How confusing it must be for old-school, pro-family, Christian-right Republicans now, watching the GOP lurch toward the center, toward inclusiveness, toward sodomy. Some longtime GOP faithful must be feeling like the devoted wife suddenly cast aside for a younger woman -- or man, as the case may be.For example, consider Cathie Adams, the Dallas-based president of the pro-family Eagle Forum. At the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia last week, Adams led a silent protest against a speech by gay Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe -- a protest made even more silent thanks to the efforts of supporters of nominee George W. Bush. Adams says she and other members of the Texas delegation found themselves hemmed in by "three men whose shoulders were cemented together" to prevent a walkout during Kolbe's brief speech on free trade. The human wall also kept television cameras from recording Adams and others too closely as they bowed their heads and placed their cowboy hats over their hearts in protest.
Seriously.
"In trying to prevent embarrassment to the governor, I think they [Bush's henchmen] brought embarrassment to him," Adams says. "That was not my intention."
What was her intention? Buzz wondered. Does something about the love-that-dare-not-speak-its-name prevent one from speaking knowledgeably about tariffs and trade deficits?
"This man is not the best person to speak on international trade," Adams says. He was on the podium to signal the Bush GOP's new inclusiveness, to serve as a sort of beachhead for the dozens of gay men and women clamoring to be welcomed into the fold.
"This was their coming out," says Adams, who pointed out that someone flew a "gay flag" at the convention with a Bush-Cheney bumper sticker.
"Tolerating and embracing are two different things," she says. "I think I'm a tolerant person, but I'm not going to embrace something I think is harmful to our children."
She's not tolerant, really, but to Buzz, she at least seems a bit more honest than the political geniuses who put an openly gay Republican on stage to talk about...free trade. If Kolbe's speech was an embrace, it was one of those straight-guy, shoulders-only, keep-the-naughty-bits-distant kind of hugs. It reeks of the same sort of weak-willed hypocrisy behind the Clinton administration's military policy of "don't ask, don't tell." Asexual sexuality. Welcome to the party; check your genitals at the door.
And that's just not good enough, especially for the party that gave us "Let Reagan be Reagan" as a rallying call for ideological straightforwardness. Next time, let that gay flag fly for real. Next time, forget free trade. Talk about the problems of two men sharing a bathroom.
Also, too many of the cards found their way into the hands of non-reporters who used them to try to sneak into rock concerts and sporting events, which we think is just deplorable. If you want to sneak into rock concerts and sporting events, go to journalism school like the rest of us.
It's good to have friends in high places, especially when you're a newspaper. One day before most other publications, the News reported with confidence and a banner headline the selection of Dick Cheney as Bush's running mate.
Just a coincidence, we bet.
