Like they say in the commercial, life comes at you fast.
One day, you're a conservative Republican senator from Idaho, toiling in relative obscurity, fighting the good fight against tolerance and common sense. The next day, thanks to some nosy damned reporter, you are the most famous (or infamous) congressman in the land. A loathsome hypocrite to the Left, a disgusting deviant to your former friends on the Right. This is the fate of soon-to-be Former Idaho Senator Larry Craig.
Craig, as we all know, was arrested in the Minneapolis airport in June for attempting to solicit for a sex act in the men's room. He pled guilty, hoping against hope that no one would find out that this staunch family values guy was cruising the airport stalls. But last week, news of Craig's arrest was uncovered, and another one bites the dust. While us liberals quietly shake our heads at the self-hating, denial-ridden, closeted man, former allies like Mitt Romney and John McCain want his name stricken from the history books like Joe Stalin used to do. And finding he had support NOWHERE, Craig opted to bail out this past weekend.
Now I'm not getting overly exercised by the Craig fiasco. There are still enough months left this year for another right wing hypocrite to become embarrassed and exposed. Maybe two. No, what I find most fascinating about this particular incidence is how it exposed mainstream America, and the mainstream Media, to the culture of closeted, furtive gay men looking for trysts in public places.
We all heard about George Michael and his arrest for dabbling in LA mens rooms, but by the time we heard, he was a has-been, so people kind of laughed it off, like Gary Coleman working as a security guard. And he was British, anyway. Who knows what they get up to? But Larry Craig gave most of us pause. How could he know about this stuff? He's from IDAHO, for God's sake!
I remember reading about polari, the slang used by homosexuals in England in the 1950's (I think I first heard it used in connection to a Morrissey record in the 80's). For example, if a gay man wanted compliment another, he would say the man was "bona to vada," or good to look at. How this has moved, over the years, to a complex series of foot-taps and hand gestures, is I suppose, not surprising.
Things are, I imagine, very difficult for a married man on the down low (and I'll only use that tired phrase once). But, for some reason, the urban gay male subculture has always left room for the solicitation of anonymous (and often unprotected) sex. And apparently, rest stops, restrooms, and parks are prime locations.
I have been in the mens rooms at Washington, DC's Union Station (an alleged location of another of Craig's solicitations), and found the sexual tension there to be thicker than on the third season of Moonlighting. I felt uncomfortable, and got out as quickly as I could. Although I imagine sneaking covert sex acts with unknown partners might be exciting for a while, certainly, in the long term, it isn't healthy, either emotionally or physically. So, it is my hope that Larry Craig, soon to be unemployed and with plenty of time to reflect on the mistakes he's made, will free his wife from their sham of a marriage and use his new national fame to seek out a partner that is more suitable to his needs. IF he'll find a gay man to take him.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Most UNWanted: Black Refugees
I read the other day that Israel will no longer be accepting refugees from the Darfur region of the Sudan. Apparently, these people, having escaped their war-ravaged country, make their way north and cross into Israel at the Egyptian border to seek asylum there. As Israel was founded by refugees of the Nazi Holocaust, they obviously expected sympathetic treatment as victims of one of the dozen or so African Holocausts of the last twenty or so years. Not so. Israel, without explanation (really was one needed?), has anounced its policy to return all apprehended refugees to Darfur, despite any claims for asylum.
Israel has a unique place among the nations of the world. Surrounded as they are by other countries dead set on destroying them, maintaining their internal security must be a paramount issue. But the flip side of that is, they seem to feel that they are above any criticism. But as we have seen in the past couple of years, when the government's hard-line policies drove the Palestinians right into the arms of the terror-supporting Hammas, they are not infallible.
There may be other issues at work here that I am missing. The Israeli government's refusal to comment doesn't help. All I know is that the governments of the world all seem to harden their hearts when those seeking refuge happen to have black skin. For years, the United States government welcomed any Cuban immigrants who could get here by boat, raft, or driftwood. But those fleeing the crushing poverty and oppressive regimes of Haiti were sent back there without much sympathy for their pleas. Lesson to Haitians: get those relatives in South Florida to organize politically ASAP!
There is a lot of demonization in the US right now of those desperate enough to illegally enter a more prosperous country to improve the quality of their lives. I don't wonder if the same thing isn't taking place in Israel now. But for all the desperate international entreaties for more widespread involvement in helping the victims of Darfur, the policy seems to change when those victims show up your door. No surprise.
Israel has a unique place among the nations of the world. Surrounded as they are by other countries dead set on destroying them, maintaining their internal security must be a paramount issue. But the flip side of that is, they seem to feel that they are above any criticism. But as we have seen in the past couple of years, when the government's hard-line policies drove the Palestinians right into the arms of the terror-supporting Hammas, they are not infallible.
There may be other issues at work here that I am missing. The Israeli government's refusal to comment doesn't help. All I know is that the governments of the world all seem to harden their hearts when those seeking refuge happen to have black skin. For years, the United States government welcomed any Cuban immigrants who could get here by boat, raft, or driftwood. But those fleeing the crushing poverty and oppressive regimes of Haiti were sent back there without much sympathy for their pleas. Lesson to Haitians: get those relatives in South Florida to organize politically ASAP!
There is a lot of demonization in the US right now of those desperate enough to illegally enter a more prosperous country to improve the quality of their lives. I don't wonder if the same thing isn't taking place in Israel now. But for all the desperate international entreaties for more widespread involvement in helping the victims of Darfur, the policy seems to change when those victims show up your door. No surprise.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
They've Stolen the President's Brain!
Well, not stolen so much. Karl Rove, the venal, porcine Deputy Chief of Staff, often referred to as "Bush's Brain," left the White House, and Bush's employ, in Marine One yesterday. And "good riddance" doesn't even approach my emotions on this topic.
Even with the feverish rash of departures by rats... er, Bush staffers leaving their jobs to "spend more time with their families," it was long assumed that Rove would be the last to go. He had been with the man since his governor's races in Texas. If nothing else, he had the Bush Legacy to look out for. Well, screw that, Rove apparently said. He's cashing out. He has expensive speeches to give, a purported book to shop, and supoenas to dodge. The Bush Legacy (repeat after me: WORST FUCKING PRESIDENT EVER) will have to look out for itself.
What made Rove such a bastard? Gee, I don't know. Ask Valerie Plame. It was not, as suggested by some last night, that Rove put gaining, and increasing, political power above governing. They all do that. It was that Rove didn't even bother trying to make it appear otherwise. When Hurricane Katrina ripped up the Gulf Coast nearly two years ago, the simplest thing to do would've been to put the President in New Orleans as quickly as possible, helping the poor and displaced. But nope. Couldn't be bothered. Not until the political outcry became too loud to ignore.
And the War. Jesus, the War. Although I view Rove as unalloyed evil, I almost have to respect the way he played the hapless, foolish Democrats during the run-up to the Iraq War. "If you don't support our war, you must support the terrorists." It worked then. And it works today, if just in the dim cranial recesses of that solid 29% that still approves of Bush's job performance. Democrats bowed their heads and went along. And those that did still have explaining to do. Way to hobble the competition, Turd Blossom.
(Oh, and whenever I see that footage of Rove flailing about the stage as "MC Rove," at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, I am filled with so much rage I want to break all the furniture in whatever room I'm in.)
So let Karl go to collect his reward. His successes have long since soured into failures. But don't feel sorry for our lost, brainless President. You don't need a brain for what he plans on spending the next year and a half doing. I foresee plenty of legislative and policy inaction, more civil rights abuses and domestic spying, more claims of executive privilege and war, war, war. Forgive me if I keep looking at the clock.
Even with the feverish rash of departures by rats... er, Bush staffers leaving their jobs to "spend more time with their families," it was long assumed that Rove would be the last to go. He had been with the man since his governor's races in Texas. If nothing else, he had the Bush Legacy to look out for. Well, screw that, Rove apparently said. He's cashing out. He has expensive speeches to give, a purported book to shop, and supoenas to dodge. The Bush Legacy (repeat after me: WORST FUCKING PRESIDENT EVER) will have to look out for itself.
What made Rove such a bastard? Gee, I don't know. Ask Valerie Plame. It was not, as suggested by some last night, that Rove put gaining, and increasing, political power above governing. They all do that. It was that Rove didn't even bother trying to make it appear otherwise. When Hurricane Katrina ripped up the Gulf Coast nearly two years ago, the simplest thing to do would've been to put the President in New Orleans as quickly as possible, helping the poor and displaced. But nope. Couldn't be bothered. Not until the political outcry became too loud to ignore.
And the War. Jesus, the War. Although I view Rove as unalloyed evil, I almost have to respect the way he played the hapless, foolish Democrats during the run-up to the Iraq War. "If you don't support our war, you must support the terrorists." It worked then. And it works today, if just in the dim cranial recesses of that solid 29% that still approves of Bush's job performance. Democrats bowed their heads and went along. And those that did still have explaining to do. Way to hobble the competition, Turd Blossom.
(Oh, and whenever I see that footage of Rove flailing about the stage as "MC Rove," at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, I am filled with so much rage I want to break all the furniture in whatever room I'm in.)
So let Karl go to collect his reward. His successes have long since soured into failures. But don't feel sorry for our lost, brainless President. You don't need a brain for what he plans on spending the next year and a half doing. I foresee plenty of legislative and policy inaction, more civil rights abuses and domestic spying, more claims of executive privilege and war, war, war. Forgive me if I keep looking at the clock.
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