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As featured on p. 218 of "Bloggers on the Bus," under the name "a MyDD blogger."

Friday, November 03, 2006

Some Straight Talk On Gay People

The continued pandering of Mr. Straight Talk continues. John McCain, who twice voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, who claimed two years ago that banning same-sex marriage is un-Republican and "antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans," this week stars in two commercials promoting the anti-same-sex marriage amendment on the ballot in Arizona.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a likely 2008 presidential aspirant, is starring in two new television spots for Proposition 107, a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ensure that same-sex marriages or civil unions are never legal in Arizona and ban governments, such as cities or towns or universities, from providing benefits to unmarried domestic partners.


The ads can be seen here.

This amendment, as described here, is FAR FAR WORSE than a gay marriage ban, as it infringes on American citizens' civil rights by applying a different standard of benefits to couples based on sexual orientation. John McCain, the maverick, SUPPORTS that.

The dodge for McCain on this will be that it is a state Constitutional amendment, and as a states-rights Republican he objected to the FMA on the grounds that it forced a solution on the states instead of them making up their minds on their own. How, then, to explain this:

McCain: "I think that gay marriage should be allowed, if there's a ceremony kind of thing, if you want to call it that."

No politician has talked out of both sides of their mouth this much since Zachary Taylor capitalized on the isolation of various parts of the country by saying contradictory things in stump speeches depending on where he was. We seem to have the same kind of bifurcation today, where the DC media has nothing but stars in their eyes over McCain as a principled moderate, while he speaks as a committed Republican ideologue outside of the Beltway.

By the way, he's backing the losing horse:

The amendment may need McCain's superstar help. An Arizona State University Cronkite-Eight Poll released last month found voters are poised to reject the measure. According to veteran ASU pollster Bruce Merrill's statewide survey, 56 percent of respondents said they'd vote no, 30 percent said they'd vote yes and 1 percent was undecided.


This is the latest evidence that the "bash the gays" strategy used in 2004 is simply not working in 2006, that it's irrelevant in an age when there are so many more important issues. Of course, not to serious policy thinker John McCain.

AmericaBlog has more:

The really sick part is that McCain has always had gay staff in high-level positions, going back to the early 90s at least, and yet he's still an anti-gay bigot. His staffers even had long-term partners, and McCain had no problem with that. But now he does. Well, again, to be fair, it's Friday, so TODAY McCain is an anti-gay bigot because he's now wooing the religious right. The past five years, McCain was actually pro-gay (though before that time, he was again anti-gay). So, we might get lucky, by the time McCain runs for president in 2008 he may be pro-gay again. Just need to catch him on the right day.


What this says to me is that John McCain thinks conservatives are stupid. He feels the best way to reach them is to go along with their gay-bashing ways in the hopes that they'll reward him with the nomination. He also thinks all other Americans are stupid because he thinks we won't be able to figure out his little game.

It's very important that we loudly proclaim who John McCain is and what he's about. He's making a concerted effort to woo the basest, most radical element of society in order to run for President. He's a man without principle and without shame. He'll step on his own staffers in his mad climb to the top.

At this point, I WANT to face McCain in 2008. I'll get to buy some flip-flops.

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