A couple of gay DU readers opined that they did not want Dubya to be counted among their numbers. One reader pointed out that, statistically speaking, we should have had at least two or three gay presidents by now. I'm reminded of one of my favorite lines from "The West Wing": "One out of forty American males enjoys wearing women's clothing, and we've had more than forty presidents."
One DU reader reports that Victor Ashe -- the former mayor of Tennessee, Bush's former roommate at Yale, and a fellow male cheerleader -- goes by the nickname "Bulldog." That was also Jeff Guckert's nick in the gay prostitution underground. Conjures up all sorts of scenarios, eh wot?
Guckert has made weird references to the CIA, along the lines of I'm not a spook, honest I'm not, really, honest. Now I'm starting to think: What if he is? What if the whole Guckert affair is a from-the-grave strike by the pro-Tenet forces to bring down W?
Democrats.com is now asking the question: "Did George W. Bush Have sex with That Man, James Guckert?" Al Franken has also made humorous (at least, I think he was being humorous) reference to this possibility.
Is giving voice to such an idea irresponsible? Maybe. But after an election in which the Democratic standard-bearer bore much irresponsible innuendo and outright lying, a little return fire is justified.
Keep in mind: The Reagan White House did suffer a "call boys" scandal, which was outed by none other than the Moonie Times. I think it is perfectly fair to ask if Guckert was part of a similar ring. One reader has suggested that Guckert may not have been the target of blackmail; rather, he may have been the "cheese" used to bait the mousetrap.
By the way, in case you missed it: Bush and his college roomie were male cheerleaders! I think I'm going to repeat that little factoid a couple of dozen more times in this column. Why? Because I know full well what the Freepers would have done if they found out that Kerry had a similar background.
Speaking of the Freepers: Both a reader named Ben P. and AmericaBlog confirm that Gannon/Guckert, in a 2004 comment posted to the FreeRepublic site, discussed the Plame scandal and the CIA memo. Guckert claimed that he concocted the story that he saw the memo. I'll take my reader's word for all this; right now, I haven't the stomach to pore through old Freeper commentary.
The revelation that Guckert was (is?) a gay hooker has apparently made the Democrats less inclined to pursue the matter. Why? If a female hooker got access to the White House press room, and if Sean Hannity publicized her work on his cable news show, the resultant brouhaha would last months.
Let's return to the issue of Bush's possible homosexuality: I should have noted that one of the links in my original post detailed "quasi-fictional" stories that could offer return fire for the Swift Boat smears. (Confession: A reader sent me a partial quote, and I only glanced at the page that provided the source.) Even so, the "facts" (quotation marks are quite advisable) are of some interest:
One of Bush's alleged former boyfriends, Anthony Berusca (class of '70), told The Dallas Morning News that Bush was "deeply conflicted about being gay, even somewhat self-hating." Berusca is convinced that this conflict led to Bush's drinking problems, but describes the President as a "gentle, caring lover." In 1976, the Bush family arranged for George to join "Worthy Creations," a church group in El Paso that focusses on converting homosexuals through faith. A year later, Bush was straight, born again, and engaged to Laura Welch (Bush).Oddly enough, such a church really does exist, and it does specialize in "healing" homosexuality. However, according to its web site, it is located in Florida (not El Paso, Texas) and it has operated since 1986.
No proof indicates that the cited Dallas Morning News story exists, and I have yet to find evidence that anyone named Berusca lives in the United States. In sum: The story is not true. Even so, that "Worthy Creations" motif has me wondering if it has a kernel of truth to it.
And the Victor Ashe angle still offers much room for investigation. I'd like to know the truth about the allegations that Bush made secret trips to Knoxville. And did I mention that Ashe and Bush were both male cheerleaders and college roommates?
We can state that Republican operative Arthur Finkelstein (who is heading up a "Get Hillary" effort) is gay. From Working For Change:
And, you can add one more element to Finkelstein's reality; he is gay, yet he's worked for a gaggle of gay-bashing Republican Senators including Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.), Jesse Helms (R-N.C), Don Nickles (R-Okla.) and Sen. (Bob) Smith (R-New Hampshire), all of whom voted against legislation banning discrimination against gays while Finkelstein was working for them.Which leads us, finally, to a more general issue: How should progessives approach this issue?
Finkelstein is also Jewish, but that didn't stop him from using anti-Semitism during a 1978 South Carolina congressional race between Republican Carroll Campbell and Democrat Max Heller.
Democrats should not be afraid that pursuing the issue of closeted gay Republicans will open us up to charges of homophobia. To the contrary. Exposing the sexual underground of the conservative movement will do much to stem the disturbing resurgence of puritanism, and will re-teach this nation a lesson it seems to have forgotten: As long as all parties are consenting adults, the "abnormal" is normal.
I'm a straight male, but I've met individuals who favor every conceivable sexual flavor. Straight. Gay. Top. bottom. I know of guys turned on by women's underwear. I know of guys who get turned on by the sight of women fishing. (Yes: fishing.) I know of guys who become erect at the sight of a woman in high heel shoes pushing the gas pedal while trying to start the car. I know of women who like to be bitten vampire-style during sex. I've met women who like to be strangled. I've met women who like to be ridden like a horse. I've met women who like to do the riding. I've met men and women who wield whips. I've met men and women who love to be on the receiving end of a whip.
And although some will tell you that such creatures exist only in pornography, I used to know a woman who despised cunnilingus yet orgasmed during fellatio. No, I won't give you her phone number.
The point is: Human beings are sexually programmed in a wide variety of ways. That programming takes place either in the womb or soon thereafter. And if the Christian Reconstructionist faction of our national leadership were proven to be just as human as the rest of us in this regard, our national psyche could only benefit.
3 comments:
Poignant item from newsday.com sheds light. Here it is in part:
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Ellis Henican When it's personal, the right veers left
February 13, 2005
Nancy Reagan supports stem-cell research after her Ronnie gets sick.
Dick Cheney opposes the gay-marriage ban after his daughter comes out.
Rush Limbaugh is suddenly an advocate of treatment - not prison - for people addicted to narcotics. Oh, I almost forgot: The epiphany comes while Rush is being investigated for drugs.
The list goes on and on: prominent conservative figures, forced to question some sweeping social principle, after being rudely interrupted by the messy realities of life....
I'll introduce you to the Rev. Norman Kansfield, age 64, who has just been ousted as president of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey.
He too came face-to-face with life.
A self-described "conservative theologian," Reverend Kansfield is one of the most prominent and respected figures in the Reformed Church in America, which is itself one of the more conservative denominations in the National Council of Churches.
But just like many of us, Reverend Kansfield has people he cares about in life, including a lovely daughter named Anne.
Anne - there is no reason to get wobbly with the facts here - is gay. And this past summer, she and her partner of many years, a woman named Jennifer Aull, decided to marry in Massachusetts, the first state in the nation where same-sex couples may legally wed.
But Anne Kansfield isn't just a gay woman. She also is the daughter of a minister. And she did what minister's daughters have done for centuries when they are prepared to marry.
She asked her dad to officiate.
After some reflection, her father agreed....
He mentioned his plans to the seminary board before the wedding. He didn't seek their permission, exactly. But he made certain not to hide. Apparently, no one raised much of an objection at the time. But obviously someone noticed.
When his contract came up for renewal, he was unceremoniously canned.
And what high principle did the seminary board act upon? The high principle of nervous public perception, it seems.
"We decided that the president had put the seminary in an awkward position," said the Rev. Larry Williams Sr., a seminary board member.....
And American conservatives got another principled soldier who had learned a lesson from life.
There's more trouble to come.
The Reformed Church in America, which traces its roots back 400 years to the Dutch, will convene a General Synod in Schenectady in June.
The main order of business?
Formal charges against this conservative man of faith who loved his daughter - and loved that she loved someone else.
Yes, life can be messy that way.
Deep in their hearts, I'll bet Nancy, Dick and Rush would understand.
Email: henican@newsday.com
the freerepublic board he cannonfire refers to is here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1093819/posts
LamontCranston
When the Reformed Church in America meets in Schenectady, NY this June, the "main" order of business will not be the Rev. Dr. Kansfield's alleged misconduct. The RCA meets EVERY year in June at a "General Synod" where the work of the denomination is carried out by clergy (ministers) and lay (elders) delegates. The response of February 13 incorrectly portrays the General Synod as being called specifically to address this controversy. Surely, this will draw a lot of attention, but Judicial Business is only one part of a multi-faceted agenda.
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