Ken Mehlman revealed he is, in fact, gay. Although this fact really surprises no one, the interesting part is that Ken plans to work as gay-rights activist, and has already been fundraising for legalized gay marriage.

Attaboy, Ken.

He kind of gives everyone hope for the GOP right?

Nah. Republicans will quickly disown him faster than a fart in church.



http://tinyurl.com/2cvfuqz

8/26/2010 1:53:25 PM

Way to revise history to suit your narrative, schmoe.



United States Global AIDS Coordinator Mark Dybul being sworn in by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with his partner and First Lady Laura Bush looking on.

And there's this:

Bush's gay nominees draw little opposition / S.F. appointee sails through
December 29, 2002

http://articles.sfgate.com/2002-12-29/news/17575203_1_gay-gop-group-global-security-nomination

8/26/2010 2:15:26 PM

an "AIDS Coordinator" is openly gay.

that's your answer to "former Bush/Cheney Presidential Campaign Manager and RNC Chairman comes out gay and lobbies for gay marriage rights".

LOL, you're joking right?

anyhow, being gay is a requirement for "AIDS Coordinator". everyone knows that. Duh.






[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 2:26 PM. Reason : and linguists are usually gay, too. it's some sort of right brain thing]

8/26/2010 2:20:14 PM

^ The point was--and you know this--that many gays served openly in the Bush administration. But, hey, if an opportunity to bash Bush and friends presents itself, why not take it, right? Takes the focus off all of Obama's failures.

8/26/2010 2:33:24 PM

you mean, obama's failure so far to conjure a full recovery from the disastrous consequences of 8 years of war profiteering and infrastructure neglect?

right. yeah, i was hoping you wouldn't mention that.

8/26/2010 2:44:59 PM

Guess you missed these?



http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/Examiner-Opinion-Zone/101308339.html



http://www.gallup.com/poll/141836/Issues-Obama-Finds-Majority-Approval-Elusive.aspx

8/26/2010 2:53:26 PM

hello, yes?

those inflated budget figures would be entirely due to the corporate and banking bailout programs that Bush himself set in motion *right before* Obama took office.

you know, the corporate and banking bailouts needed to offset the catastrophic economic crash that occurred on Bush's 8-year watch.

you know, the Bush Administration's economic crash, the one we still haven't recovered from, the one having a magnitude not seen since before the War. World War II, that is.





[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 3:23 PM. Reason : ]

8/26/2010 3:13:44 PM

Fuck this guy. Made a name for himself by being a blatant hypocrite and counting on everyone to play along. Now he acts like he's had some crazy revelation and is suddenly comfortable with himself. Bullshit. He used anti-gay sentiment to further his career and now that he got paid (motherfucker has a 4.5 mil condo) he wants to get a marriage certificate and retire.

8/26/2010 6:06:40 PM

u mad?



sorry, couldnt resist. so, do you believe he actually propagated or otherwise engaged in the use of anti-gay sentiment, or promoting anti-gay agendas? or was he just complicit by association?

I have to admit, i haven't followed his career much. I only heard the rumblings at the time that he was suspected by Bush/Cheney insiders of being closet gay.






[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 6:39 PM. Reason : ]

[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 6:40 PM. Reason : ]

8/26/2010 6:37:29 PM

Quote :

"Mehlman managed the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign and, according to the campaign’s Ohio co-chair, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, directed Ohio anti-gay activists to mount the campaign to put the Issue 1 marriage ban amendment on the ballot."

http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories05/march/0325054.htm

8/26/2010 7:03:17 PM

well, you got to admit it was an astute political move. nothing better for rolling your base out by coupling the boring procedural business with a crowd-pleasing homosexual beatdown.

as it turns out, Ohio was tight and it was the king maker.... if Bush/Cheney would have lost Ohio, it would have been "President Kerry". remember that guy? LOL.








[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 7:17 PM. Reason : ]

8/26/2010 7:13:08 PM

8/26/2010 8:10:11 PM

Looks like gays really are ruining the country.

8/26/2010 9:35:48 PM

^^^I think Kerry would have been better than Obama; not that Obama's not good, he's just not as liberal as I hoped and the agents of intolerance feared, while Kerry has been consistently liberal for decades.

8/26/2010 10:03:07 PM

Quote :

"if Bush /Cheney would have lost Ohio South Carolina, it would might have been "President Kerry McCain""

and if Jackson hadn't died at Chancellorsville it might have been President Longstreet.

[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 10:06 PM. Reason : huzzah]

8/26/2010 10:05:59 PM

yainorite!

And what if Charles I had been more politically clever and avoided civil war? Think about it.... No Cromwell! No Roundheads! If they tried to bring any of that silly Puritan bullshit they'd have been locked up where they belong. The Stuarts would have reigned supreme, no Glorious Revolution, and you could stuff your constitution up your arse. Best of all, no King George III! the American Revolution would have been snuffed out before it got started.





[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 10:30 PM. Reason : ]

8/26/2010 10:10:09 PM

Fucking Cane . . . hell, fucking Eve

8/26/2010 11:15:46 PM

wrong thread (was trying to post in political music)

[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 11:23 PM. Reason : .]

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/08/26/The_Ken_Mehlman_Interview/

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/08/26/fox-mehlman/

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/08/bush-campaign-chief-and-former-rnc-chair-ken-mehlman-im-gay/62065/

[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 11:41 PM. Reason : not to waste a post I found some links (2 of which I haven't read) to add on topic]

8/26/2010 11:23:10 PM

Politically astute or not, the guy's an ass and the worst example of political opportunism and hypocrisy. And as far as I know he's just doing fundraisers for gay marriage and he doesn't really care about, say, homeless LGBT youth or non-discrimination laws (because they really don't affect him). I'd love to be wrong on that though.

I wonder how social conservatives feel about this. Clearly if this guy's sexuality can be an "open secret" like this, they must feel they're being used.

8/27/2010 9:23:03 AM

hooksaw in the 18th century: "HOW could slavery be wrong, cruel, and racist, when so many slaves enjoy such comfortable living quarters at the master's residence?"

8/27/2010 10:40:07 AM

Quote :

"the worst example of political opportunism and hypocrisy."

He's an example, but not quite the worst. There are people who took far more aggressive stances against homosexuals and didn't come out and admit thier own homosexuality even after being outed by male prostitutes. Let's be real here, there have been way worse, and he only came out to help the gay community, he could have easily stayed closeted.

[Edited on August 27, 2010 at 11:23 AM. Reason : ]

8/27/2010 11:22:22 AM

i agree with ShinAntonio to a degree: it sounds like the guy's something of a douche. It's only now that he's comfortably cashed out and living large, he can afford to come out. yeah, Mehlman, it's been a tough life huh? poor you.

but, like Kris said, there definitely have been far worse, far more aggressive self-loathing closet gays who actively persecuted homosexual to deny them basic rights. usually these ones would have to be outed by the male prostitutes they'd do coke with and pay for gay sex. then they'd beg for forgiveness and go check in to some christian sex clinic that claims to be able to "correct" their orientation.

so, at least this guy is now working for the right cause, but it is a bit distasteful how he stepped on people to get everything lined up just right before he did so.

8/27/2010 12:56:36 PM

Hey, who can blame him? Hating gays is a lucrative venture in this country.

8/27/2010 1:25:40 PM

Quote :

"Hey, who can blame him?"

Anybody with a conscience

8/27/2010 1:27:20 PM

^^ was the point of my (sarcastic) comment about it being an 'astute political move'

let me make a (very contrived) analogy:

suppose a new "anti-bigotry" law targets southerners (because they are inherently bigots, right?), requiring anyone from a former slave state to pass a battery of strict psychological tests to prove they are not racist or bigoted, before they can work or continue to work at any job other than menial labor.

you have been working for a northern government faction, pretending that you're a native northerner, and have a position of responsibility that encourages you to actively promote this law.

you do so effectively and apparently of your own initiative. you get rich off your position of influence, while millions of southern families suffer because they can no longer work at a sustainable wage. or at the least lose significant income until they can finally pass the anti-bigotry tests.

then, after you've bought your 4 million dollar mansion in a gated golf community in Columbia SC, you say "surprise, I'm a southerner" and come out against this
invasive and unconstitutional law and start working to repeal it.

hey, who can blame you? you got yours, right?




[Edited on August 27, 2010 at 1:51 PM. Reason : ]

8/27/2010 1:41:15 PM

^Well at least you came out and started fighting it, it's more than you had to do

I agree this guy is basically giving back a dollar to group hes stolen thousands of dollars from, but there are much better targets for this criticism, people who have stolen millions and don't have the decency to give a dollar back.

8/27/2010 2:59:55 PM

The biggest line of bullshit, beyond his involvement in placing anti-gay measures on the ballot in swing states in the 2004 election, is his recent wondering why homosexuals aren't republicans because "Islamic Jihad is the greatest anti-gay force in the world."

8/27/2010 3:54:56 PM

because whether the gays know it or not, they've done a FMECA on the various failure modes of our secular constitutional government:


Islamic Jihadists co-opt US government

Criticality - Extreme
Probability - None

corrective action needed: none


Christian Fundamentalists co-opt the US government

Criticality - High
Probability - Moderate

corrective action needed: immediate, escalate priority





[Edited on August 27, 2010 at 4:31 PM. Reason : ]

8/27/2010 4:27:21 PM

Mehlman's announcement was no big deal -- and that's a big deal
August 27, 2010

Quote :

"The reaction to former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman’s announcement that he is gay has been resoundingly muted. Most Republicans and conservatives seem neither surprised nor scandalized."

Quote :

"But the collective indifference on the right to Ken’s news indicates a broader shift in attitudes."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/08/mehlmans_announcement_was_no_b.html

8/27/2010 6:11:30 PM

of course it's "no big deal." hes too big to publicly castigate.

I just don't expect to see him at any GOP events in the near future, as conservatives are going to be forced to (re)define their stance on the major "gay issues"

I think its going to be a major internal battle and either he's going to be a catalyst for a major shift ....

... or he's going to be disowned like a fart in church.


Personally, i think the GOP is going to fracture on this.

8/27/2010 6:59:37 PM

The GOP has been fracturing for several years now. This is but a small tremor in the political earthquake they're creating for themselves. Without religion to bind the party together they've got absolutely nothing. Mehlman will be quietly disowned and eventually move to the left taking a few allies with him leaving the GOP even weaker than it already is.

8/28/2010 11:39:41 PM

This guy is going to find out what it's like when a cop goes to prison.

8/28/2010 11:51:31 PM

^^^ Um. . .you already did the "fart in church" joke in the OP--LOL! okay? Damn!

Gay Bush Aide? No Bombshell in Age of Fiscal Cares
August 26, 2010

Quote :

"Even the commentary accusing him of hypocrisy seemed outweighed by people who wished him well, or merely shrugged. The muted reaction reflects not only changing values in the country generally, but also, more notably, among many Republicans and conservatives."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/us/politics/27mehlman.html

Despite what some here may think, I'm no expert on the Republican Party--but there does seem to be a sharp divide between many of the "get government out of our lives" crowd, which would include bedroom-type issues, and social conservatives. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

And these gay issues aren't even on my radar (can a straight person have "gaydar"?). Hell, I just wish we'd get a lot of these things worked out for the best so I don't have to hear about them all the time.

8/29/2010 3:24:22 AM

Quote :

"I'm no expert on the Republican Party"

oh, i never thought you were a republican.

it's obvious you're a Constitution Party

8/29/2010 5:00:31 AM

and ironically enough the "Constitution" Party doesn't give a shit about the actual Constitution

8/29/2010 11:38:48 AM

^^ I am a member of no political party. The only party I was ever registered with is the Democratic Party.

8/29/2010 7:30:07 PM

yeah, as much as i'd like to be able to dismiss you so easily, i have to admit you don't fit the CP's social or religious orientation.




[Edited on August 30, 2010 at 12:27 PM. Reason : ]

8/30/2010 12:27:39 PM