Not that there is anything wrong with that

http://www.conservativenc.com/

Quote :

"Dear Republican Friend: I apologize in advance for the content of this message, but as you can see, I had no other choice. Tuesday, Curtis Wright, a radio and television talk show host in Wilmington, forwarded an anonymous letter alleging that I am gay to Republican leaders throughout North Carolina. The letter is a lie, written by a lying coward. I can't sue the lying coward, but I have authorized my attorneys to sue Curtis Wright and the media outlets he works for. There are two things you need to know: 1) I am not gay - never have been - never will be. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support any of the scurrilous allegations made in the anonymous attack on me. 2) I will spare no cost or hardship in defending my good name. I intend to vigorously pursue legal action against any and all who spread these lies. The fact that I'm 54 and single does not mean I have to put up with vicious rumors that I'm gay. The fact that I am heterosexual is a matter of public record. The News & Observer once even reported (erroneously) that I had eloped. I will marry one day, and soon I hope, when I find a woman I can't live without who feels the same way about me. Not before. And not for any other reason. My parents divorced and perhaps that has made me more cautious than most. But I will get married for the right reason. Of the many wrong reasons to get married, to do so in order to fill-out one's political resume tops the list. I have been involved in politics for over 30 years -- as an activist, a candidate and an elected official - and this is the most outrageous smear I have ever seen. And I will not tolerate it. Neither should you. Neither should our Party. As I have traveled around the state, I have made it clear that I will be a Chairman who will FIGHT for our Party and our principles. I'm also going to FIGHT to defend my good name. The best way to fight a lie is with the truth and that's what I intend to do. I hope you will stand with me in making it clear to those who would disseminate this kind of garbage that there is no room in our Party for them or their lies. Now, I'm going back to work and continue to focus on leading our Party to victory in the next two years. I ask you to join me in that effort. "

Glad we straightened that out.

[Edited on May 22, 2009 at 7:38 PM. Reason : .]

5/22/2009 7:35:56 PM

Quote :

"scurrilous"

5/22/2009 7:36:50 PM

Frankly, being a 54 year old, never-married man is far weirder than being gay.

5/22/2009 8:26:47 PM

ha, that'll probably be me.

but I have a daughter to show where my interests lie.

5/22/2009 9:06:09 PM

Quote :

"I will spare no cost or hardship in defending my good name. "

"I will have sex with any decent-looking woman between 19-30- just call my office. I will post videos of me having sex with woman on my website http://www.tomisstraight.org. I will release an official list of every porn movie and magazine I own..not a gay one in the bunch...."

---- deleted from the First Draft of his press release.

5/22/2009 9:25:16 PM

^^ Queerer than a three dollar bill.

5/22/2009 10:19:22 PM

~

5/22/2009 10:42:39 PM

Quote :

"this is the most outrageous smear I have ever seen"

haha, because being a homo is the worst possible thing people can say about you. Pretty pathetic.

5/22/2009 11:11:27 PM

And he wants to be my latex salesman head of the NC republican party.

5/23/2009 6:33:43 AM

Forgot all about Tom Fetzer. He wasn't too bad a guy.

5/23/2009 3:01:53 PM

he's always at the PR

such a douche

5/23/2009 3:08:28 PM

more like "Glad we straightened that out." lol

5/24/2009 12:53:52 AM

countdown til some former gay lover comes forward.....3......2......1

5/24/2009 2:16:30 PM

It's just...eh, this is sort of a tough one.

On the one hand, I would like my Republican leadership to be a little more tolerant, or at least secure, than this wankstain Fetzer.

On the other hand, though, there's some conditioning at play here. About the third time someone calls you "gay" right before they physically beat you mercilessly*, you get sensitive on the subject. And yes, I speak from experience. I won't bother trying to defend my straightness, because it's asinine for someone in our generation, and also because it's the wolfweb and nothing I could say would do any good. I leave it to your imagination which factor influences me more.

And even if Fetzer never got called gay in middle school or whatnot, he's smart enough to see that being painted with the "gay brush" is pretty much kryptonite to republican candidates. Partially this is because outed republicans handle the situation awfully, and partly its because republican voters don't typically respond well to gay candidates. Which is lame, sure. But I really don't want TSB to turn into a vast repository of negative comments on the personal lives of politicians.

So is Fetzer a tool? Absolutely. Is he a substantially bigger tool than most politicians? Probably not. I don't like the guy -- but then, I almost never like the head of either party. Party heads are lunatics.** Can't stand them.

*-Originally this said "beat your ass," but even as drunk as I am I'm smart enough to avoid setting myself up that much.

**-I'm excluding sitting Presidents. At least the whole country got to vote on them, rather than the party devotees.

5/25/2009 2:41:37 AM

Quote :

"PARTY HEADS"

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

5/26/2009 9:55:38 AM

I worked for Fetzer in college. I am absolutely, positively sure he's not gay.

5/26/2009 10:56:32 PM

I've met all the candidates a few times and Fetzer is obviously very smart and articulate. I've been most impressed with him. The other candidates have their share of issues that I won't be airing on a message board.

A while ago, when I asked a few women I know who didn't vote for McCrory, they said they didn't because he didn't have children. They were Democrats too, but it makes me think that a lot of North Carolinians still believe in the nuclear family. (Obligatory conservatism always wins on the ballot.)

5/26/2009 11:04:04 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1553157.html

Quote :

"RALEIGH -- Tom Fetzer, Raleigh's former mayor, filed a libel lawsuit against a Wilmington radio host this week for distributing an anonymous letter insinuating that Fetzer is gay. The lawsuit, which seeks at least $10,000 in damages..."

Quote :

""We think it's ridiculous to consider an association of being gay to be derogatory," Palmquist said. "Mr. Fetzer's argument is out of step with where most North Carolinians are." Fetzer's libel suit faces several legal hurdles. The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled in 1994 that falsely claiming someone is gay or bisexual is not libelous on its face. Libel lawsuits are also difficult to win, said Amanda Martin, a Raleigh lawyer who often represents The News & Observer and other media outlets on First Amendment issues."

I never would have the heard the rumors that this guy was gay if he hadn't try to get $10,000 out of being called gay.

6/3/2009 2:55:17 PM

^ and now you have....and hes addressed the rumors....so even if you had heard them, you'd know they are not true.....whats your point?

I wish more politicians would stand up to the media. This shows me that the guy has political backbone. I'll let you guys get back to spinning this way out of proportion now......

6/3/2009 3:12:33 PM

Quote :

"This shows me that the guy has political backbone. "

I don't particularly think trying to get 10k out of being called gay is backbone especially when the courts have already said being called gay is not libelous, I think its dumb move only drawing more attention to what would otherwise be a complete non-story.

6/3/2009 3:25:06 PM

Going to these lengths to convince people he's not gay makes me more likely to think he's actually gay, than if he just brushed it off with a laugh. It's like he's trying to convince himself he's not gay, more than anyone else.

the lady doth protest too much, etc...

[Edited on June 3, 2009 at 3:30 PM. Reason : ]

6/3/2009 3:29:48 PM

Eh...my thought is that a large portion of North Carolina Republicans want to hear a vociferous denial and condemnation. In my experience, active members in the NC GOP are sorely lacking anything resembling a sense of humor.

6/3/2009 10:37:51 PM

Quote :

"I worked for Fetzer in college. I am absolutely, positively sure he's not gay."

just b/c he rejected your advances doesn't necessarily mean he's not gay

[Edited on June 3, 2009 at 11:17 PM. Reason : jk i don't know you but it was just sitting there for the taking]

6/3/2009 11:16:39 PM

haha touché

6/3/2009 11:52:07 PM

Quote :

"trying to get 10k out of being called gay"

I suspect that even if he wins, 10k won't cover his legal fees.

I think the whole suit is just political posturing. And I think you do too. The gay thing is just your pet cause so you have to make a big deal out of it.

[Edited on June 4, 2009 at 7:21 AM. Reason : asdf]

6/4/2009 7:21:14 AM

Quote :

"I don't particularly think trying to get 10k out of being called gay is backbone especially when the courts have already said being called gay is not libelous, I think its dumb move only drawing more attention to what would otherwise be a complete non-story."

#1 - Your logic as I see it....If the media perpetuates a false story and the individual stands up for themself, its the wrong thing to do because more people will hear the false story. I completely disagree with this statement. In general, I like to see people stand up to crooked media members just as much as I like the media standing up to crooked politicians and I think others feel the same.

#2 - Lets say you live in a small town, and someone calls your mother/girlfriend/you something You have 2 options on how to respond....you can either immediately address the issue or ignore the issue. Well, if you address the issue, it pretty much stops there. If you ignore the issue, the fire will spread and pretty soon people 3 towns over hear the news. Pretty soon, fiction becomes fact and there is no turning back.

#3 - More people in NC know the name Tom Fetzer after this, and the only thing they know about him is that he's not gay, and that he'll put up a fight if you mess with him. I only see this helping him.

[Edited on June 4, 2009 at 10:21 AM. Reason : .]

6/4/2009 10:17:34 AM

there's a difference between addressing something and filing suit.

6/4/2009 10:37:33 AM

Quote :

"#3 - More people in NC know the name Tom Fetzer after this, and the only thing they know about him is that he's not gay, and that he'll put up a fight if you mess with him. I only see this helping him."

I had not heard the name before this thread, and the only thing I know now is that he might be a closeted gay, and he'd go to ridiculous lengths over petty issues.

[Edited on June 4, 2009 at 10:45 AM. Reason : ]

6/4/2009 10:45:21 AM

Quote :

"I had not heard the name before this thread, and the only thing I know now is that he might be a closeted gay, and he'd go to ridiculous lengths over petty issues."

#1 - The key words you used are MIGHT BE. If you'd have only heard the false radio announcement that he is gay, then you would replace these words with IS. The motivation of his actions is to keep the IS out of your sentence.

#2 - I would doubt that the average North Carolinian would consider making up information and broadcasting it petty. Also, the fact that NC remains a relatively conservative state with strong family and moral values and I'd say that politically, this is definately not a petty issue for him personally.

I think its pretty clear that Curtis Wright did this with the intent of smearing Mr. Fetzer. I cannot believe you guys are condeming Fetzers actions and have said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT WRIGHT'S ACTIONS. The story here is Wrights actions, which should be condemned by everyone on every level of humanity.

6/4/2009 11:34:49 AM

apparently

Quote :

"strong family and moral values"

= hating teh gayz

6/4/2009 12:37:08 PM

If Fetzer ain't gay, then I am the goddamned Pope.

6/4/2009 1:08:32 PM

Looks like he's not the only one dealing with republican infighting & slander:

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090613/NEWS01/906130318

Quote :

"Harsh NC GOP race bares local leader's past crime The criminal past of a local Republican leader could derail his bid for state party leadership in a race marked by harsh infighting. Buncombe County GOP Chairman Timothy Johnson is running for N.C. Republican vice chairman today at the state party convention in Raleigh. Delegates will select a vice chairman and chairman to the lead the badly battered GOP, which suffered serious losses from the federal level on down in last year's elections. The leadership race has been marked by infighting and personal attacks. Chairman candidate Tom Fetzer felt it necessary to respond to claims that he was gay. Another candidate, Chad Adams, had to deal with circulated e-mails between him and a former mistress. Now Johnson has found himself responding to high-level criticism about a charge of felony aggravated assault against his ex-wife in Ohio. He pleaded guilty to the crime in 1996. Steve Duncan, chairman of the GOP 11th District organization that covers most of the mountains, said he dissuaded the past interim county chairman, Mark Delk, from staying in office after he learned the former attorney had been disbarred and served jail time for a felony extortion conviction. And then Johnson betrayed the party because he took the job even though he knew his past could cause problems, Duncan said. “The man was dishonest. The man was deceitful. He knew why the previous chairman left that position,” he said."

6/13/2009 8:54:07 AM

Seems like a lot of these politicians, Left and Right, have a lot of personal failings. But what the heck, let's give them more power over us anyway. Health-care, pay czars, CAFE standards, tobacco, taxes...they know best.

6/13/2009 10:29:09 AM

Quote :

"my thought is that a large portion of North Carolina Republicans want to hear a vociferous denial and condemnation."

Well, after a campaign where the loudest talking point I heard was & many press appearances were just about saying "I'm not gay", where he sued for $10,000 for being called gay despite the fact that the NC Court of Appeals ruled in 1994 that being called gay is not libelous, the Republicans must have heard that "vociferous denial and condemnation" that they needed desperately to hear out of a potential leader of their statewide party. He won.

6/14/2009 9:17:02 AM