I hate to borrow a title that I didn't like, but AS writes:
Here's a simple challenge to the Democrats.
- humm... Haven't you heard? On gay issues, "the Democrats" [do you mean gay-liberals?] are looking weary of "challenges" from the gay-Conservatives, who themselves offer up nothing but windmill strategies and then blame the backlash on folks like Cheryl Jacques (from what I've read so far, at least) or can't take it when the Dems hit hard on their GOP leadership, including George W. Bush.
- Seriously, the legislative "opportunities" that are on deck aren't there because anyone followed gay-Conservative strategies of condemning or cozying up to the GOP or its candidates, are they?
- These "challenges", for legislation that is already in the works AND introduced by Democrats (D-Meehan), simply look like a surprisingly transparent attempt by gay-Conservatives to seize the spotlight and avoid getting pegged (by themselves, not others?) as irrelevant to the Gay Rights fight altogether.
- Last, but not least, one word: VETO. Gay orbiters, still smarting from anti-Bush sentiments in 2004, apparently, cannot see how detrimental it is to have a GOP POTUS. I assume that modifying the UCMJ requires an act of Congress and will face a possible veto from the GOP CIC.
Therefore, making this priority one could be construed as a "waste", if dollars and time might be more effective to long-term gains in other pursuits. That's hard-reality time. - [edit: Oh, yes, there is something called REPEAL too. I suppose the gay-Conservatives have nothing to say about that, in their star-wishy, armchair strategies?]
If you think I exaggerate, read this (planted?) story in the Gay Press, with special attention to the apotheosis of Matt's "malcontension".
The writer offers up this assessment, but doesn't provide any foundation for it. AS isn't quoted and this "genesis story" isn't supported by the blog, which has a whole bunch of suggested motivations.
"For Sullivan, the tipping point was HRC’s invitation of Sen. Hillary Clinton to address their board at a luncheon earlier this month, which he saw as indicative of a de facto endorsement of her campaign for president. Sullivan said he felt HRC was too closely aligned with the Clintons and too unwilling to push for pro-gay policies, particularly around marriage, during President Bill Clinton’s administration in the 1990’s, and he saw the luncheon as a sign of that trend continuing."
Nevertheless, the Bay Windows reporter manages to get a least a shred of balance into the story:
"Solmonese told Bay Windows that invitations were extended to all of the declared Democratic presidential candidates as well as Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain. Only Clinton accepted. He also noted that Democratic candidate and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will speak at the Los Angeles HRC dinner later this month.
As for Sullivan’s charge that HRC hasn’t accomplished anything since Bill Clinton’s election in 1992, HRC’s vice-president of programs, David Smith, provided Bay Windows with a list of accomplishments over the past few years, including the successful campaigns to defeat the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006, the successful inclusion of gay-inclusive retirement benefit provisions in the 2006 Pension Protection Act, the successful effort to defeat anti-gay adoption bans in states like Missouri, Georgia and Ohio, the donation of $1 million and staff support to MassEquality in 2004 and 2006*, and the successful deployment of 30 HRC staff members in Maine in 2005 to help turn out voters to defeat an initiative to repeal the state’s non-discrimination law, among others."
Sadly, in a story that was supposed to be about "blog power" (dubious, since people don't read AS's blog, that I know, for updates on gay-rights charity organizations), the newspaper repeats questions at the end without them being clearly any part of the storyline. In other words, they abandon the frame of the story, in favor of a bizarre bandwagoning.
One might have expected it when they start out with cartoon graphics of the HRC's logo.
*Hey, even a total outsider like me can get stuff like this right. I picked up a donation to MassEquality by reading their website!
link: Bootstrapping Andrew Sullivan
