotional)?

As far as the libertarians are concerned, I feel that they toady to big corporations, simplistically (and insanely) seeing them as somehow "freer" than big government. Libertarianism has become their religion, and I think they believe in it for reasons much more emotional -- and less rational -- than they want to admit.

When it comes to conservatives, my secondary beef with them is that they toady too much to the Republican Party -- an organization so corrupt they make the Democrats look like Little Bo Peep, while my primary beef is that they are just plain wrong. Wrong without the redeeming feature, sometimes possessed by the libertarians, of occasionally being right.

And as for the Log Cabin Republicans, yuck, yuck and yuck. The one gutsy and principled thing the organization has done in the last few years was refusing to endorse George W. Bush for reelection in 2004 -- but at least half of their membership wouldn't go along with it. They were too afraid they would get taken to the woodshed by the very bigoted assholes THEY should have been taking to the woodshed. A lot of people in the GOP have been very unhappy for a long time, and most of them are straight. It isn't like the Log Cabin folks couldn't have found some friends.

When they backed John McCain, I lost all respect for them.

John McCain has betrayed gays time and time and time again. He rah-rahed the vile Proposition 102 here in Arizona, which has left us here with a legal status on a par with slaves. He refused, as a matter of fact, to have much of anything to do with us -- except, of course, to appear on Ellen's TV show.

Sure he went on her show. She gave him some free publicity, and as bad as his campaign stunk up this country, he needed all the free publicity he could get.

The fact remains that of the two major parties (and sorry, Libertarians, but we still really only have two to choose from), the Democrats are better -- on the gay issue and almost every other -- than the Republicans. If you don't agree with me, then follow your bliss. I'm not part of the crowd who would call you names and abuse you just for being gay Republicans.

The GOP's "ideas are better," you say? Well then, why don't you folks do something you've been totally unwilling -- up 'til now -- to do?

Prove it. That's right -- just PROVE it.

Did it ever occur to the people crapping on the "Whiny Gay Left" that THEY THEMSELVES HAVE GIVEN US ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD REASON TO SUPPORT THEIR PARTY?!

You say that you believe in "individual responsibility." Well, try -- just this once -- taking a little "individual responsibility" for the political party you've chosen, and show us Lefty whiners why it is we're so wrong.

And no, the taunt that "there are bad Democrats, too, nyah!" does NOT constitute a reason. Not anywhere other than on a kindergarten playground.

The only intelligent and constructive reason for an embattled minority to join the very political party that leads the way in embattling it is to HELP TURN THE SITUATION AROUND. If you simply cave in to everything that goes on there, then what the hell good are you?

I keep hearing how "angry" I supposedly am because some gays are Republicans. But I'm not angry about that in the least. I'm overjoyed, as a matter of fact, that at least a few of us have the stomach to represent us to those who are, all too often, our opponents. I do that in the Christian churches all the time, so believe me, I can relate.

But gay Christians don't capitulate to every bigoted whackjob in the Church. If the Log Cabin Republicans had a tenth the gumption gay Christians do, I'd have some actual respect for them.

It WOULD be great to have both major political parties competing for our vote. Far from wishing that you'd leave the GOP, I have a totally different request for you.

Could you please, please, PLEASE -- just for a change -- do at least a halfway decent job of BEING gay Republicans?!

We don't need more traitors, cowards or mindless conformists. The Republicans would have quite enough of those, even if every last gay GOP-er left.