Pirate's Cove

Remember when Obama called for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell? Remember how it was discussed briefly, then most moved on? Yeah, us folks on the right are bigots because we didn’t discuss it enough, says Frank Rich: Smoke the Bigots Out of the Closet

A funny thing happened after Adm. Mike Mullen called for gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military: A curious silence befell much of the right. If this were a Sherlock Holmes story, it would be the case of the attack dogs that did not bark.

Riiiiiiiight. Perhaps we are a bit more concerned with the escalating budget and deficit, along with the fascist agenda of people like Obama and Pelosi. Oh, and then there was that media focus on Justice Scalia Alito and his mouthing of “not true” after Obama lied while attacking the Supreme Court. You didn’t bother discussing DADT, Frank, so, does that make you a bigot?

John McCain, commandeering the spotlight as usual, did fulminate against the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” But the press focus on McCain, the crazy man in Washington’s attic, was misleading. His yapping was an exception, not the rule.

Many of his Republican colleagues said little or nothing. The right’s noise machine was on mute. The Fox News report on Mullen’s testimony was fair and balanced — and brief. The network dropped the subject entirely in the Hannity-O’Reilly hothouse of prime time that night. Only ratings-desperate CNN gave a fleeting platform to the old homophobic clichés….

So, because it was a minor story, barely covered, that must mean that everyone on the right is a bigot. Hey, Frank, you do comprehend that Obama is still against gay marriage, right? When will you have an op-ed calling him a bigot?

The occasional outliers notwithstanding, why did such a hush greet Mullen on Capitol Hill? The answer begins with the simple fact that a large majority of voters — between 61 percent and 75 percent depending on the poll — now share his point of view. Most Americans recognize that being gay is not a “lifestyle” but an immutable identity, and that outlawing discrimination against gay people who want to serve their country is, as the admiral said, “the right thing to do.”

Oh. OK. So your first four paragraphs are refuted by your fifth. However, you are going to give it the old stupid try to still call the right bigots for failing to get all worked up. Hey, Frank, even lots in the lesbian and gay community on the left barely wrote about it. Does that make them bigots?

After that, we get a meandering blame of those silent righties, and Rich even manages to work in Bush and Rove, unsurprisingly. He also mentions the current lefty meme that this is akin to desegregation of the military (hey, Frank, you didn’t mention Robert Byrd’s racist remark about integration. Why’s that?) and integration of women, which is simply absurd. Look, I have no problem with gays. Do I approve of the lifestyle? I couldn’t care less. This is America, the land of freedom. Being gay or not gay means nothing to me. You live your life, I’ll live mine. Except, I do believe that they should be afforded equal rights. Which they have, mostly. Like Obama, I do not believe in gay marriage, but, I do believe in civil unions. If two people love each other, they should have the same right to be unhappy (:)) as heterosexual couples.

But, when it comes to the military, shouldn’t we ask those who are serving? Fifty one percent of serving military members are apparently bigots in Frank’s World, down from 63% in 2003. Only 30% favor gays serving openly. Quite a few military members I have spoken with are not against gays and lesbians serving, but, in sharing quarters, showers, and being out in the field. Capabilities are not being question, but, face it, men are uncomfortable being naked or a state of undress in front of people who are interested in the same sex. Is that bigoted, or, human nature? Do you think women would be comfortable in mixed barracks, mixed showers, and serving in the front lines with men, who would, because of human nature, be scoping their bodies?

Anyhow, to wrap it up, since I am going long

…..Both (McCain’s) wife, Cindy, and his daughter Meghan have posed for the current California ad campaign explicitly labeling opposition to same-sex marriage as hate…

…Those opposing same-sex marriage are just as eager to mask their bigotry….

Rich manages to call the Prop 8 supporters, many of them who are Black and/or liberals, along with many Republican leaders, bigots. Searching, searching, searching….. No, nothing about Barack “I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman” Obama.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU