I really hate this story. I watched NBC News tonight and they led with it, but failed to mention even one of the out-and-out lies Bush told last night. Kerry said something that was true, but something that makes bigots uncomfortable. The Republican party naturally sees this as a great opportunity to shift focus from their pathetic-ass selves and their insane leader, so they push it as the post-debate story. The media gladly lap it up, forcing me to spend one more night vomiting continuously.
Dave Cullen writes well in Salon about this travesty (membership or ad-watching required).
Consider the way a paraplegic or a blind person feels when you act just a little too sympathetic about their "plight." We don't want your pity! Can you see how insulting it is?
The only thing offensive about Kerry's statement to us gay people was that he had to pause mid-sentence and gulp and sputter the terrifying word out: "Dick Cheney's daughter, who is ... a lesbian ..."
It's not a dirty word, John. And why is the press reacting like he exposed a breast?
The most outlandish exchange I've seen came in a scholarly Fox News debate Thursday -- seriously, it happens -- over the candidates' linguistic styles, of all things. The conservative guy, Eric Dezenhall, charged that "the invocation of Vice President Cheney's daughter's lesbianism was sort of a radioactive concept. The words lesbian in a presidential debate -- even if you don't mean it to be mean -- came across as off the grid, and very, very shrill."
Is he serious? If it's innocent little gay people you think you're protecting here, listen up! Gay people do not consider the invocation of our existence radioactive. It's the comparisons to plutonium that drive us nuts. We are not toxic.
