Trump is convinced that Americans are too stupid to know when they're being lied to.
51
Saying something is true or factual doesn't make it so. In the case of the Republican party over the past couple decades, most of those Americans grounded in reality and not deluded by political ideology and party loyalty, have learned to believe the opposite of whatever the GOP claims.
The very existence of Log Cabin Republicans still boggles the mind. Being simultaneously proudly out with one's sexual orientation and being a proud Republican would seem to call into question any individual's mental health.
The very existence of Log Cabin Republicans still boggles the mind. Being simultaneously proudly out with one's sexual orientation and being a proud Republican would seem to call into question any individual's mental health.
62
You have to accept that religion is a cure for some and a disease for others. What some feel is their protector, others feel is their persecutor. It’s not just religion; in the real world, too, a man may be simultaneously liberator and captor. It depends on what is most pressing at any time. When one thinks of himself as a member of one segment of society, he does not think beyond that to the other segments of society he is also a member of.
11
It's at moments like this that George Orwell's words seem so prescient. Maybe Trump is a fan?
“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.”
“It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.”
“I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane.”
“We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them.”
"War is peace, Freedom is slavery and Ignorance is strength".
“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.”
“It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.”
“I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane.”
“We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them.”
"War is peace, Freedom is slavery and Ignorance is strength".
48
George Orwell
Double speak
When I read that book when I was a teenager, I was sure no one would ever fall for that!
Boy was I mistaken!!!
Yeah, I'm talking to you , 30 percent of our country!
Double speak
When I read that book when I was a teenager, I was sure no one would ever fall for that!
Boy was I mistaken!!!
Yeah, I'm talking to you , 30 percent of our country!
100
Donald Trump expects gay people to jump on his racist platform, which is a prospect both disgusting and ruinous, for united together we stand, divided against each other we fall.
How can The Donald expect us to believe he is a friend to "the gays," when all along Trump has opposed marriage equality and vowed to appoint Supreme Court judges to overturn the ruling that legalized same-sex marriage? Trump wants to make gay people second-class citizens again.
Let Humpty Trumpty have a great fall off that racist wall he promises to build. The rest of us don't want to go down with Humpty Trumpty.
How can The Donald expect us to believe he is a friend to "the gays," when all along Trump has opposed marriage equality and vowed to appoint Supreme Court judges to overturn the ruling that legalized same-sex marriage? Trump wants to make gay people second-class citizens again.
Let Humpty Trumpty have a great fall off that racist wall he promises to build. The rest of us don't want to go down with Humpty Trumpty.
85
This tactic surely is entertaining to watch but we are not a bunch of idiots with short memories. I have watched the GOP Clown Car careening down the highway for the past year but I think right now it is missing that final turn and just going to go right off the cliff.
119
"The Republican party's abysmal record on gay rights." Man, you couldn't have said it better. In more than thirty years of working on gay rights, I am aware of only one out of hundreds of anti-gay bills that was put forth by a Democrat. Every other such bill, law, or act came from Republicans. People I know who call themselves conservative ask me why I can't be gay and conservative, too. There's your answer, right there.
91
Laws follow public opinion, the only issue is lag time. The electorate is changing, and not in their favor. Religion is dying. They can cheat all they want with redistricting, they are just buying time, demographics are hot on their heels.
35
The hypocrisy from the Republicans on this is shameful - and, of course, consistent with their past practices. They are masterful at manipulating under-informed and biased voters by using threats that Democrats would legitimize those who have been targeted - LGBTQ, women, people of color, etc.
The most startling thing in the column is that a poll shows that 18% from the LGBTQ community do NOT have an unfavorable view of Mr. Trump. By this goes far beyond The Donald - it goes to the incredibly effective grass roots efforts by Republicans over the past 4 decades to capture a majority of state and local government, meaning that there are few, if any, obstacles to passing their Luddite legislation. Any Republican presidential candidate is just the tip of a very regressive iceberg.
While there are many issues within the Democratic Party to overcome, their support of the LBGTQ community is pretty close to universal.
The most startling thing in the column is that a poll shows that 18% from the LGBTQ community do NOT have an unfavorable view of Mr. Trump. By this goes far beyond The Donald - it goes to the incredibly effective grass roots efforts by Republicans over the past 4 decades to capture a majority of state and local government, meaning that there are few, if any, obstacles to passing their Luddite legislation. Any Republican presidential candidate is just the tip of a very regressive iceberg.
While there are many issues within the Democratic Party to overcome, their support of the LBGTQ community is pretty close to universal.
32
Muslims in the US did not come here to live under Shariah law, they came here to get away from it. Christians however, have been hard at work trying to create a Christian Theocracy, with laws based on their Bible, not the Constitution. Their view on gays could not be more explicit, they spout it out in Fundamentalist Churches right there in Florida eery Sunday.. I saw one of those "Pastors" from AZ on TV the day after the Massacre, reading those passages from Leviticus that deal with gays. The hateful preacher, urged the govt to do God's work and round up and execute gays, albeit, he said, humanely. I'm sure LGBT"s are keenly aware of these facts and will vote accordingly. Every minority should fear the Demagogue, no matter what stripes he wears,
151
"Muslims in the US did not come here to live under Shariah law, they came here to get away from it."
I suggest you read more Charles Blow. A November 2015 editorial by Mr. Blow whines about Muslims not being able to practice Sharia Law. In the United States.
I suggest you read more Charles Blow. A November 2015 editorial by Mr. Blow whines about Muslims not being able to practice Sharia Law. In the United States.
17
He learned his ugliness from Roy Cohn, McCarthy's sidekick in disgusting, inhuman behavior.
42
The Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all originating in the same place from the same group, all prescribe the destruction of homosexual people. The religions should be distinguished from modern people who were born into the cultures defined by the religion(s). The Jews have been chastened by diaspora and the Christians by the enlightenment. At least some of them have. The Islamic cultures have been much more insular and only now are inhaling some of the virtues of the enlightenment, but they are, the people are, many of them. It is those who cling to the fundamental primitive origins of their religions that must continue to hate and destroy. What is needed is open repudiation of the hateful and intolerant passages in all of the scriptures. Good luck with that. Fearful people love to hate.
41
I'm doubtful 'cynical' describes the gay ploy here. More appropriate might be fatuous and absurd, meaning neither gay voters nor dyed-in-the-wool republican voters are buying this, either. It's utterly empty rhetoric coming from - gee, surprise - Donald Trump.
26
well said and written. And true - every word.
8
A) We are not so easily fooled.
B) Not many others are, either.
C) Idiots will always do idiotic things.
B) Not many others are, either.
C) Idiots will always do idiotic things.
22
"One of the most brazen — craven even — ploys by Republicans in the wake of the Orlando massacre has been to suggest, incredibly, that they would be better for the L.G.B.T. community than the Democrats."
The Pride parade in town this weekend didn't seem completely thrilled to be joined up by an Open Carry parade.
The Pride parade in town this weekend didn't seem completely thrilled to be joined up by an Open Carry parade.
16
How can you tell a Republican is lying? His lips are moving.
47
"Mo Brooks of Alabama took it even further, saying last week"...
For just a second there I thought you were citing Mel Brooks!
For just a second there I thought you were citing Mel Brooks!
5
Well... Donald Trump! Unbelievable, I will tell you, nobody believes what Donald tells you.
13
"Queer". Mr. Blow has used this word as a descriptor for homosexuals that I haven't heard in a long time, but have heard it several times just recently. My dictionary defines it as "(slang) homosexual: a term of contempt or derision". I thought this rude, cruel, hateful epithet had been relegated to the lock box of words shunned by civilized societies, not unlike the "n" word. Don't know who decided it was ok to take it out, dust it off and give it whirl, but it really should go back in the box and remain there.
12
Deb, a little gay history... the word "queer" was embraced by parts of the gay community in the early 1990s as a way to empower themselves and take power away from those who sought to use it in the conventional way you cite from a dictionary. The movement Queer Nation was one of the responses to the AIDS epidemic along with/in parallel to Act Up. The word *is* still controversial even in the gay community (Huffington Post recently renamed their "Gay Voices" column to "Queer Voices" to the dismay of many of their writers and readers), but it's certainly not unheard of or new.
28
The millennial generation is now using "queer" as a broader term for non-conforming sexuality. It is not considered derisive by this generation, rather, it is preferred as more inclusive.
23
Within the GLBTQ community, it is absolutely an accepted word these days. I'm gay and don't happen to use it, but many of my gay friends refer to themselves as "queer", as do countless organizations that work for gay rights. It's mainstream in our community now.
14
Question: Why do you support Hillary and not Bernie?
Answer: Because Hillary talks to me, and Bernie just talks about policies.
And there's the Republican strategy. Policies don't matter, what matters is that they "talk to me." It doesn't matter to too many people what policies are best for them, they just want to have a beer with GW Bush.
Answer: Because Hillary talks to me, and Bernie just talks about policies.
And there's the Republican strategy. Policies don't matter, what matters is that they "talk to me." It doesn't matter to too many people what policies are best for them, they just want to have a beer with GW Bush.
13
The rural ultra-conservatives whom I know truly believe that Trump’s combined plan of closing the borders against Muslim immigrants and eliminating any and all gun restrictions should appeal to “the gays.” This is because, by their logic, had the victims at Pulse been armed, they could have defended themselves against the “Islamic terrorist,” whose parents, they believe, never should have been allowed into the country 30 years ago. They can’t fathom why anyone would support Hillary Clinton, whom they perceive as simultaneously inviting terrorists into the country and depriving “real Americans” of the means to protect themselves. They see the horrific Orlando tragedy as a vindication of this (to them) self-evident truth.
20
The 2004 Election was all about gay marriage. That's how George W Bush won. It was the wedge issue that distracted the public from reflecting on, gee--I don't know: why are we in Iraq when it was clear Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11? Let's not forget that. Republicans hate gay people more than they hate Hispanics. I'm sure they're swallowing their own vomit when they pretend to express sorrow for what happened in Orlando to 49 people who happened to be gay AND mostly Hispanic.
57
The republican party is completely delusional.
52
I think that this strategy is the latest version of "swift-boating". The Republicans identify where they are weakest and the opposition is the strongest, and then they flip the meme. Thus, a decorated war veteran was made weak by a draft avoider. The question for me is "will it work again?"
13
This is a very clever formulation of the concept. Thank you.
5
The party that wants guns in businesses, schools and churches is afraid someone might walk in and gay them to death? My disbelief suspender is beyond repair.
17
Of course, Republicans have no ties to Saudi Arabia.
Only Hillary.
Only Hillary.
3
What is your comment supposed to mean?
8
With the GOP it always comes down to Orwellian language. If it's a bill against gays, then they'll describe it as a bill FOR some abstraction, which they'll advertise as somehow FAIR. Depending on who they're talking to.
Trump fits so perfectly within this "forked tongue" speech pattern. He comes down on all sides of everything. Or claims to. And so do they.
It's such a disgusting and shameful way to behave. These people are covered in feces - but claim to be smelling like a Rose!
Trump fits so perfectly within this "forked tongue" speech pattern. He comes down on all sides of everything. Or claims to. And so do they.
It's such a disgusting and shameful way to behave. These people are covered in feces - but claim to be smelling like a Rose!
11
Don't be fooled by Republican's "depraved cynicism." Remember "Compassionate Conservatism" - no such thing exists.
Saying "they would be better for the L.G.B.T. community than the Democrats" is like them saying "they would be better for the US than the Democrats" - unless by "US" they mean "us" at the expense of "them", the rest of the nation.
Saying "they would be better for the L.G.B.T. community than the Democrats" is like them saying "they would be better for the US than the Democrats" - unless by "US" they mean "us" at the expense of "them", the rest of the nation.
8
"Republicans like Karl Rove have used anti-gay marriage amendments in crucial states to help draw homophobes to the polls and benefit Republicans." You could say the same thing about the recent flurry of "bathroom bills" and similar nonsense in the past. It has been my assumption for years that the establishment Republicans behind the nastiness probably don't believe a word of what they are saying, or certainly don't care about any of it. These are well educated, wealthy, people conning voters who are neither. We can predict statistically that the powers behind Republican politics are not personally bigots or religious extremists, but they do not mind using the votes of people who are. People need to keep in mind that Republican hypocrisy has been, rational, well motivated, and largely successful.
13
The "GOP ploy" is based on reality. If responsible gun owners inside that discotheque had an arm and an authorization to carry it, the outcome might have been less atrocious, and those who emerged severely wounded would today be walking around on 2 legs and seeing with 2 eyes, grateful to the lawmakers and MR.TRUMP for their muscled approach to the problem and their call for an armed citizenry.BLOW always speaks of the LGBT community as if its members were different from any other AMERICANS, which they r not.A liberal is anyone who has not yet been mugged. Have a hunch that if Mr. BLOW ever were able to put a question to survivors of the massacre in the Orlando club re whether the tragedy could have been prevented, or the effects mitigated if there had been a "pistol under every barstool,"their response would be overwhelmingly in the affirmative.Doubt whether Mr BLOW ever knew the military life, or had personal experience with victims of terrorist attentats, but the exposure to martyrs of a "plastiquage " in a cafe in Algiers , just one example, is life changing. "When times get bad, people get bad," goes the old refrain,and now is not the time to put the kibosh on a citizen's right to own a firearm and use it in self defense.If Mr. Blow had been in the army, he would have a greater respect for guns,,because the first thing you learn in basic training is how to shoot.and use the weapon responsibly. Mr.Blow lacks experience.But he is a good writer.
4
So let's see. A dark, noisy, crowded nightclub, many people consuming beverages (not likely iced tea). Shooter starts a-shootin'. Everyone grabs the "gun under every bar stool" and starts a-shootin back. What could possibly go wrong ?
5
Florida has among the loosest gun laws in the country, and the shooter was a professional security guard with a gun license.
6
Your comment is absolutely unbelievable. Would you want to be in a crowded room where dozens of scared and panicky good guys with guns are shooting away. Even policeman usually miss, in spite of all their training and in spite of their expectation of violence. But terrified amateurs with guns shooting in a closed room. You have got to be kidding. Or you, like most of the other negative commenters in this thread, are completely delusional. Which is it?
18
Mr. Blow -- Not all of us in the LGBT community are comfortable with the use of the term "queer" to describe ourselves.
9
Yeah, you got the GOP sucking up to the likes of Kevin Swanson and passing loopy toilet laws that caricature LGBT folks as child molesters, and THAT'S the major concern.
7
Did I say that was my major concern? No
4
It's no less important to me that I not be called a name that was used to bully me than it is for a transgender person to be called by their desired pronoun. It's all about respect, sir.
6
Mo Brooks and the real estate guy are so twisted and convoluted in their torturous pronouncements that it is impossible to discern where any grain of truth might lie. It is Orwellian double-speak, and a proof of at least parts of Joseph Goebbels statement about repeating lies so often that people start to believe them: in this case, maybe, the speakers themselves. To the rest of us it is mendacious gobbledygook.
9
American politics isn't about content; it's about spectacle.
8
US culture is at the root of much of the pathology described by Blow.Machismo more rife than in any other developed country(gladiatorial team sport,hunting,gun violence are just a few examples).Anti intellectual attitudes more prevalent than in any other developed democracy(no reading,no interest in anything that does not affect directly and immediately. Primitive views of justice("lock them away and throw away the key,make them suffer,I will get closure by watching them be executed").Such traits are more pronounced in Republican circles and provide a fertile ground for misogyny,racism and homophobia.Too many Republicans don't like anyone different from themselves,primarily because they don't like themselves much either.
15
I still refuse to comprehend how the GOP is tracking above fringe party numbers when it comes to LGBT (18%) and women (30%) voters.
In any other country, fringe is typically something that attracts 5% or less of the population, which in any given country, can be counted on to hold unenlightened views of the modern world.
What's up with that America?
In any other country, fringe is typically something that attracts 5% or less of the population, which in any given country, can be counted on to hold unenlightened views of the modern world.
What's up with that America?
14
Being LGBT doesn't mecessarily mean you are smart.
12
Far too many Americans heap scorn on education, and despise people who use words they don't understand, either because they lacked the interest in high school, or had unqualified teachers. The ignorance of basic science in this country is a disgrace.
11
Trump and the Republicans get all of their money from the country that kills gays: America.
6
Enjoy your trip to Mecca. Be sure and wear something pink, and a nice rainbow hat.
9
"...but instead a way of making Republicans and amenable independents feel good about supporting the party’s schismatic policies."
This statement by Mr. Blow is almost correct and if one ignores his additive, schismatic, it is right on. My dear deceased aunt was a dyed in the wool conservative Republican. I could never understand her unfailing adherence to their orthodoxy. She was smart and had a keen mind. Yet, there was something inside her head that prevented an openness to "others." She watched Fox news, and subscribed to the Orange County Register. She read it daily and would occasionally send me news clippings that would drive me up the wall.
She is the sort of voter (she always voted) that Trump and Brooks are aiming at. And their efforts will work. I don't know why, and I shake my head in disbelief…. but they will. The LGBT community and the Democratic party might as well forget trying to influence those sort of R's like my aunt. Instead, concentrate on the independent voters who are not wearing blinders. That's where the elections will be won.
This statement by Mr. Blow is almost correct and if one ignores his additive, schismatic, it is right on. My dear deceased aunt was a dyed in the wool conservative Republican. I could never understand her unfailing adherence to their orthodoxy. She was smart and had a keen mind. Yet, there was something inside her head that prevented an openness to "others." She watched Fox news, and subscribed to the Orange County Register. She read it daily and would occasionally send me news clippings that would drive me up the wall.
She is the sort of voter (she always voted) that Trump and Brooks are aiming at. And their efforts will work. I don't know why, and I shake my head in disbelief…. but they will. The LGBT community and the Democratic party might as well forget trying to influence those sort of R's like my aunt. Instead, concentrate on the independent voters who are not wearing blinders. That's where the elections will be won.
20
To help you understand, try reading "The Republican Brain" by Chris Mooney and see if that explains some of your aunt's reasoning.
Though it may not fit your aunt, look up Right-wing authoritarianism on Wikipedia which helps explain some of the more hostile conservatives:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarianism
Though it may not fit your aunt, look up Right-wing authoritarianism on Wikipedia which helps explain some of the more hostile conservatives:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarianism
6
"My dear deceased aunt was a dyed in the wool conservative Republican. I could never understand her unfailing adherence to their orthodoxy."
The answer to your quandary is in your next sentence: "She was smart and had a keen mind."
The answer to your quandary is in your next sentence: "She was smart and had a keen mind."
3
Pointing to the Arab and Islamic countries as what should be feared is never a good strategy for Republicans. The Lt. Governor Texas, a Republican suggested that the people in Pulse got what they deserved. Too often it is hard to distinguish the Islamic "crazies" and the Republican bigoted "crazies."
33
Now I see the mistake that the Segregationists made in opposing the civil rights movement. They based their defense of racism on the notion of "states' rights", when they should have used "religious liberty".
Or just waited until they had today's Supreme Court.
Or just waited until they had today's Supreme Court.
15
I just read in the Denver post that the Movie Finding Dory has broken records
at the box office. At this time it struck me that is such a sweet movie, and voiced by a wonderful, kind woman, who happens to be gay. A more caring person is hard to find, and she is loved by so many people. Good people should be loved, period. Hateful, Jerks, NO. So simple.
at the box office. At this time it struck me that is such a sweet movie, and voiced by a wonderful, kind woman, who happens to be gay. A more caring person is hard to find, and she is loved by so many people. Good people should be loved, period. Hateful, Jerks, NO. So simple.
17
Trump's hyper-Machiavellian mendacity is profoundly disgusting.
However, we are even more offended than this by his insulting assumption that we are to stupid to recognize that we are being lied to.
However, we are even more offended than this by his insulting assumption that we are to stupid to recognize that we are being lied to.
21
"... to [sic] stupid ..."?
Well...
Well...
3
Blow: "... Republicans like Karl Rove have used anti-gay marriage amendments in crucial states to help draw homophobes to the polls and benefit Republicans."
The Republican Party is the so-called party of Lincoln, but folks like Rove have never manifested the virtues or the vision of "Honest Abe." The "unfinished work" that Lincoln spoke of in his Gettysburg address continues to be unfinished, primarily because of folks like Rove; and we can be certain that it will remain unfinished if Trump is elected.
The Republican Party is the so-called party of Lincoln, but folks like Rove have never manifested the virtues or the vision of "Honest Abe." The "unfinished work" that Lincoln spoke of in his Gettysburg address continues to be unfinished, primarily because of folks like Rove; and we can be certain that it will remain unfinished if Trump is elected.
21
The Republican party started off as the party of Lincoln, but they have evolved into the party of John C. Calhoun, whom is the great Southern strategist that discovered how to nullify the U.S. Constitution.
9
1-What is Hillary promising the arab countries in return for their money?
2-Good essay, with a particularly nice last paragraph.
2-Good essay, with a particularly nice last paragraph.
3
I can't even figure out why they're doing this.
1. People who support Trump don't care what he says about anything
2. People who don't support Trump aren't going to be fooled into thinking "Well, maybe..."
3. People in the middle *surely* won't be thinking "I'm not sure whether I can vote for Trump. Does he like the gays?"
It's like some weird tumor in his id that makes him says pure nonsense. It's part of the show.
1. People who support Trump don't care what he says about anything
2. People who don't support Trump aren't going to be fooled into thinking "Well, maybe..."
3. People in the middle *surely* won't be thinking "I'm not sure whether I can vote for Trump. Does he like the gays?"
It's like some weird tumor in his id that makes him says pure nonsense. It's part of the show.
10
God is great. He sent Trump to give back to Americans the right on a society where they don’t suffer the dictatorship of people who presently are completely destroying a centuries old culture that sings straight love, in music, verse and films.
2
...Instead we want a traditional dictatorship where nobody has rights.
3
You think all that stuff was straight, do you? Fascinating.
7
Mo Brooks has it backwards. Many within the GOP have a problem: as co-fundamentalists, they are attracted to Islam's intolerance of and hatred for LBGT members, just as they share with Islam a predilection for imposing their religious views on all members of society, rather than allow a tolerant civil polity to prevail, and they share with Islam an honor-based world view, where violence and revenge are "just" responses to wrongs.
23
This 79 year old White man has appreciated the growth of civility and sensitivity evident over these years. My present gay friends will appreciate this piece. I often hope those few friends and acquaintances in my South Dakota High School....way back in the '50's have been able to enjoy a greater life in the present day. My thanks to Charles Blow for this marvelous piece...with his usual cogency,
14
Not so fast Charles M. Blow!
While there is no doubt that the Democrats advocate for legislation crafted specifically to support rights for gay peoples and cultures, the Republican’s agenda of free markets and strong national defense are policies crafted to benefit all US citizens whether they be gay or otherwise.
Not that I buy the claims of Trump; he don’t speak for anyone but this own ego driven ambitions.
But a complete blanket dismissal of the appeal of GOP policies for gay Americans is condescending and presumptuous. Seems to me Charles M. Blow is being a little bit disrespectful to gay people himself in his brash essay.
While there is no doubt that the Democrats advocate for legislation crafted specifically to support rights for gay peoples and cultures, the Republican’s agenda of free markets and strong national defense are policies crafted to benefit all US citizens whether they be gay or otherwise.
Not that I buy the claims of Trump; he don’t speak for anyone but this own ego driven ambitions.
But a complete blanket dismissal of the appeal of GOP policies for gay Americans is condescending and presumptuous. Seems to me Charles M. Blow is being a little bit disrespectful to gay people himself in his brash essay.
4
@John Dooley There's no such thing as a "free market". In as much as there is a market at all, it's regulated or governed in some way (e.g., contract enforcement).
Moreover, free markets don't work well for all and not all issues should be governed by markets. Markets function on 1 vote per dollar, not 1 vote per person. Regulations are enacted to address market failures.
The freest market we have is the marketplace of ideas, and in that marketplace, the concept of governance has long since won out over the concept of anarchy.
Moreover, free markets don't work well for all and not all issues should be governed by markets. Markets function on 1 vote per dollar, not 1 vote per person. Regulations are enacted to address market failures.
The freest market we have is the marketplace of ideas, and in that marketplace, the concept of governance has long since won out over the concept of anarchy.
5
Please explain how all of the defense of marriage bills both state and federal in any way had to do with free markets and national defense. As well as explain how don't ask don't tell did. Also explain how then in any way benefitted all Americans. You cannot take a small part of what republican supposedly stand for (as both their free market and defense positions are questionable as to obtaining what they claim) and pretend that the rest does not matter.
9
Republicans are in favor of trickle down, for gays too. Whoopee dooo!
10
The LGBT community is not remotely stupid, certainly not as much as Donald Trump and his Republican party would like to think we are.
I'm 36 years old. For my entire lifetime it was the Republican party - not the Democrats- who embraced and vomited out the most repellent, divisive, dehumanizing, excoriating lies and nonsense about the LGBT community. It was the GOP who embraced the homophobic extremists in our nation, and gave them a national platform and endless exposure. It was the GOP which laughed in the face of the AIDS epidemic. It was the GOP which twisted equal rights under the law into a wedge issue, while accusing we LGBT Americans of working to destroy the foundations of our society, while calling us disease-spreaders, sinners, pederasts, and equating our relationships to bestiality.
It is also the GOP's endless fealty to the NRA that allowed the Orlando shooter easy access to military-grade assault weapons like the AR-15. To the Republican party, gun laws of any kind are too restrictive. Their stance on this issue practically placed the gun in his hand.
So, please, do not ever tell me that the Republican party cares one bit about the well-being of the LGBT community. Were it not for the religious background of the Orlando shooter, one could easily see him as a poster-boy for all of the violence and hatred the Republican party stands for.
I'm 36 years old. For my entire lifetime it was the Republican party - not the Democrats- who embraced and vomited out the most repellent, divisive, dehumanizing, excoriating lies and nonsense about the LGBT community. It was the GOP who embraced the homophobic extremists in our nation, and gave them a national platform and endless exposure. It was the GOP which laughed in the face of the AIDS epidemic. It was the GOP which twisted equal rights under the law into a wedge issue, while accusing we LGBT Americans of working to destroy the foundations of our society, while calling us disease-spreaders, sinners, pederasts, and equating our relationships to bestiality.
It is also the GOP's endless fealty to the NRA that allowed the Orlando shooter easy access to military-grade assault weapons like the AR-15. To the Republican party, gun laws of any kind are too restrictive. Their stance on this issue practically placed the gun in his hand.
So, please, do not ever tell me that the Republican party cares one bit about the well-being of the LGBT community. Were it not for the religious background of the Orlando shooter, one could easily see him as a poster-boy for all of the violence and hatred the Republican party stands for.
41
Yeah, it was all those Democrats pushing back against gay marriage, and transgenders using a bathroom not in keeping with their stated sex on their birth certificate. It was all those Democrats trying to keep Muslims and Latinos out of this country. It was all those Democrats trying to squash the Lillie Ledbetter law. It was a Democrat who stood up in Congress and shouted "You Lie". Yep those Democrats are homophobic, misogynistic, racist xenophobes aren't they?
7
So you would have Bill Clinton, a repeated sex offender, and his amoral wife, who would do anything to get elected, occupy the White House? That would truly be a real-life "House of Cards."
2
This is the GOP mantra, lacking accuracy or nuance and thus sounding like it came out of the Donald's mouth . The term sex offender implies sex with underage (minors) which clearly was not the case with Mr Clinton. Hillary is not amoral, which would mean she is a psychopath. She sometimes has questionable ethics which means she is a politician. Hope that clarifies things.
4
Citoyen: why do you call Hillary Clinton "amoral"? Bill Clinton has had his problems, but he was a very good president, none-the-less. On the other hand, I assume that you prefer a serial adulterer and a man who has bragged about his penis size?A man who has little respect for people who are not white? Who apparently does not believe in equality? That's your preference for a president????
14
citoyen, the last time Clinton was in the WH, he left with a very high approval rating and the country had the best sustained job growth that it had had for seven decades at least. And Bill Clinton was never prosecuted for a sex offense.
11
Whoahhhhhhhh! Are some commentators suggesting that the hard Right, or the highly Conservative, wing of the Republican party (or the fundamentalists inside and outside GOP) actually tried to kill three (not just two) birds with one stone? Get a Muslim (whom they hate) to kill Gays (whom they hate also), and this way they can kill a third bird...which is any resistance for more funding for more wars in the Middle East? Some commentators sound a bit nutty with these kinds of allegations. But knowing America today I would not put anything past anybody.
My Brown wife was at a grocery store the other day, with her ethnic clothes, purchasing some fruits and flowers. She requested if she could get at ahead of White guy who had literally bought the whole store as she was in a rush. It was a request. This guy started picking a fight with her trying to infantilize her, demean her and trying to make up stories about her...though he did not know which country she was from. She got out of the store and drove fast out...while saying how you cannot even talk to people anymore because they all have guns, and the White men, in some places, have arrogance, ignorance and aggression too. I agree.
I am a White man with Huntington's, a genetic neurological illness, and I come across as sane compared to all these White men walking around in many places, including Dallas. They are nice to me only because I am White and obviously unwell. But with Brown women they are ready to pick fights & kill.
My Brown wife was at a grocery store the other day, with her ethnic clothes, purchasing some fruits and flowers. She requested if she could get at ahead of White guy who had literally bought the whole store as she was in a rush. It was a request. This guy started picking a fight with her trying to infantilize her, demean her and trying to make up stories about her...though he did not know which country she was from. She got out of the store and drove fast out...while saying how you cannot even talk to people anymore because they all have guns, and the White men, in some places, have arrogance, ignorance and aggression too. I agree.
I am a White man with Huntington's, a genetic neurological illness, and I come across as sane compared to all these White men walking around in many places, including Dallas. They are nice to me only because I am White and obviously unwell. But with Brown women they are ready to pick fights & kill.
8
@Mark Schaeffer I haven't read any such comments, here or elsewhere. Where did you read them?
1
GOP hypocrisy is galling, perpetually galling.
Party of hate,
Party of white,
Party of straight.
The reasons are obvious why they can't grow their base.
Party of hate,
Party of white,
Party of straight.
The reasons are obvious why they can't grow their base.
14
OK, let's face facts - Fundamental Christians also believe that the "Gay" lifestyle is a sin. They do not (although there are a few exceptions) believe in killing gays - they do not support their rights as individuals to live their lives on their own terms. The statement "love the sinner - hate the sin" is their cover. They have the right to their religious beliefs, but we do not live under "religious" law, but secular law. If we did - we would be Saudi Arabia.
8
Donald Trump is, as my sainted mother used to say: "A pimple on the (lower, back side) of progress." She actually used a different, shorter word that was much more accurate but the tender sensibilities of the editors force me to these descriptors.
My gay brothers and sisters are all smart enough to see through the flimsy, burnoose that the Rightwing is wearing to seduce them into what would clearly be a fatal trap. Flabby, stupid, and clueless has never been a popular look with gay people I know. Sorry Republicans, you picked the wrong year to stop sniffing glue.
My gay brothers and sisters are all smart enough to see through the flimsy, burnoose that the Rightwing is wearing to seduce them into what would clearly be a fatal trap. Flabby, stupid, and clueless has never been a popular look with gay people I know. Sorry Republicans, you picked the wrong year to stop sniffing glue.
12
It is terrifying how adept Republicans are at turning issues in their direction. The use of the term "death tax" instead of estate tax. Implying Obamacare was about "death panels."
But now they have gone further, suggesting they support the LGBT community as Pat Robertson and his ilk say the only failure of the Orlando shooter was that he didn't kill more "sodomites."
Finally, their latest ploy is to say that Obama and Hillary created ISIS and the carnage in Syria. It's all a lie of course. Which I am confused about is why they want to dump Trump. He is the greatest liar of all time, the ultimate PT Barnum (a sucker born every minute.)
Then O'Connell made it clear, "Trump won't stick to the script." A script that has made an evil, even treacherous party look all loving and kind while they destroyed the poor and the middle class to benefit themselves and their billionaire friends.
A recent article on Paul Ryan, who looks like a casting directors dream of a villain fooling the audience into thinking he is a caring and decent man, is being undermined by the only man who reveals the Republican party to be what it is. Hateful, uncaring, fascists.
Instead of deriding Trump we should be grateful. He has ripped the mask off the Republicans Kabuki theater.
Finally, do you ever think we will hear a Republican leader answer a question about how their policies would help the country instead of (sticking to the script), attacking Obama and Hillary?
But now they have gone further, suggesting they support the LGBT community as Pat Robertson and his ilk say the only failure of the Orlando shooter was that he didn't kill more "sodomites."
Finally, their latest ploy is to say that Obama and Hillary created ISIS and the carnage in Syria. It's all a lie of course. Which I am confused about is why they want to dump Trump. He is the greatest liar of all time, the ultimate PT Barnum (a sucker born every minute.)
Then O'Connell made it clear, "Trump won't stick to the script." A script that has made an evil, even treacherous party look all loving and kind while they destroyed the poor and the middle class to benefit themselves and their billionaire friends.
A recent article on Paul Ryan, who looks like a casting directors dream of a villain fooling the audience into thinking he is a caring and decent man, is being undermined by the only man who reveals the Republican party to be what it is. Hateful, uncaring, fascists.
Instead of deriding Trump we should be grateful. He has ripped the mask off the Republicans Kabuki theater.
Finally, do you ever think we will hear a Republican leader answer a question about how their policies would help the country instead of (sticking to the script), attacking Obama and Hillary?
14
You mean the Republicans that approved measure that would allow federal contractors to discriminate against and fire LGBT people? Those gay-loving Republicans? The ones that won't be seen at our Pride parades? Those friendly, tolerant Republicans? The ones that say Pulse was a young person's club rather than admit the Orlando attack was targeted at the LGBT community? Those honest Republicans? It would be funny if it weren't so infuriating. Yeah, we're behind you Republicans; holding a dagger to your back as we walk you off the plank.
9
Cynical as opposed to what? You, the NY Times, and their progressive knee-jerks blaming Republicans for the slaughter of gays committed by an Islamic terrorist, while refusing to acknowledge that he was a jihadi fanatic? Word comes out today, the killer didn't even mention gays in his rant to the police on his cellphone while in the middle of the shooting. But that won't stop you, will it? No cynicism here.
5
JW, problem with reading comprehension? Where does Mr. Blow claim that Republicans are to blame "for the slaughter of gays committed by an Islamic terrorist". Your accusation is horrendous and not true.
10
Where in this article did Mr. Blow blame Republicans? Where exactly? Which paragraph? Did you even read this article?
".....refusing to acknowledge that he was a jihadi fanatic...". Since you can't read what Mr. Blow wrote who provided the term "jihadi fanatic" for you to pen?
".....refusing to acknowledge that he was a jihadi fanatic...". Since you can't read what Mr. Blow wrote who provided the term "jihadi fanatic" for you to pen?
7
Get religion OUT of politics and democracy for all will finally be realized in America. For women, for the LBGT community, for people of color - for everyone. OUR United States Constitution and Amendments guarantee SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE and WE must DEMAND that it be upheld. Take away tax-free status from ANY religious organization that interferes with politics in any way and tax back all the wealth they have stolen in the past 240 years with their supposed good works. THAT will restore democracy in America and allow us to rebuild OUR infrastructure.
28
Wasn't it Trump who promised to appoint judges that would overturn marriage equality?
13
Thanks for a thoughtful dissection and rehash of the GOP playbook, Mr. Blow.
But to be fair, Donald's not a typical Republican in social matters. I am becoming more convinced by his recent actions that he represents a one-man sleeper cell out to destroy the GOP. Look at the clumsy and incorrect grammar in your opening quote, if Trump sought the support of a group famously particular of labels, he should appear to know the actual words represented by L.G.B.T. and use them in a coherent sentence.
Add to this the lack of seriousness in his organization. He claims to be the ultimate CEO, but thinks he can defeat Clinton with 1/16 of her staff. Some would say that's hubris or stinginess (he hasn't been forthcoming with tax figures to prove his assertions of $10B net worth) but I choose to believe he has hired only a few trusted co-conspirators for this "inside job".
Be patient, Donald is indeed going to Make America Greater by crippling the Know-Nothing / Do-Nothing GOP and tarnish it for generations with his farcical brand. Let's get ready to exploit the victory he's handing us, it could be a very, very good thing.
But to be fair, Donald's not a typical Republican in social matters. I am becoming more convinced by his recent actions that he represents a one-man sleeper cell out to destroy the GOP. Look at the clumsy and incorrect grammar in your opening quote, if Trump sought the support of a group famously particular of labels, he should appear to know the actual words represented by L.G.B.T. and use them in a coherent sentence.
Add to this the lack of seriousness in his organization. He claims to be the ultimate CEO, but thinks he can defeat Clinton with 1/16 of her staff. Some would say that's hubris or stinginess (he hasn't been forthcoming with tax figures to prove his assertions of $10B net worth) but I choose to believe he has hired only a few trusted co-conspirators for this "inside job".
Be patient, Donald is indeed going to Make America Greater by crippling the Know-Nothing / Do-Nothing GOP and tarnish it for generations with his farcical brand. Let's get ready to exploit the victory he's handing us, it could be a very, very good thing.
8
Milo Yiannopolous. Watch his speech given at The Pulse in Orlando on YouTube for a gay man's perspective on Trump and the LGBT community.
3
The crusty (or should I say Krusty) GOP establishment can barely picture a woman without a starched apron around her waist. Unless you're the Donald, for whom certain body types are imagined sporting nothing but an apron, while rejecting all other body types with his low repertoire of barnyard epithets. Whether women have any other purpose in his forever-frat-boy thinking is another question altogether. An apron is fairly benevolent apparel compared with yellow stars, which would be the historically evident extension of the GOP's plan for gays, Muslims, Mexicans ...
The GOP is at last sinking from the weight of 30 years of rotting baggage. There can be no mistaking that this is a desperate bunch for whom policy development has never reached beyond party interests. The money sluice is gushing, the skimmings have never been better, the great payoff for having passed on its corporate-funded brainwashing to its constituents: bribery as party life support.
The GOP has grown slow, fat and lazy: they haven't bothered with defensible policy for over a generation. So they contort mindless bottom scrapings about LGBT support fully recognizing that the base accepts what it's told. But there you have it, thinking people: the GOP exposed. Intellectually, morally out of gas. "Nooo future for you!"
Don't expect the GOP or its supporters to come back from that other universe. Collectively, they've always retained a disposition for blaming anyone else for their own poor judgement.
The GOP is at last sinking from the weight of 30 years of rotting baggage. There can be no mistaking that this is a desperate bunch for whom policy development has never reached beyond party interests. The money sluice is gushing, the skimmings have never been better, the great payoff for having passed on its corporate-funded brainwashing to its constituents: bribery as party life support.
The GOP has grown slow, fat and lazy: they haven't bothered with defensible policy for over a generation. So they contort mindless bottom scrapings about LGBT support fully recognizing that the base accepts what it's told. But there you have it, thinking people: the GOP exposed. Intellectually, morally out of gas. "Nooo future for you!"
Don't expect the GOP or its supporters to come back from that other universe. Collectively, they've always retained a disposition for blaming anyone else for their own poor judgement.
10
Many gays will live longer under a President Trump than would if Mr. Obama was able to run for another term. Whenever Mr. Obama has had to choose between gays, his tubercular immigrants from Mexico, or anyone else, the Muslims have and will always come FIRST.
Had the San Bernardino murder spree have been in another night club with 300 people in it mostly from the LBGTQ community and every one of them mowed down over 3 hours, Mr. Obama would still not let the Koranic demand for their blood slow him down from shoving the next million or two he wants into America ASAP.
Eventually the LBGTQ community will realize that they, like black people, feminists, LaRaza and the unions, come FAR behind his childhood concept of Islam as a perfectly wonderful thing to impose on this country which he has been so angry at all of his life.
Had the San Bernardino murder spree have been in another night club with 300 people in it mostly from the LBGTQ community and every one of them mowed down over 3 hours, Mr. Obama would still not let the Koranic demand for their blood slow him down from shoving the next million or two he wants into America ASAP.
Eventually the LBGTQ community will realize that they, like black people, feminists, LaRaza and the unions, come FAR behind his childhood concept of Islam as a perfectly wonderful thing to impose on this country which he has been so angry at all of his life.
4
I'm so grateful that the New York Times curator has the wisdom and the imagination to include ludicrous comments such as yours in the consistently enlightening and thoughtful comments that typically follow an article in the Times.
Yours is a wonderful example that exposes some of the twisted intricacies of the deluded people on the right to think they know how to think. Your "thinking" on this matter would be amusing if it were not now obvious that people who think this way are a real danger to us all, in fact, a danger to modern civilization.
I hope your "Verona" is Verona, Italy, not Verona, New Jersey.
Yours is a wonderful example that exposes some of the twisted intricacies of the deluded people on the right to think they know how to think. Your "thinking" on this matter would be amusing if it were not now obvious that people who think this way are a real danger to us all, in fact, a danger to modern civilization.
I hope your "Verona" is Verona, Italy, not Verona, New Jersey.
13
And this is why there are no good conservative standup comedians.
13
RE: "...the Muslims have and will always come FIRST."
Osama Bin Laden would agree.
Osama Bin Laden would agree.
7
Two months ago Trump didn't know what the acronym stood for.
13
Bravo! He was boning up on his basic geography so he could loudly proclaim, "Belgium is a nice city."
8
The nonviability of that strategy became blindingly obvious when Anderson Cooper skewered the GOP Attorney General of Florida on national TV. There have always been a tiny handful of gay GOPers who have tried to argue that issues other than civil rights should drive gay voters to the Republicans. It has never been taken serious by the larger gay community.
10
Nationally, there is no doubt that the Democrats are far better for gay rights - especially for the urban, well-to-do gay community. At the same time, we do not live in a binary world where "all is well" there. It was the Clinton I era that introduced us to the fiascoes of DOMA and Don't Ask/Don't Tell, and through the course of the Clinton sex scandal and silence about HIV allowed for the stigma-through-silence to continue. But gay rights marched on, certainly as much due to the families and friends of loved ones who died of AIDS and shows like Will and Grace as much as anything Clintons did.
Internationally, the Clintons have provided cover for empowering and enabling anti-gay rhetoric - again, often through silence - in sub-Saharan Africa and Saudi Arabia, at times lining their own pockets. The Democratic party has certainly colluded, especially in how it has aligned on "global AIDS" efforts that have become a pipeline to export homophobia by tunneling on women and children, ignoring the reality that gay men are everywhere and need to be included in efforts to end the pandemic, not be outlawed.
I think it's important that we not be blinded by the light of the left compared to the stark darkness of the right so that we can see what is in the shadows of the Clinton and Democratic record on gay rights, not only because the truth is not as squeaky clean as many think, but also so as not to be blindsided as the campaign continues.
Internationally, the Clintons have provided cover for empowering and enabling anti-gay rhetoric - again, often through silence - in sub-Saharan Africa and Saudi Arabia, at times lining their own pockets. The Democratic party has certainly colluded, especially in how it has aligned on "global AIDS" efforts that have become a pipeline to export homophobia by tunneling on women and children, ignoring the reality that gay men are everywhere and need to be included in efforts to end the pandemic, not be outlawed.
I think it's important that we not be blinded by the light of the left compared to the stark darkness of the right so that we can see what is in the shadows of the Clinton and Democratic record on gay rights, not only because the truth is not as squeaky clean as many think, but also so as not to be blindsided as the campaign continues.
4
"Don't ask don't tell" wasn't in contrast to Gays serving openly in the military it was in contrast to a bar to Gays serving at all. This is what Sam Nunn and Colin Powell threatened. DOMA, rather clearly unconstitutional was still trying to head-off much more restrictive laws. It is easy to look to the past and re-write it but it is better to put things in perspective.
14
At this point anyone identifying as a Republican and decent human being simultaneously needs to take a long deep look inside.
The party's traditional platform rotted away years ago and in the process it has taken American societal values with it. Then there is the very discomforting fact that the party and the individuals who inhabit it have lost the ability to think clearly or recognize honesty in themselves or others. That millions voted for Trump is very concerning, that the party could not produce one solid candidate in two cycles is alarming. If GOP leaders had any courage backed by character they would not feed the mad dog that is the parties base.
As is so often true while I'm reading a NYTs opinion column containing important hard information in support of undeniable conclusions I find myself asking why is this information not in the news section of the paper. As the Times strenuously proclaims its self a champion of LGBT people the Times has not time or room to report on the actions of a virulently anti gay congress even as it struggles to place relevant news often filling space with near tabloid filler.
The party's traditional platform rotted away years ago and in the process it has taken American societal values with it. Then there is the very discomforting fact that the party and the individuals who inhabit it have lost the ability to think clearly or recognize honesty in themselves or others. That millions voted for Trump is very concerning, that the party could not produce one solid candidate in two cycles is alarming. If GOP leaders had any courage backed by character they would not feed the mad dog that is the parties base.
As is so often true while I'm reading a NYTs opinion column containing important hard information in support of undeniable conclusions I find myself asking why is this information not in the news section of the paper. As the Times strenuously proclaims its self a champion of LGBT people the Times has not time or room to report on the actions of a virulently anti gay congress even as it struggles to place relevant news often filling space with near tabloid filler.
14
It's official - it is now open season on Muslims.
At least I'm in NY, where my Governor can pretend me and my kind don't exist, but there isn't the outright hostility of lawmakers in Alabama. (But then there is Peter King and other NYers ...)
These people all get their crazy from the same till and never stop to think. If the Koran has negative things to say about homosexuality, so does the bible. But there were no Muslim imams defending the massacre, although there were those 2 crazy preachers that didn't think it's so bad. So if we're looking for bigots they're everywhere.
For some, religion isn't their thing. But I'm still allowed to practice (so far) my religion. Being gay may not be my thing, but that doesn't stop me from reading K/S fanfiction or loving Zachary Qunito (b/c really, who could not). That's the beauty (again so far) of living in the USA.
I'm Muslim, I'm writing this as I'm fasting, I don't want to live under Sharia law and neither do the great majority of Muslims - if they did, there are plenty of countries out there, but people are FROM to HERE so they live in peace. Some distributed individuals shouldn't be able destroy this country, just like a couple of white guys with hate didn't or a few deranged individuals didn't. The only common denominator for all these (except McVeigh) are guns - we should do something about that.
At least I'm in NY, where my Governor can pretend me and my kind don't exist, but there isn't the outright hostility of lawmakers in Alabama. (But then there is Peter King and other NYers ...)
These people all get their crazy from the same till and never stop to think. If the Koran has negative things to say about homosexuality, so does the bible. But there were no Muslim imams defending the massacre, although there were those 2 crazy preachers that didn't think it's so bad. So if we're looking for bigots they're everywhere.
For some, religion isn't their thing. But I'm still allowed to practice (so far) my religion. Being gay may not be my thing, but that doesn't stop me from reading K/S fanfiction or loving Zachary Qunito (b/c really, who could not). That's the beauty (again so far) of living in the USA.
I'm Muslim, I'm writing this as I'm fasting, I don't want to live under Sharia law and neither do the great majority of Muslims - if they did, there are plenty of countries out there, but people are FROM to HERE so they live in peace. Some distributed individuals shouldn't be able destroy this country, just like a couple of white guys with hate didn't or a few deranged individuals didn't. The only common denominator for all these (except McVeigh) are guns - we should do something about that.
22
Yes, nml, and I will fight until my last breath to help make sure it is never "open season" on any group of people in America as long as people and their "leaders" keep religion in their homes and places of worship and OUT of politics. THAT is the key to true democracy in America.
12
Sorry, Nml, but I don't believe you are Muslim. If so, you're certainly a new kind. No self-respecting Muslim that I know -- and that's a fair number -- would ever refer to the holy Qur'an as the Koran... You sound like a keyboard opinion shaper. Nice try, though.
3
Indeed. For too long, Republicans exploited religion & fear as a political tool. Publicist Karl Rove is their chronic pusher of a strategy of lies.
3
Truly amazing that anyone can even think or say that Republicans support rights for LGBT. they have and continue to be about ostracizing and knocking down people.
they are the chicken at a pecking party, always looking to find and peck the weaker chicken.
Trump and Republicans have demonized and mocked
the handicapped
the struggling
the people with darker skin
those with different religions or beliefs
those with different sexuality or different sexual identity
females in general
at the end of this pecking party, hopefully they will be the bird pecked to death.
they are the chicken at a pecking party, always looking to find and peck the weaker chicken.
Trump and Republicans have demonized and mocked
the handicapped
the struggling
the people with darker skin
those with different religions or beliefs
those with different sexuality or different sexual identity
females in general
at the end of this pecking party, hopefully they will be the bird pecked to death.
22
I began hearing this talking point on Fox News, the organ, so to speak, of the Republican Party, within the past week. Pretty brazen, I'd say.
Talk about strange bedfellows!
But if they start saying stuff like this, then we have the right to ask, are they going to rescind their homophobic calls for religious freedom laws, and anti-transgender laws, et al?
Talk about strange bedfellows!
But if they start saying stuff like this, then we have the right to ask, are they going to rescind their homophobic calls for religious freedom laws, and anti-transgender laws, et al?
6
These are not smart people. Of course that doesn't mean they don't and won't have influence but their way of thinking is in an ever accelerating death spiral. These are the fits of clinging to an ending life.
2
Anyone who believes that the G.O.P. is better for "the gays" than the Democrats also believes that the Earth is flat and that our moon is made of cheese...
10
At one point Democrat has to choose b/w Homosexuality and Islam. Both will not go in one boat for sure.
4
Reminds of Pam Bondi - Florida Attorney General and the interview she did w/Anderson Cooper.
I certainly do understand people do evolve but I doubt the sincerity of Pam Bondi and Donald Trump in regards to gay rights.
On the other hand, LT Governor of Utah Spencer Cox seemed sincere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTeulUTEq_Y
I certainly do understand people do evolve but I doubt the sincerity of Pam Bondi and Donald Trump in regards to gay rights.
On the other hand, LT Governor of Utah Spencer Cox seemed sincere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTeulUTEq_Y
5
I like the Republican reasoning:
1. Republicans hate both gays and Muslims.
2. Muslims also hate gays.
3. But by promising to bashing Muslims more than gays, they are protecting gays (the enemy of your enemy is your friend).
1. Republicans hate both gays and Muslims.
2. Muslims also hate gays.
3. But by promising to bashing Muslims more than gays, they are protecting gays (the enemy of your enemy is your friend).
11
We can look this from democrat point of view. I will use ideology/acts instead of people.
1. Democrat loves homosexuality and Islam
2. Islam hates Homosexuality
3. By promising to bash Christianity more than Islam, they are protecting homosexuality.
Especially after America's worst shooting massacre was done by an Islamist Registered Democrat.
1. Democrat loves homosexuality and Islam
2. Islam hates Homosexuality
3. By promising to bash Christianity more than Islam, they are protecting homosexuality.
Especially after America's worst shooting massacre was done by an Islamist Registered Democrat.
4
Mr. Blow doesn't answer the Donald's charge that the Clinton's take money from regimes (probably give money too) that kill homosexuals alla time. Typical.
2
I read the first paragraph and laughed out loud. The LGBT advocacy groups would, at one time long past, try to reach out to Republicans in an effort to be nonpartisan. Wasted effort, even back then. In fact, I think they still do in some painfully pitiful ways -- much to the uniform derision of the community. It's useless really, given the detestably vivid anti-gay positions in every Republican Party policy paper written in the past decade or two -- many by the former closeted Mr. Mehlman with his shenanigans with anti-equality state ballot initiatives to bring out conservative voters. I agree, however, that the plan is not to garner our votes, but to give plausible deniability to Republicans who so desperately want to claim that their Party is not hopelessly homophobic. I still laugh out loud. Maybe even slap my knee.
7
The GOP's message to the L.G.B.T community seems to be "We just pass legislation to curtail your rights, at least we don't kill you. See how good you got it with us."
14
Actually, the Alabama senator is correct. As a gay person who has dealt with many a religious person and observed the social practices such religions engender, it is baffling for a party to pander to two groups who's values and ways of existing in the world seem diametrically opposed.
2
Donald is better for the gay community and women? Oh please. As if the entire country doesn't see right through this "most brazen - craven even" Karl Rove-orchestrated distraction from the real issue: their candidate.
The GOP benefits from the faux media coverage, Were people in the news reporting on actual issues that mattered, we could see this vacuous candidate for who and his fellow GOP people are.
As long as reporters and the $25M/year TV personalities continue to report on Donald's latest hot air, the GOP can avoid explaining the previous 7+ years of full control of both houses of the congress and doing absolutely nothing, their refusal to confirm Pres. Obama's Supreme Court nominee, their refusal - even after the slaughter of 20 innocent kindergarteners - to consider sensible gun regulation, their refusal to take up a vote giving our military the authorization they need to fight ISIS, their refusal to address the issue of America's crumbling infrastructure, their refusal to support health care access for all Americans, and their party's lifelong refusal to support a woman's right to choose. In other words, the GOP is a constant temper tantrum.
But, other than that, gee, they're just swell for gays, women, and all our nation's kindergarteners.
The GOP benefits from the faux media coverage, Were people in the news reporting on actual issues that mattered, we could see this vacuous candidate for who and his fellow GOP people are.
As long as reporters and the $25M/year TV personalities continue to report on Donald's latest hot air, the GOP can avoid explaining the previous 7+ years of full control of both houses of the congress and doing absolutely nothing, their refusal to confirm Pres. Obama's Supreme Court nominee, their refusal - even after the slaughter of 20 innocent kindergarteners - to consider sensible gun regulation, their refusal to take up a vote giving our military the authorization they need to fight ISIS, their refusal to address the issue of America's crumbling infrastructure, their refusal to support health care access for all Americans, and their party's lifelong refusal to support a woman's right to choose. In other words, the GOP is a constant temper tantrum.
But, other than that, gee, they're just swell for gays, women, and all our nation's kindergarteners.
12
"The GOP's cynical gay ploy," a companion piece to its cynical gun ploy, its cynical voter fraud ploy, its cynical lower taxes help everyone ploy, its starvation of the poor ploy, its demonization of all "others" ploy. These do not constitute a comprehensive list of the Republicant party's baked in cynicism. In fact, fear and cynicism are all they have to offer.
12
I almost think that there is a new serious mental sickness evolving....and it is
called "Trumpitis".....so beware of the media addiction to Trumpitis...
It seems to clog the brainwaves as well as the airwaves and the minds of
journalists...so the RX...is to ....well ...draw the mental curtain on this
freak disease...Trumpitis...and just do not read about it or hear about it....and
hope it will shrink to the mold spores of the mentally askewed funny farms
from which it escaped....
called "Trumpitis".....so beware of the media addiction to Trumpitis...
It seems to clog the brainwaves as well as the airwaves and the minds of
journalists...so the RX...is to ....well ...draw the mental curtain on this
freak disease...Trumpitis...and just do not read about it or hear about it....and
hope it will shrink to the mold spores of the mentally askewed funny farms
from which it escaped....
2
"Republican Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama took it even further, saying last week:
“The Democrats are in a perplexing position."
Gobsmackingly unaware.
Here's the perplexing situation, Mo, for the GOP; You are in sympathy with 'radical Islam' and ISIS when it comes to LGBT policy.
Blow correctly points out it's you, the GOP, who are passing repressive laws.
“The Democrats are in a perplexing position."
Gobsmackingly unaware.
Here's the perplexing situation, Mo, for the GOP; You are in sympathy with 'radical Islam' and ISIS when it comes to LGBT policy.
Blow correctly points out it's you, the GOP, who are passing repressive laws.
8
Where is the news? If you didn't know this about the GOP you live on Mars.
3
Log Cabin Republicans have been rolling the massive stone up the hill metaphorically for decades. So sad.
6
The party that wants to pass laws to ensure that a baker doesn't have to sell a cupcake to a gay person is now the champion of the LGBT community?
Cynical does not even begin to sum up the intellectual machinations whereby Trump uses an act of horrific violence to garner votes from the complacent, well-off tax-haters who don't like to think of themselves as racist haters, but still want to vote for the Republican standard bearer who's good for their wallet. "Hey, it's okay if I vote for Trump--he's for the gays! And he LOVES women."
Cloak yourselves in denial you may, but a vote for Trump is a vote for an authoritarian, racist, xenophobic leader who stands to undermine the rule of law in the US. That he would use the Orlando massacre as fuel for his campaign is grotesque in the extreme.
Cynical does not even begin to sum up the intellectual machinations whereby Trump uses an act of horrific violence to garner votes from the complacent, well-off tax-haters who don't like to think of themselves as racist haters, but still want to vote for the Republican standard bearer who's good for their wallet. "Hey, it's okay if I vote for Trump--he's for the gays! And he LOVES women."
Cloak yourselves in denial you may, but a vote for Trump is a vote for an authoritarian, racist, xenophobic leader who stands to undermine the rule of law in the US. That he would use the Orlando massacre as fuel for his campaign is grotesque in the extreme.
14
"In the wake of tragedy, you can’t conveniently hang the L.G.B.T. community on the tree of life as a glistening ornament. "
In November, Charles wrote an OP-Ed advocating for Muslims to be allowed to use Sharia Law. Sharia. Sharia is the same law that allows homosexual Muslims to be to stoned to death or thrown off building... to their eventual death.
Conservatives have written about Sharia and its consequences for homosexuals extensively for years. So all this truly does beg the question. Do you vote for the party that may not accept gay marriage but recognizes homosexuals as humans. Or do you vote for the party, Charles Blow included, that advocates the death penalty for homosexuals?
Deviously nice ploy, Charles.
In November, Charles wrote an OP-Ed advocating for Muslims to be allowed to use Sharia Law. Sharia. Sharia is the same law that allows homosexual Muslims to be to stoned to death or thrown off building... to their eventual death.
Conservatives have written about Sharia and its consequences for homosexuals extensively for years. So all this truly does beg the question. Do you vote for the party that may not accept gay marriage but recognizes homosexuals as humans. Or do you vote for the party, Charles Blow included, that advocates the death penalty for homosexuals?
Deviously nice ploy, Charles.
5
Mr Blow's column that you're apparently referring to was dated November 23, 2015 and entitled Anti-Muslim is Anti-American. Charles, like anybody else who understands the First Amendment, is simply saying that we all have the right to follow our own religion, be it Sharia, Judaism, Christianity or Sun Worship. In fact, people even have a constitutional right to belong to Evangelical churches that preach hate for homosexuals, women, blacks and even atheists.
2
Thank you, Mr.Blow for this excellent piece. The media needs to continue expose and vilify the GOP's incessant attack on truth and facts, abetted by their propaganda machines Fox and conservative radio. For several days now, Fox News online has been touting and highlighting, including a photograph of someone holding a sign "Gays for Trump", that LGBT folk are increasingly supporting Trump.
4
Charles, Charles, Charles. You just don't get it, do you? As any of us over 85 can tell you, after Woodrow Wilson, the GOP became the party of hatred. Hate some group, hate any group, but hate, hate, hate.
9
Are you people insane! Lead the world. Don't think so.
"They want us to forget that although people of all political stripes have evolved on the issue of gay equality — including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton —Republicans are the trailing edge of that evolution."
So Dems "evolve" and Repubs "revise history." GO TEAM!
Yes, this outreach will fail, it will fail both of the political arms of the Oligarchy.
So Dems "evolve" and Repubs "revise history." GO TEAM!
Yes, this outreach will fail, it will fail both of the political arms of the Oligarchy.
2
You can talk the talk but if you don't walk the walk nothing matters. Adding to the whole anti LGBT and Muslim thing is all of the anti assault rifle bills which will not pass because the Repubs are in bed with another acronym, the NRA! Republicans care about one thing...themselves.
7
The United States of Amnesia. Politics is convoluted and does not always lend it self to easy solutions, or trite explanations. During George Bush's 2 terms, Muslim Americans voted 95% Republican, despite his war on Iraq.
I was most disconcerted by this, but was told that Muslim Americans
1) vote against abortion rights and 2) vote against gay rights.
This will not change easily. So, the irony is that most Muslim Americans will vote Republican.
Any lesson here ... stay true to yourself (Thoreau) live and love within a local community, change the world you see in front of you to make it a better place, and hope to hell it all works out. LOL
I was most disconcerted by this, but was told that Muslim Americans
1) vote against abortion rights and 2) vote against gay rights.
This will not change easily. So, the irony is that most Muslim Americans will vote Republican.
Any lesson here ... stay true to yourself (Thoreau) live and love within a local community, change the world you see in front of you to make it a better place, and hope to hell it all works out. LOL
3
As a libertarian conservative, I'm not surprised that Mr. Blow is a cheerleader for identity politics, as he is a partisan, liberal Democrat. Rarely, does he say anything new, or anything that doesn't hold strongly to the left's shibboleths.
It would be nice if Mr. Blow acknowledged that at least 20-25% of gay Americans (roughly 1 in 4 or 5) just want the freedom to live their lives without the interference or support of government. We're not children. We don't need a nanny state to protect us. Most of us just want to be left alone.
It's time for the left, and Mr. Blow, to stop treating women, gays, and racial minorities, as needy children requiring direction and control. We don't belong to you, Mr. Blow, nor do we belong to the Democrat Party.
It would be nice if Mr. Blow acknowledged that at least 20-25% of gay Americans (roughly 1 in 4 or 5) just want the freedom to live their lives without the interference or support of government. We're not children. We don't need a nanny state to protect us. Most of us just want to be left alone.
It's time for the left, and Mr. Blow, to stop treating women, gays, and racial minorities, as needy children requiring direction and control. We don't belong to you, Mr. Blow, nor do we belong to the Democrat Party.
6
"Hey, who's better with the gays than I am?" Trump rhetorically and incredulously asks the ignoramus from high atop his Tower of Babel.
Guess that all it takes for Trump's disciples to be confident their candidate has got a handle on the situation. It also confirms what a bunch of dolts Trump supporters are to buy such claptrap. These are the same folks who think Trump U. is a real college, and voted for Trump because he told them he is going to make America great, again. Why do they believe him? Because he says so. And when Trump tells his flock to trust him, they do, like the sheep they are.
DD
Manhattan
Guess that all it takes for Trump's disciples to be confident their candidate has got a handle on the situation. It also confirms what a bunch of dolts Trump supporters are to buy such claptrap. These are the same folks who think Trump U. is a real college, and voted for Trump because he told them he is going to make America great, again. Why do they believe him? Because he says so. And when Trump tells his flock to trust him, they do, like the sheep they are.
DD
Manhattan
6
I'm a disaffected, angry, older, white male, who, supposedly makes Trump appealing to me. My main problem with Trump is he's Republican, and yes it would be nice if Hillary actually voiced some of the (few) good things Trump has put out there. Have corporations shipped jobs overseas to the detriment of Americans?
The economy is limping along mostly because Republic obstructionism and the bare bones fact that the richest people in this country are simply not taxed enough. If the typical greedy CEO feels that another crazy boost in his "compensation" will just go to Uncle Sam, he won't bother to ask for it. For now, it mostly goes to him, there is no downside to demanding it, so why not take it?
Hillary doesn't want to look like a tax and spend liberal but the rate for anything over one million a year should be just under 100%. Yes, that's the number we need to keep the CEO's from just reaching across the table and grabbing all the chips. FDR wanted the amount to be at 100% but he got in the mid nineties. We have to go back there, because he, was a genius.
The economy is limping along mostly because Republic obstructionism and the bare bones fact that the richest people in this country are simply not taxed enough. If the typical greedy CEO feels that another crazy boost in his "compensation" will just go to Uncle Sam, he won't bother to ask for it. For now, it mostly goes to him, there is no downside to demanding it, so why not take it?
Hillary doesn't want to look like a tax and spend liberal but the rate for anything over one million a year should be just under 100%. Yes, that's the number we need to keep the CEO's from just reaching across the table and grabbing all the chips. FDR wanted the amount to be at 100% but he got in the mid nineties. We have to go back there, because he, was a genius.
5
Behind all of these anti-LGBT laws is the hand of ALEC or the American Legislative Exchange Council! AKA, Ability to Lie in Exchange for Cash! The Koch boys and their billionaire friends are behind this hateful group!
At some point in time (I will probably be dead) these vile, oppressive laws against women, minorities, LGTB, etc., etc., will be struck down by a more moderate Supreme Court!
At some point in time (I will probably be dead) these vile, oppressive laws against women, minorities, LGTB, etc., etc., will be struck down by a more moderate Supreme Court!
7
A lot of Trump supporters don't agree with, don't get or explain away the many lies and hypocrisies of Donald Trump. I hope they read today's article (McCarthy's Right-Hand Man) about how Roy Cohen helped Trump cheat the government, his business partners and his ex wives. They may not get a lot of that, but they should get what the following says about the core of Donald Trump:
"After one Cohn coup, Mr. Trump rewarded him with a pair of diamond-encrusted cuff links" "Years later ... they were appraised and found to be knockoffs"
After all the dirty work Roy Cohen did for The Donald, Trump gave him fake diamond cufflinks! And that is what he would do to his supporters and to the rest of us if elected - because to Donald everything is only about Donald and for the benefit of Donald.
"After one Cohn coup, Mr. Trump rewarded him with a pair of diamond-encrusted cuff links" "Years later ... they were appraised and found to be knockoffs"
After all the dirty work Roy Cohen did for The Donald, Trump gave him fake diamond cufflinks! And that is what he would do to his supporters and to the rest of us if elected - because to Donald everything is only about Donald and for the benefit of Donald.
6
Trump is incredible and insane at the same time, after recently courting favor from the most right-wing fundamentalist anti-gay organizations in the country, he actually has the ego maniacal gall to turn around and say that he's "the Gays" best friend!
And yet there are Americans who can't see what a 2-faced liar he is who will do anything to get elected so he can have the "United States of Trump."
And yet there are Americans who can't see what a 2-faced liar he is who will do anything to get elected so he can have the "United States of Trump."
7
With a wider perspective you would have noted that the G.O.P.'s latest fairy tale is actually a three-fer: Not only does it layer hypocrisy and condescension on top of it's hate-filled posture toward the L.G.B.T. community, it also manages in the same breath to slander Islam (conservative Muslims are no more or less likely to oppose gay rights than are conservative Christians) and anyone to the left of them (just because I am not inclined to condemn the entire Muslim community for the sins of a radical fringe, doesn't mean I'm any more tolerant of anti-gay Muslims than I am of anti-gay Christians - they're all reprehensible). Let's not make this about any one group - Trump and the G.O.P. are anti-American...full stop.
6
Does anybody here think that “L.G.B.T is starting to like Donald Trump very much lately, I will tell you,..." other than El Lider Boca Grande and Fox "news"?
The facts are otherwise: "According to May Gallup polling, Trump has a favorability rating of just 18 percent among LGBT people as compared to Hillary Clinton’s 54 percent rating with the same demographic. This gap between them is one of the widest, surpassed only by Trump’s large deficits among non-white and Muslim voters."
Trump and Fox were trying to play the Orlando shooting to his advantage, and the response was predictable and swift. The Wapo coverage of June 17th says:
"Many LGBT activists scoffed at his words, but some gay conservatives said Trump has a point. ....
A Gallup poll conducted from June 1 to 16 found that 78 percent of Americans who identified as LGBT had an unfavorable opinion of Trump, versus 14 percent who had a favorable view, according to Frank Newport, Gallup’s editor in chief. "
Good luck with that Donald. And Fox "news" deserves another 10-Shibanis rating for making up the totally preposterous and calling it "news."
(For those who don't get the reference, Joshi Shibani was the Fox News "expert" who replied that "Germany has more sun (than the US)." Just as "Pinnochios" are a rating scheme for political lying, Shibanis have become the unit for idiotically-ignorant media 'expert" claims -- almost all of them coming from Fox.
The facts are otherwise: "According to May Gallup polling, Trump has a favorability rating of just 18 percent among LGBT people as compared to Hillary Clinton’s 54 percent rating with the same demographic. This gap between them is one of the widest, surpassed only by Trump’s large deficits among non-white and Muslim voters."
Trump and Fox were trying to play the Orlando shooting to his advantage, and the response was predictable and swift. The Wapo coverage of June 17th says:
"Many LGBT activists scoffed at his words, but some gay conservatives said Trump has a point. ....
A Gallup poll conducted from June 1 to 16 found that 78 percent of Americans who identified as LGBT had an unfavorable opinion of Trump, versus 14 percent who had a favorable view, according to Frank Newport, Gallup’s editor in chief. "
Good luck with that Donald. And Fox "news" deserves another 10-Shibanis rating for making up the totally preposterous and calling it "news."
(For those who don't get the reference, Joshi Shibani was the Fox News "expert" who replied that "Germany has more sun (than the US)." Just as "Pinnochios" are a rating scheme for political lying, Shibanis have become the unit for idiotically-ignorant media 'expert" claims -- almost all of them coming from Fox.
4
There is no mystery about this issue. The Republicans are simply appealing to the religious faction of their base and at the same time throwing an incongruous bone to the L.G.B.T. community. After all, the Bible commands the death penalty for homosexuals. It's just another Big Lie.
4
You could make the argument that Christians have as much in common with Muslims in terms of their respective faith's teaching on gays when Pat Robertson went on TV and expressed solidarity with the Orlando shooter because he was killing gays.
Robertson's organization quickly issued a clarification saying when he used the the word "killing" Robertson was referring to killing gays "politically" in the legislative process.
Uh-huh.
Robertson's organization quickly issued a clarification saying when he used the the word "killing" Robertson was referring to killing gays "politically" in the legislative process.
Uh-huh.
4
Why isn't the NYT covering the countries with barbaric anti-gay laws who also happen to be major donors to Hillary and Bill? File it under multi-cultural awareness? Accepting money from homophobic nations is ok because...?
3
The "establishment" Republican candidates like Rubio and Cruz talked endlessly about their nonsensical pledge to "defend traditional marriage." Defend against what? From granting all citizens the same civil right? Cruz was endorsed by Kevin Swanson, a self-declared Christian whose hatred for LBGT people was as violent imaginable.
The GOP uses as a bogeyman image of the gay and trans community to score cheap political points. That's neither friendship nor leadership, it's bigotry.
The GOP uses as a bogeyman image of the gay and trans community to score cheap political points. That's neither friendship nor leadership, it's bigotry.
3
As a proud Canadian, and onlooker of this insane Trump gong show, I can say with the utmost confidence that the US indeed has a gun problem! Why are Americans so proud to own guns? It's gross! A brief review of statistics is demonstrative of this very point. The deaths related to guns in the USA is astonishing.
Notwithstanding mental health has an indelible impact on the atrocities that are occurring, it stands to reason that if the general public did not have such liberal access to guns, these vulgar acts would be vastly diminished. Full stop.
Notwithstanding mental health has an indelible impact on the atrocities that are occurring, it stands to reason that if the general public did not have such liberal access to guns, these vulgar acts would be vastly diminished. Full stop.
4
Although probably better informed than the average American voter, GLBT voters aren't quite as savvy as African Americans voters in detecting cynical and blatant ploys to garner their votes. African Americans just have better honed detection skills because they've had, unfortunately, more practice at it. I doubt Trump will end up with even close to a quarter of GLBT votes, and even less of African American one. Hope Hispanics and women keep up the momentum.
3
Y'know, there are Americans who are -both- African American -and- gay? Some of those are also Hispanic and women, too!
1
Mr. Blow commits an error in his column when he conflates Mr. Trump with the Republican Party. The party may be as homophobic as Mr. Blow suggests, I can't say. However, Mr. Trump is clearly to the left of the party on this issue, as with many others.
I think Mr. Trump is a terrible candidate, but it is wrong to indicate that he shares the Republican antipathy towards the LGBT community. In this way, he is like many other Republicans that I know. LGBT issues are of no concern for them, nor do they hold any particular animus towards them.
Mr. Blow's other error is to continuously assume that all Republicans share the same point of view. In actuality, Republicans vary as much as Democrats. Mr. Trump is a particularly odd example of this truth.
I suspect that Mr. Blow knows this, but it suits his political goals to paint all Republicans with the same broad brush of intolerance.
I think Mr. Trump is a terrible candidate, but it is wrong to indicate that he shares the Republican antipathy towards the LGBT community. In this way, he is like many other Republicans that I know. LGBT issues are of no concern for them, nor do they hold any particular animus towards them.
Mr. Blow's other error is to continuously assume that all Republicans share the same point of view. In actuality, Republicans vary as much as Democrats. Mr. Trump is a particularly odd example of this truth.
I suspect that Mr. Blow knows this, but it suits his political goals to paint all Republicans with the same broad brush of intolerance.
1
To my observations, my friends who are gay are a community, they care and look out for each other and their straight friends as well. Relationships are everything. I do not see this as a bad quality.
3
"Gallup’s Frank Newport pointed out that just 18 percent of those who identify as L.G.B.T. held a favorable opinion of Trump.....These vacuous appeals fly in the face of facts and are simultaneously laughable and infuriating."
All data about Trump's favorability must be couched not in isolation but in contrast to Hillary's. I am not alone in realizing that I've never voted as unenthusiastically as I expect to this November.
Your refusal to see eighteen percent as significant in this context is naive. An LGBT person (or anyone, really) who is willing to tell a pollster that they support Trump is probably a certain to vote. I wouldn't say the same about the remaining 82% and, come November, if half of them stay home and Trump wins a third(!) of the LGBT vote, well...I'd rather not think about it.
All data about Trump's favorability must be couched not in isolation but in contrast to Hillary's. I am not alone in realizing that I've never voted as unenthusiastically as I expect to this November.
Your refusal to see eighteen percent as significant in this context is naive. An LGBT person (or anyone, really) who is willing to tell a pollster that they support Trump is probably a certain to vote. I wouldn't say the same about the remaining 82% and, come November, if half of them stay home and Trump wins a third(!) of the LGBT vote, well...I'd rather not think about it.
1
CB and other writers (so-called) at the Times have made demonizing Republicans -- Trump in particular -- an art form. Repubs are devils trying to steal souls. Trump is Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini all rolled into one. Their followers are a brown shirted legion.
True. Conservatives are generally slower to allow social change than liberals. By definition. And it's a good thing as well, as you don't want every extreme social movement allowed free reign the day it pops its head up. Admittedly, there are some issues where conservatives have been slower than they should have been in going with the flow. But all in all, in a just society, you need a ongoing dialectic between two sides who hold opposite views initially. Through argument and experience we can hope that a close version of a truth will emerge that all can accept.
So those of you on the left -- who seem to have never seen a social movement you don't embrace -- keep doing what you do. And the conservatives will keep doing what they do. And from that we hope for a society that is dynamic, reasoned, and is willing to try new ideas. But vilifying those who you disagree with is inimical to that process. Treat the other side with dignity and respect -- and they will treat you the same.
Every time a Times writer castigates republicans, they throw a brick through the fragile glass window that is democracy. Why don't we move forward, agree to disagree and stop hysterical ad hominem attacks.
True. Conservatives are generally slower to allow social change than liberals. By definition. And it's a good thing as well, as you don't want every extreme social movement allowed free reign the day it pops its head up. Admittedly, there are some issues where conservatives have been slower than they should have been in going with the flow. But all in all, in a just society, you need a ongoing dialectic between two sides who hold opposite views initially. Through argument and experience we can hope that a close version of a truth will emerge that all can accept.
So those of you on the left -- who seem to have never seen a social movement you don't embrace -- keep doing what you do. And the conservatives will keep doing what they do. And from that we hope for a society that is dynamic, reasoned, and is willing to try new ideas. But vilifying those who you disagree with is inimical to that process. Treat the other side with dignity and respect -- and they will treat you the same.
Every time a Times writer castigates republicans, they throw a brick through the fragile glass window that is democracy. Why don't we move forward, agree to disagree and stop hysterical ad hominem attacks.
3
"Treat the other side with dignity and respect -- and they will treat you the same."
Perhaps you should read a little about the turn Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz took in 1994, when polling revealed to them that using terms like "perverts" would sell well politically.
Where are we now? Please tell that the "responsible conservatives" over at places like National Review abut dignity and respect. (I'm not even going to bother with Breitbart and their ilk.) That's where Jonah Goldberg wrote a book called "Liberal Fascism" arguing that EVERY 20th-c Fascist movement was originated, coddled and supported by liberals; not a single one of these movements, amazingly, drew a smidgen of conservative support, in his eye. Every day, people there scream about how liberals/progressives/Marxists (all the same thing, they've decided) hate America. How "the hag" or "Shrillary" or "Cankles" (I.e. Hillary Clinton) wants to destroy America. How "O'bummer" or "Oblamo" or "Barry Soetero" hates the country and everything it was founded on and is an agent of anti-American forces.
You're telling me these "reasonable" people are ready to engage in and respond to an open debate that will advance the process of democracy through what sounds very much like the dreaded dialectic? I have a really hard time believing that.
Perhaps you should read a little about the turn Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz took in 1994, when polling revealed to them that using terms like "perverts" would sell well politically.
Where are we now? Please tell that the "responsible conservatives" over at places like National Review abut dignity and respect. (I'm not even going to bother with Breitbart and their ilk.) That's where Jonah Goldberg wrote a book called "Liberal Fascism" arguing that EVERY 20th-c Fascist movement was originated, coddled and supported by liberals; not a single one of these movements, amazingly, drew a smidgen of conservative support, in his eye. Every day, people there scream about how liberals/progressives/Marxists (all the same thing, they've decided) hate America. How "the hag" or "Shrillary" or "Cankles" (I.e. Hillary Clinton) wants to destroy America. How "O'bummer" or "Oblamo" or "Barry Soetero" hates the country and everything it was founded on and is an agent of anti-American forces.
You're telling me these "reasonable" people are ready to engage in and respond to an open debate that will advance the process of democracy through what sounds very much like the dreaded dialectic? I have a really hard time believing that.
7
Tell that to the guy who has an insulting Twitter handle for EVERYONE.
2
Well if gays don't want to support the only candidate who wants to avoid having even more violent gay-hating religionists in America than we already have, that is certainly their right. Evolution will takes its course.
2
If Republicans could reconcile their professed belief in small government and individual liberty with their obsession with regulating sexuality and move beyond their lost battle to prevent same sex marriage they might have an opportunity to develop support in the LGBT community. If not, who but the most-self hating or ignorant gay person is going to support this party which goes out of its way to be antagonistic to gay people?
3
Just read the republican party platform. It is very homophobic and all about the marriage of a man and woman.
Unless less trump changes that....same old.
Unless less trump changes that....same old.
4
And let's not forget the Republican Party's open hostility towards women.
11
Or the Islamic community's hostility either. Oh, but they're the peaceful" people, right? Happy stoning.
4
That enough Americans do not see that Trump doesn't have a shred of morality is very disturbing. Dismiss him? He's been kept afloat for a long time now and has become the Republican Party's nomination for president of the United States. Be afraid, be very afraid for this country and the direction it may be heading.
16
But DT always turns everything on its head. It's like the swift-boating of John Kerry: you pick your most vulnerable areas and just blatantly lie to make it look like it isn't so. Buyer beware!
10
Perhaps the explanation for the Cynical Ploy is that it is difficult for Republicans to figure out what do do when their bigotries come into conflict.
"Oh boy, we gotta stop that there homosexual agenda. But wait! Aren't all them there Muslims agin' the homosexual agenda that I also hate? But hang on, I been seeing' on the TV that some "African-American" (well, gotta be a little PC, heh heh) pastors don't much care for that agenda, neither. So we could use more Muslims to take care of the gays, but we need to keep them all out in case some want to kill non-gays? And look here, the Dems want to let them in to shoot up --- who? Now, stop and let me think for three minutes."
As A.E. Housman wrote, "thought is irksome and three minutes is a long time." To which one might add, it is not enough to inform citizens if they are incapable of thinking.
"Oh boy, we gotta stop that there homosexual agenda. But wait! Aren't all them there Muslims agin' the homosexual agenda that I also hate? But hang on, I been seeing' on the TV that some "African-American" (well, gotta be a little PC, heh heh) pastors don't much care for that agenda, neither. So we could use more Muslims to take care of the gays, but we need to keep them all out in case some want to kill non-gays? And look here, the Dems want to let them in to shoot up --- who? Now, stop and let me think for three minutes."
As A.E. Housman wrote, "thought is irksome and three minutes is a long time." To which one might add, it is not enough to inform citizens if they are incapable of thinking.
10
Or maybe the willful denial of progressives that find it much easier to put all the blame on Republicans rather than on Islamic terrorists where it belongs. But that would be too inconvenient for progressive ideology, wouldn't it?
1
Is there anyone not blaming terrorists for terrorism? Anyone at all?
Should we blame all who take a "pro-life" political stance for every terrorist act done in the name of the "pro-life" ideology? If people go to a church where the pastor excoriates abortion providers, should we make the congregation get "radical evangelical" ID cards and wear armbands identifying them as potential fire-bombers?
Should we blame all who take a "pro-life" political stance for every terrorist act done in the name of the "pro-life" ideology? If people go to a church where the pastor excoriates abortion providers, should we make the congregation get "radical evangelical" ID cards and wear armbands identifying them as potential fire-bombers?
4
Republicans use this same convoluted, cynical, divide and conquor approach in terms of claiming greater support for Israel as well, when, in fact, large numbers of Evangelical Republicans support Israel's existance for a single reason,...fulfillment of prophecy..i.e. The Rapture..and we know what that means for non-believers. The parallel is paricularly apt considering how the Republicans and Trump cynically reveal their true colors on LGBT and Jews through, not so subtle, dog whistles,coded speech and winks, as they court the votes of white supremicists groups,..all the while claiming support for Israel and now the LGBT community....After nominating Trump, as their standard bearer, how much lower can this party go?
3
Don't worry about gay voters being fooled. As a voting bloc, Clinton can rely on nearly unanimous support from us. I would worry more about other groups within our tent.
13
Republicans are unhilarious comedians. They are lying, or think they are joking. It's not funny, and you people are the worst our country has to offer. I hope the Republican Party gets dropped in such a deep hole they will never see daylight again. It's what they deserve.
8
Everything about the GOP is despicable. No person of morals could support them. Period.
24
This may be the one area where Trump's blatant opportunism is most on display. As written in another article in today's Times, Trump's great friend and mentor was Roy Cohn. Trump was inseparable from the man at the time that Cohn was partnered with another man. In other words, Trump undoubtedly knew Cohn was gay and had no issue with it. That he would now join with the homophobes of the Republican party, while lately claiming to be the best friend the LGBT community has ever had, shows what is really in Trump's heart....absolutely nothing that any feeling human being would want.
5
The GOP does "craven" very well. Whether it's snuggling cozily into the warm, cash-filled pockets of he NRA, feeding the prejudice of evangelical extremism on women's reproductive rights, fighting against health security for all Americans, or opposing equal civil rights for gay people, the Republican Party will take the low road of loathing and fear each and every time.
It's Party over country. It's partisanship over the Constitution, notwithstanding the hypocritical outrage that we've come routinely to expect from Republicanism. Donald Trump's latest LGBT ploy is simply the logical extension of the GOP cynicism that's been present for decades.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
It's Party over country. It's partisanship over the Constitution, notwithstanding the hypocritical outrage that we've come routinely to expect from Republicanism. Donald Trump's latest LGBT ploy is simply the logical extension of the GOP cynicism that's been present for decades.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
10
For the records, I, a gay woman, can't stand Trump. In fact, I don't know a single person, woman or man, gay or straight, who doesn't think he's a dangerous misogynist, homophobe, xenophobia and racist.
7
well, your circle of friends and acquaintances sounds pretty narrow minded -- or should we say -- they must suffer from group think. Oh, a liberal disease.
1
Ava- how great for you. I wish I could say the same. My son in law defends Trump. Thankfully he doesn't vote. My well educated, high income but Catholic town will support Trump in the general election. All of my Republican friends will support Trump, especially the most religious among them. My former breast-feeding friend who has been diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer supports Trump even though he referred to a breast feeding woman as disgusting and will repeal Obamacare within his first 100 days in office leaving her vulnerable to yearly insurance caps, life-time insurance caps and pre-existing conditions. My female Republican who are very much non "tens", friends will support him. My cousin who has a gay son will support Trump as will her brother. The willful disconnect is beyond my comprehension.
3
Don't be ridiculous.
The gays will vote for the Democrats for the next hundred years.
It is a given.
The gays will vote for the Democrats for the next hundred years.
It is a given.
4
Gee; I guess when you compare them with Muslims, gays are starting to look good. And if Muslims ever organize themselves to such an extent as to become a force at the polling booth, we'll just have to look around for someone else to hate. How about undocumented immigrants from Moldova? There must be one sitting in a prison cell someplace. Huh; it was a white-collar crime? No good- find some other minority group! -
Grand Old Party-Pooper
Grand Old Party-Pooper
4
footnote to my last post
Look what happened to poor David and his lover Jonathan because of war. The shock of this loss of Jonathan turned poor David into a beast of a man looking down on innocent Bathsheba taking off her cloths his demonic wolf smile and fanged teeth he got in war dripping with blood pounced on her flesh body lusting to eat her whole and then murdered her husband all because he lost his Jonathan
Look what happened to poor David and his lover Jonathan because of war. The shock of this loss of Jonathan turned poor David into a beast of a man looking down on innocent Bathsheba taking off her cloths his demonic wolf smile and fanged teeth he got in war dripping with blood pounced on her flesh body lusting to eat her whole and then murdered her husband all because he lost his Jonathan
1
David was going to lust after Bathsheba no matter what ever happened with King Saul. I've heard of picking things out of the Bible to support the most inane things, but this one may just take the cake. Congratulations.
And war isn't even Charles' topic.
And war isn't even Charles' topic.
1
Somewhere around the sixth paragraph you assert that Republican hearts are bent on destruction. But hearts don't destroy. Messed-up heads do. The Party has attracted, and now holds as its constituency, abusers. Read deeply about the mind of the abuser and how domestic violence works and you'll find the core motivation driving the GOP. McConnell, Ryan, Boehner, Gingrich, Christie, Palin, McCain; the list goes on and on. Interestingly, the crowd that set the stage for this--Atwater, Rove, Rumsfeld, the Bushes, Cheney, Wolfowicz, et al--are now turning their backs, as though they are too moral to support exactly what they wrought. We should not be surprised that now the Republican candidate and his sycophants would miss any opportunity, no matter how shocking or grievous, to advance their lies. The constituency, missing both heart and mind, toddle along behind, enjoying the belief that hatred can be disguised as care, just as they did during Jim Crow.
Is this the time to completely expose this vile aspect of our society so that it can be healed? How do you heal sociopaths? No person with a heart or conscience could say the things Republicans do, and many now have observed and commented on the depraved nature of Donald Trump and how he is simply speaking openly what the Party has clung to and advanced for decades. The Party of Lincoln died with the Southern Strategy. We've been watching a corpse for nearly fifty years.
Is this the time to completely expose this vile aspect of our society so that it can be healed? How do you heal sociopaths? No person with a heart or conscience could say the things Republicans do, and many now have observed and commented on the depraved nature of Donald Trump and how he is simply speaking openly what the Party has clung to and advanced for decades. The Party of Lincoln died with the Southern Strategy. We've been watching a corpse for nearly fifty years.
11
Today's Republicans have forgotten the words of their first standard bearer, President Abraham Lincoln. "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all the people all the time."
4
He means the BLT community! You know how easily, he's confused. How else can one explain the inane ramblings that emanate from his mouth.
You don't think he's the consummate con man, who tells folks everything they want to hear, but nothing they need to know, do you?
You don't think he's the consummate con man, who tells folks everything they want to hear, but nothing they need to know, do you?
6
Can anyone name one law or government policy that benefited the gay community that came from the GOP? I can only remember 40+ years of laws that criminalized and abused the gay community... and they continue today from the Republican-controlled red states.
16
Since the liberal media have assigned the Bill of Rights to the Republicans, the greatest thing the Right has given gays is the freedom of speech and the freedom to arm themselves.
If the LBGTQ stays out of places that refuse to let them carry a firearm, the GOP freedom to carry one will save hundreds of gay lives at a time. How's that, RDM?
If the LBGTQ stays out of places that refuse to let them carry a firearm, the GOP freedom to carry one will save hundreds of gay lives at a time. How's that, RDM?
1
Is there anyone left in the Republican Party who has a moral compass, a conscience, principles?
Is there any deceit the GOP will not stoop to, any line of decency it will not cross?
When Paul Ryan called Trump out for his racist remarks about the judge presiding over the Trump University case, he proceeded to figuratively (may as well have been literally) hug him! Like others in the Republican establishment, he has no shame, no principles, no moral compass. He, like his fellow Republicans, are beyond the pale in their lies and deceit. And when exposed, they and Trump will look America in the eye, cynically smile and tell you white is black, day is night, you are wrong they are right.
It is disheartening that way too many people believe Republican lies, but what is really beyond belief is that a single person, much less 18 percent of the L.G.B.T. community could have a positive opinion of Trump.
Is there any deceit the GOP will not stoop to, any line of decency it will not cross?
When Paul Ryan called Trump out for his racist remarks about the judge presiding over the Trump University case, he proceeded to figuratively (may as well have been literally) hug him! Like others in the Republican establishment, he has no shame, no principles, no moral compass. He, like his fellow Republicans, are beyond the pale in their lies and deceit. And when exposed, they and Trump will look America in the eye, cynically smile and tell you white is black, day is night, you are wrong they are right.
It is disheartening that way too many people believe Republican lies, but what is really beyond belief is that a single person, much less 18 percent of the L.G.B.T. community could have a positive opinion of Trump.
3
I wonder if rank-and-file Republicans are as cynical as their party's leaders. Let's hope not.
1
Hmm, the Democrats.. party of Don't Ask Don't Tell, party that admonishes us against discrimination towards a religion that cannot tolerate homosexuality and seems to hold the philosophy that in cases of rape, unless there were witnesses in good standing with the community to testify otherwise... the b*tch was asking for it doesn't even get questioned on their checkered background on LGBTQ support or women's rights support. Where is Secretary of State Clinton and POTUS on the Boko Harum girls? How do they allow ISIS to be "contained" when ISIS actively and enthusiatically participate in sex slavery? How do we not put pressure on India in the face of mass public rapes? Tread carefully Charles, you are in a very fragile glass house there.
3
All of this analysis is wonderful. None of it will matter if those who disagree with Trump do not register to vote, do not make certain others with whom they agree are registered to vote, and most of all - do not vote on Election Day. For as much as one agrees with 99% of the thoughts expressed in this forum, the points made seem much like "preaching to the choir." Get out, register, ensure others are not disenfranchised, and VOTE! Many know the classic generalization: "Republicans and their 'little old ladies in tennis shoes' will get to the polls during a monsoon. Democrats will stay home from the polls if the humidity is high." A generalization, yes, but one that history has proved contains more than a few droplets of truth.
7
As a gay man, I think that gay people are much more likely to attribute the massacre in Orlando to American homophobia and easy access to assault weapons than to Islam.
Gay people are all too used to being hated, denied their rights, and physically attacked in the name of Christianity. And while there is a fringe of anti-Christian thinking in the gay community, there is no mass gay anti-Christian political movement.
Gay people are also used to the notion that time and engagement works in our favor. Many of us have spent decades successfully coaxing clergy, police, politicians, the military, and any number of other people who used to hate us - our own families? - to accept us.
Finally, owing to our own long history and experience with stigma and banishment, gay people as a whole are much more accepting of ethnic, racial, religious and other diversity, even diversity that comes with differences of opinion, and less likely to go along with stigmatization and banishment of other groups.
There will be no mass gay movement for Donald Trump, or against American Muslims. Trump should assume that, at 18 percent, he's at his gay high water mark.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
Gay people are all too used to being hated, denied their rights, and physically attacked in the name of Christianity. And while there is a fringe of anti-Christian thinking in the gay community, there is no mass gay anti-Christian political movement.
Gay people are also used to the notion that time and engagement works in our favor. Many of us have spent decades successfully coaxing clergy, police, politicians, the military, and any number of other people who used to hate us - our own families? - to accept us.
Finally, owing to our own long history and experience with stigma and banishment, gay people as a whole are much more accepting of ethnic, racial, religious and other diversity, even diversity that comes with differences of opinion, and less likely to go along with stigmatization and banishment of other groups.
There will be no mass gay movement for Donald Trump, or against American Muslims. Trump should assume that, at 18 percent, he's at his gay high water mark.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
13
Sorry, EH, but the gays I know are FAR too logical to assign ANY blame for the Orlando Muslim attack to any of your other enemies.
GOPers don't like gun-free zones like the Pulse management does -
- they don't want every Muslim free to come here like the Dems do -
- they want qualifying individuals free to own a gun for self-defense, unlike liberals -
- and the religious people spent the last few days remembering the innocent victims. A good progressive usually wants the churches closed and the God-fearers hushed up.
GOPers don't like gun-free zones like the Pulse management does -
- they don't want every Muslim free to come here like the Dems do -
- they want qualifying individuals free to own a gun for self-defense, unlike liberals -
- and the religious people spent the last few days remembering the innocent victims. A good progressive usually wants the churches closed and the God-fearers hushed up.
“The Democrats are in a perplexing position. On the one hand, they’re trying to appeal to the gay community, but, on the other hand, they’re trying to also appeal to the Muslim community, which, if it had its way, would kill every homosexual in the United States of America.”
This may not be strictly true in this country, but good golly gee it sure is true for the rest of the Muslim world, unless you call getting burned at the stake or thrown off a roof "outreach." Or you get Iranian politicians saying there are no homosexuals in their country. All you have to do is learn to read Arabic then read some government weeklys, because they sure seem proud of it
This may not be strictly true in this country, but good golly gee it sure is true for the rest of the Muslim world, unless you call getting burned at the stake or thrown off a roof "outreach." Or you get Iranian politicians saying there are no homosexuals in their country. All you have to do is learn to read Arabic then read some government weeklys, because they sure seem proud of it
3
To the best of my knowledge, the ones preaching "death to gays" in this country are not Muslim imams, but ministers from fundamentalist Christian congregations, e.g. Kevin Swanson, who are aligned with the GOP. Cruz, Huckabee and Jindal had no problem making appearances on stage with those who preach death to gays. The Muslims I know in Houston have "evolved" and are a lot more accepting than the Christians core of the Texas Republican party, which at times seems to be driven by homophobia and Iron Age morality.
2
If someone believes in equality for all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification, they are not going to vote for Donald Trump. So, like almost everything else that spills out of his mouth, who cares what he says? In ways, this man is more sinister than Adolph Hitler who would never have said that "Jews are starting to like Adolph Hitler very much lately, I will tell you, starting to like Adolph Hitler very, very much lately." Obviously, I am not suggesting that Donald Trump fosters an equivalent sense of hatred towards the LGBT community. What I am suggesting is that, on some levels, Donald Trump is more pathologically narcissistic than Adolph Hitler.
5
Trump should be embracing Muslims. He's also a sexist, homophobic, anti-semite so he he has a lot in common with most Muslims.
edit—
Our unalienable rights: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. NB—"Life" heads the list. LGBT gets it. Clinton-Obama LGBT "evolutions" were expediencies.
Regarding the advantage in the radical-Islamist terrorists' war, which is what this is really about, Clinton's practiced presidential pose is beside the point. As is Trump unpracticed, unpresidential one.
In the end, advantage will go to the one w/o failures/betrayals
We are hardwired for survival, not politics. An election is about relatives. Obama & Clinton are the proven danger.
That said, an honest broker would call BOTH presumptives grotesquely unfit/would demand a mulligan.
Clinton has the distinction of being the only senior official, D or R, to be on the wrong side of every security issue.
She was in favor of: Iraq War/withdrawal from Iraq/Libya War(she owns it)/speedy Libyan withdrawal/toppling dictators during Arab Spring w/ no thought to the consequences
She was responsible for Benghazi, Yemen, Honduras, Russia reset, 2 irrational, nuke-proliferating, legacy-driven deals w/ insane, apocalyptic signatories, 250k+ deaths of innocents, incalculable future deaths, unleashing of al Qaeda/ISIS, destabilization of 4 continents, Armageddon the pope/generals/Abdullah call WWIII
CIA Dir Brennan, Obama appointee, says Obama-Clinton foreign policy is a disaster. Listen carefully to him
If you want a safe country for your children/grandchildren, the last thing you should do is give Obama-Clinton a 3rd term
Our unalienable rights: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. NB—"Life" heads the list. LGBT gets it. Clinton-Obama LGBT "evolutions" were expediencies.
Regarding the advantage in the radical-Islamist terrorists' war, which is what this is really about, Clinton's practiced presidential pose is beside the point. As is Trump unpracticed, unpresidential one.
In the end, advantage will go to the one w/o failures/betrayals
We are hardwired for survival, not politics. An election is about relatives. Obama & Clinton are the proven danger.
That said, an honest broker would call BOTH presumptives grotesquely unfit/would demand a mulligan.
Clinton has the distinction of being the only senior official, D or R, to be on the wrong side of every security issue.
She was in favor of: Iraq War/withdrawal from Iraq/Libya War(she owns it)/speedy Libyan withdrawal/toppling dictators during Arab Spring w/ no thought to the consequences
She was responsible for Benghazi, Yemen, Honduras, Russia reset, 2 irrational, nuke-proliferating, legacy-driven deals w/ insane, apocalyptic signatories, 250k+ deaths of innocents, incalculable future deaths, unleashing of al Qaeda/ISIS, destabilization of 4 continents, Armageddon the pope/generals/Abdullah call WWIII
CIA Dir Brennan, Obama appointee, says Obama-Clinton foreign policy is a disaster. Listen carefully to him
If you want a safe country for your children/grandchildren, the last thing you should do is give Obama-Clinton a 3rd term
5
Got anything to add about the GOP?
2
Don't know what you're babbling about. Your fact-free, stream-of-consciousness rant is irrelevant. Be it motivated by expediency or genuine conversion, the fact remains that Obama, and Clinton, have embraced and executed policies that advance and protect LGBT communities in the US. The GOP at all levels has traded in bile, invective, and repeated attempts to scapegoat and undermine the LGBT community.
2
Gee, for a second there I thought you were at least gonna argue that the GOP helped gay people with economics and guns and terrorism. Wrong, of course, but at least an argument of sorts.
This typical laundry list of accusations that has zip to do with the issue, stemming from an oddish understanding of evolution, doesn't so much as dent the fact that the GOP has a lot of bloody nerve even trying to claim that the Party is anything other than essentially hostile to gay people.
And I'm talking foam-at-the-orifices, Kevin Swanson, hang the gays they've invading your kids' bathrooms, levels of hostility.
This typical laundry list of accusations that has zip to do with the issue, stemming from an oddish understanding of evolution, doesn't so much as dent the fact that the GOP has a lot of bloody nerve even trying to claim that the Party is anything other than essentially hostile to gay people.
And I'm talking foam-at-the-orifices, Kevin Swanson, hang the gays they've invading your kids' bathrooms, levels of hostility.
2
Muslims have nothing on the fundamentalist Christians, orthodox Jews or Mormons when it comes to homophobia...
8
Please supply the number of gays tossed off of high buildings by your enemies the Christians or Jews in the past ten years, or ever. So, is your anger affecting your blood pressure yet? Your relationships?
2
I guess the beheadings, throwing off the buildings and killing homosexuals don't factor into your "analysis" of Muslim homophobia. The rest - don't kill homosexuals as a matter of course in their religion. They may abhor homosexuality but it isn't translated into the actions that those in the Muslim religion and the Muslim countries take, which are murdering homosexuals.
Get your facts right and stop trying to apologize and make a false equivalency with the actions of the other religions.
Get your facts right and stop trying to apologize and make a false equivalency with the actions of the other religions.
2
The fundamentalists movement has always relied on a demon. For decades they raised money and support in their efforts against Communism. When the Wall came down a new demon was required. Anything to do with sex, but especially any activity considered sexually deviant along with abortion & the use of contraceptives, has easily gained the indignation of the "self-righteous" fundamentalists. Of course, Republican leaders will accept any position of the religious right to maintain their unquestioned loyalty. Religious these people are as someone who religiously follows a sports team, but Christian is difficult to apply when they ignore the single parents, low income, poverty, humanity of homosexuals, transgender, etc. people ... while granting the well - to do ever more wealth and power. Love has been replaced with hostility to anyone "different". It is not a scriptural position. It is prejudice - it is the real demon.
4
The US desperately needs to enforce the first amendment prohibition of faith based legislation on every legislature in the US. That's the only effective preventative of US destruction by religious fanatics and fascists.
6
It was very gratifying, for those of us here in South Florida, to watch Anderson Cooper attack our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, for her teary-eyed sympathy for the LGBT Community, right here in Orlando, last week. She, along with Governor Rick Scott and our part-time Senator Marco Rubio just can't get enough photo-ops. What a transformation.
All the while, Florida has been suing President Obama for various anti-LGBT matters, the pastor-protection law and--oh yes--Florida gun-owners have more firepower than any other state, plus the template for the Stand Your Ground Law. But Pam and Rick are all for the Tears for Queers"--AND CERTAINLY THEIR SUPPORT AND ENDORSEMENTS FOR DONALD TRUMP!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
All the while, Florida has been suing President Obama for various anti-LGBT matters, the pastor-protection law and--oh yes--Florida gun-owners have more firepower than any other state, plus the template for the Stand Your Ground Law. But Pam and Rick are all for the Tears for Queers"--AND CERTAINLY THEIR SUPPORT AND ENDORSEMENTS FOR DONALD TRUMP!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
6
Our unalienable rights: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Note—"Life" heads the list. LGBT gets it. Clinton-Obama LGBT "evolutions" were expediencies.
Regarding the advantage in the radical-Islamist terrorists' war, which is what this is really about, Clinton's practiced presidential pose is beside the point. As is Trump unpracticed, unpresidential one.
In the end, advantage will go to the one w/o failures/betrayals.
We are hardwired for survival, not politics. An election is about relatives. Obama & Clinton are the proven danger.
(That said, an honest broker would admit BOTH are grotesquely unfit & would call for a mulligan.)
Clinton has the distinction of being the only senior official, D or R, to be on the wrong side of every security issue.
She was in favor of: Iraq War/withdrawal from Iraq/Libya War(she owns it)/ speedy Libyan withdrawal/toppling dictators during Arab Spring w/ no thought to the consequences
She was responsible for Benghazi, Yemen, Honduras, Russia reset, 2 irrational, nuke-proliferating, legacy-driven deals w/ insane, apocalyptic signatories, 250k+ deaths of innocents, incalculable future deaths, unleashing of al Qaeda/ISIS, destabilization of 4 continents, Armageddon the pope/generals/Abdullah call WWIII
CIA Dir Brennan, Obama appointee, says Obama-Clinton foreign policy is a disaster. Listen carefully to him.
If you want a safe country for your children/grandchildren, the last thing you should do is to give Obama-Clinton a 3rd term.
Regarding the advantage in the radical-Islamist terrorists' war, which is what this is really about, Clinton's practiced presidential pose is beside the point. As is Trump unpracticed, unpresidential one.
In the end, advantage will go to the one w/o failures/betrayals.
We are hardwired for survival, not politics. An election is about relatives. Obama & Clinton are the proven danger.
(That said, an honest broker would admit BOTH are grotesquely unfit & would call for a mulligan.)
Clinton has the distinction of being the only senior official, D or R, to be on the wrong side of every security issue.
She was in favor of: Iraq War/withdrawal from Iraq/Libya War(she owns it)/ speedy Libyan withdrawal/toppling dictators during Arab Spring w/ no thought to the consequences
She was responsible for Benghazi, Yemen, Honduras, Russia reset, 2 irrational, nuke-proliferating, legacy-driven deals w/ insane, apocalyptic signatories, 250k+ deaths of innocents, incalculable future deaths, unleashing of al Qaeda/ISIS, destabilization of 4 continents, Armageddon the pope/generals/Abdullah call WWIII
CIA Dir Brennan, Obama appointee, says Obama-Clinton foreign policy is a disaster. Listen carefully to him.
If you want a safe country for your children/grandchildren, the last thing you should do is to give Obama-Clinton a 3rd term.
4
This comment: “The Democrats are in a perplexing position. On the one hand, they’re trying to appeal to the gay community, but, on the other hand, they’re trying to also appeal to the Muslim community, which, if it had its way, would kill every homosexual in the United States of America.”
I hope, Mr Blow, that you next critically and constructively take this comment apart. 1st, it assumes that Islamic dogma unequivocally holds such a belief. I've extremely little knowledge of Islam. Could that be true? Or, might it simply be a reflection of humanity's propensity for evil, much like the Catholic Church's attitude towards Jews and Muslims during the Inquisition? 2nd, could it be, just as the Christian churches have many adherents who've over the centuries finally recognized the truth of their faith that 'God is love' and as a consequence that we should love one another as God has loved us, that there are many Muslims throughout the world who similarly recognize the brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity? If so, the assertion that there's this perplexing dilemma shows itself to be hateful political posturing.
I hope, Mr Blow, that you next critically and constructively take this comment apart. 1st, it assumes that Islamic dogma unequivocally holds such a belief. I've extremely little knowledge of Islam. Could that be true? Or, might it simply be a reflection of humanity's propensity for evil, much like the Catholic Church's attitude towards Jews and Muslims during the Inquisition? 2nd, could it be, just as the Christian churches have many adherents who've over the centuries finally recognized the truth of their faith that 'God is love' and as a consequence that we should love one another as God has loved us, that there are many Muslims throughout the world who similarly recognize the brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity? If so, the assertion that there's this perplexing dilemma shows itself to be hateful political posturing.
2
Be careful of that GOP arm around your shoulder because they also may have a plan in putting sweet innocent smiling gays on the front lines warring with ISIS.
This is the story behind the story with the gays of Old Sodom when they suffered through the effects of war the Great Jehovah would only listen to Abraham who tried to save them from being nuked but he failed as the great Jehovah moved on to the experiment to see what damage that war did to Abraham calling his to knife his son and share the fat with his God: Would he or would he not? He would. What great faith Abraham proved to have as war turned him into even more cracked crooked timber in need of mercy and a savior
I implore you gays stay away from war or you end up like me with a legion 7 chains put around my neck and an 8 th added tomorrow,on June the 21st. Keep your sweetness and vulnerable shy smiles protected what the wicked world has up it's sleeve in attempting to seduce you into wars.
This is the story behind the story with the gays of Old Sodom when they suffered through the effects of war the Great Jehovah would only listen to Abraham who tried to save them from being nuked but he failed as the great Jehovah moved on to the experiment to see what damage that war did to Abraham calling his to knife his son and share the fat with his God: Would he or would he not? He would. What great faith Abraham proved to have as war turned him into even more cracked crooked timber in need of mercy and a savior
I implore you gays stay away from war or you end up like me with a legion 7 chains put around my neck and an 8 th added tomorrow,on June the 21st. Keep your sweetness and vulnerable shy smiles protected what the wicked world has up it's sleeve in attempting to seduce you into wars.
1
It is within the republican DNA to say: vote for me darn it, what part of 'I want to be in power' are you not getting? See Mitt and Carly as Exhibits A and B. Republicans are used to subservient audiences; god, guns, big business, radio, TV and WSJ are on their side. We are to do as told and not ask questions.
God wants you to vote for them LGBT. Because the democrats are effete Islamic communist devils who want a black family to buy the house next to you. This definition of reality has bought power at local and state levels everywhere. It works.
Evidence? Despite their attraction to Romney's "self-deportation" and Trump's "wall," - they think Hispanics will vote for them. I mean, the church going, FOX viewing, Limbaugh listening, WSJ reading audience does as told - why shouldn't the LGBT, Hispanics, Women and Blacks? Is there something wrong with them?
Some republicans, no doubt, are consciously cynical. William Krystol publicly bemoans that he has no control over Trump, something that he is used to having over the repub candidate. But the garden variety repubs are firm in their belief that once you announce your intent "vote for me" - because they speak for God (and big business), total triumph for them, and the total destruction of others - is preordained. The poster child? Our next VP, and future president: Newt.
Kalidan
God wants you to vote for them LGBT. Because the democrats are effete Islamic communist devils who want a black family to buy the house next to you. This definition of reality has bought power at local and state levels everywhere. It works.
Evidence? Despite their attraction to Romney's "self-deportation" and Trump's "wall," - they think Hispanics will vote for them. I mean, the church going, FOX viewing, Limbaugh listening, WSJ reading audience does as told - why shouldn't the LGBT, Hispanics, Women and Blacks? Is there something wrong with them?
Some republicans, no doubt, are consciously cynical. William Krystol publicly bemoans that he has no control over Trump, something that he is used to having over the repub candidate. But the garden variety repubs are firm in their belief that once you announce your intent "vote for me" - because they speak for God (and big business), total triumph for them, and the total destruction of others - is preordained. The poster child? Our next VP, and future president: Newt.
Kalidan
5
To borrow a joke from Seth Meyers:
Donald Trump says he gets along great with the gays. Well, unless "the Gays" are a family of straight people, I'm pretty sure that's not true.
Donald Trump says he gets along great with the gays. Well, unless "the Gays" are a family of straight people, I'm pretty sure that's not true.
5
Repeat a lie often enough and people will think it is the truth. This was the tactic of Joseph Goebbles, the Nazi propaganda minister. It was the practice of Roy Cohn, Trump's mentor and Joe McCarthy's henchman. The Republican Party as enjoyed success for decades by telling lies.
10
The good ship Trump sails on, unperturbed by accusations of belching falsehoods. A purer narcissist could not exist. The man utters words calibrated to stroke his insatiable ago or denigrate perceived enemies. Nothing more. To Trump, the truthfulness of his statements is intrinsic; He said it, so it is by definition not only true but a golden pearl of wisdom. Measuring the veracity of his statements by some some other metric, such as consistency with the observable universe, is an affront to him.
It must be very frustrating to journalists and columnists. How do you hold a presidential candidate to his word when he rejects the construct of testing his statements against reality?
It must be very frustrating to journalists and columnists. How do you hold a presidential candidate to his word when he rejects the construct of testing his statements against reality?
5
Well, I think you're right. And by the way I choose option "C" depraved cynicism. When I heard that claim, I wondered what % of the L.G.B.T. or Muslim communities believed anything Trump or his Southern supporters say.
Divide those two communities? Trump has a way of bringing people together, and in November we'll send him back to start fake universities, and sell cheaply made items with his name on them. I don't think you'll ever see him on tv again unless he resorts to fleecing rubes out of their hard earned money and it's on the news.
Divide those two communities? Trump has a way of bringing people together, and in November we'll send him back to start fake universities, and sell cheaply made items with his name on them. I don't think you'll ever see him on tv again unless he resorts to fleecing rubes out of their hard earned money and it's on the news.
7
The Republican agenda has always been passing legislation that makes them more secure in their gated communities. Then the national election comes along and they pay lip service to opening their gates just a little bit for their electorate to take a look, not live, at what supply side economics has done for them. In this election cycle they can't find the keys to the gate.
3
There has been nothing more hypocritical than the Republicans use of the Orlando shootings. One Right Wing Radio Host interviewed Orlando survivors when in the past all he has done is slam the LGBT community and fought against every step forward for the LGBT community; most notably marriage. This Host knows only too well the language of inequality. Nonetheless, he had three survivors describe their ordeals on his show within days of the shooting, and then deftly steered his Orlando Survivor Interviewees into trying to get them to agree that Obama’s policies led to the massacre. Little did he know who he was talking to- these young survivors never once took that bait. They do not speak the language of hate.
8
No one has ever accused me of being a right wing extremist, nor labeled me a conservative Republican. But I find the discussion of "natural" unsettling and illogical. I feel it would be more appropriate to talk of the variety in adult human behavior. Natural to one is unnatural to another. And who defines what is and what is not? Is every form of adult behavior, sexual and otherwise, "natural" And how do you preserve that which is valuable for the humankind in the variety of mature conduct?
It's interesting how often, when one begins a sentence with a statement along the lines of, "I don't mean to be homophobic, but...", or, "Nobody would ever categorize me as conservative, but...", the remainder of the comment classifies them as exactly that, even if disguised within a pseudo-intellectual analysis.
2
Hey, things are tough in GOP-land just now. It may be a straw to grasp at, but they need all the help they can get. They have a candidate who would poll badly in a match-up with a cockroach. What alternatives do they have?
No, no, no, don't be funny! Honesty is not one they are going to choose.
No, no, no, don't be funny! Honesty is not one they are going to choose.
4
The GOP is about to get its political head handed to it. Except for the oblivious south, still circa 1850, it's over.
Scalia is gone, Thomas is leaving, so the court will be liberal for the next generation. Deal with it, Alito.
Scalia is gone, Thomas is leaving, so the court will be liberal for the next generation. Deal with it, Alito.
9
When fanatical Christian preachers condemn the LGBT community, call for their death, persecution, or marginalization from society, we never blame all of Christianity. When Islamic fanatics do, we paint all Muslims with the same brush. There needs to be an honest look at all 3 Abrahamic religions and assess their views on women's rights and LGBT issues.
6
Democrats are friendly to minority communities out of principle, which might be described as one of the Enlightenment's core precepts. We are individuals first and foremost, not tribes. This applies equally to Muslims, Mexicans, the transgendered, Jews, and Native Americans. Now, which party has routinely attacked this principle in its brazen appeal to racial supremacy since 1968? Republicans have now lost their previous advantage with Asians since they recognize that bigotry against one minority is often a good sign that you could be next. Republicans are cynical by nature so they can't see how their brazen divide-and-conquer strategy is actually hurting themselves with America's burgeoning demographics. Republican strategists need a regular mirror in the funhouse they live n, one that isn't convex or cracked.
5
Has the GOP had anything but ploys in recent years? And nary a one that wasn't cynical.
6
Yesterday my husband and I had brunch at a gay bar close by, one that is owned by a neighbour and friend of us whom we have known for a long time.
We wanted to show our support for the L.B.G.T. community shortly after the terrible massacre in Orlando, one which should have touched all those that are frustrated and disgusted with the hate mongering and discrimination of 'Others' by none other than our oh-so-god-fearing Republican lawmakers all across the country.
He pointed to several beautiful flower arrangements at the entrance, ones that the pastor of the Methodist church in our neighbourhood had given them right after his sermon Sunday a week ago while expressing his deepest sympathies to his community. While having been in shock all morning, he said that was the first time tears were running down his face.
What a contrast to the Baptist pastor in Sacramento telling his flock on the day of the massacre that 'the only tragedy' of Orlando was that not all of these 'sodomites' were killed, and the government should round them all up, put them against a wall and blow their brains out.
It it high time for Republicans to stop with their empty 'thoughts and prayers' proclamation, their silly minutes of silence after mass shootings, look into the mirror and realize that they are the ones complicit of having created an atmosphere of 'us versus them', one that gets deadlier every time because of them being paid for and owned by the NRA.
We wanted to show our support for the L.B.G.T. community shortly after the terrible massacre in Orlando, one which should have touched all those that are frustrated and disgusted with the hate mongering and discrimination of 'Others' by none other than our oh-so-god-fearing Republican lawmakers all across the country.
He pointed to several beautiful flower arrangements at the entrance, ones that the pastor of the Methodist church in our neighbourhood had given them right after his sermon Sunday a week ago while expressing his deepest sympathies to his community. While having been in shock all morning, he said that was the first time tears were running down his face.
What a contrast to the Baptist pastor in Sacramento telling his flock on the day of the massacre that 'the only tragedy' of Orlando was that not all of these 'sodomites' were killed, and the government should round them all up, put them against a wall and blow their brains out.
It it high time for Republicans to stop with their empty 'thoughts and prayers' proclamation, their silly minutes of silence after mass shootings, look into the mirror and realize that they are the ones complicit of having created an atmosphere of 'us versus them', one that gets deadlier every time because of them being paid for and owned by the NRA.
15
The irony of your statement is astounding.
2
The simple fact is that the Republican Party sold its soul for votes decades ago. No group, homophobes, racists, xenophobes, or misogynists, is too repugnant to appeal to for votes. Donald Trump is their nominee for President because of the coalition of depravity that is the Republican base.
Mo Brooks suggests that Democrats have a problem trying to appeal to the LGBT community and Muslims. His argument is that Muslim really would like to kill all the gays. Maybe Brooks should listen to Kevin Swanson - the pastor who's butt was kissed by a number of Republican Presidential contenders - ranting for death to gays.
Condemning homosexuals to death is a good Christian value. Just read the bible. Of coursem so is killing people for adultery, working on Sunday, residing on land that "god" promised you, masturbation, and eating at Red Lobster.
It's really not surprising since Islam is based on a Judeo-Christian foundation. Islam retains most, if not all the good Christian "values". If Islam is dangerous to the LGBT community, then fundamentalist Christianity, and by extension the Republican Party, is even more dangerous. There are more of them in this country.
Mo Brooks suggests that Democrats have a problem trying to appeal to the LGBT community and Muslims. His argument is that Muslim really would like to kill all the gays. Maybe Brooks should listen to Kevin Swanson - the pastor who's butt was kissed by a number of Republican Presidential contenders - ranting for death to gays.
Condemning homosexuals to death is a good Christian value. Just read the bible. Of coursem so is killing people for adultery, working on Sunday, residing on land that "god" promised you, masturbation, and eating at Red Lobster.
It's really not surprising since Islam is based on a Judeo-Christian foundation. Islam retains most, if not all the good Christian "values". If Islam is dangerous to the LGBT community, then fundamentalist Christianity, and by extension the Republican Party, is even more dangerous. There are more of them in this country.
10
Both religious practices should be eradicated
1
When do Republicans tell the the truth about anything?
6
The same can be said the Democrats.
2
I look "forward" to the next NYTimes article detailing the stoning deaths homosexuals endure at the hand of Sharia Law. Of course, that's nothing to "lose your head" over, right?
2
Blow ignores that the Clinton Foundation has accepted millions of dollars in exchange for political favors, from countries that punish and "kill gays".
5
@jck: Like the United States?
1
Everything about the GOP is cynical. They combine the ideology of prosperity theology with the sleight-of-hand of ponzi schemes. They're perfect for those who fall for the Trumpian circus barkers and other scam artists.
6
Can't listen to Trump without thinking of The Jimmy on Seinfeld. "George is getting upset!"
After this crazy election thing, he should go into comedy as a self-parody.
After this crazy election thing, he should go into comedy as a self-parody.
3
You can't have freedom without tolerance.
The intolerance inherent in the way Islam is practiced today needs to be addressed. This intolerance is especially pronounced with respect to their treatment of gays. Name a Muslim country where homosexuality is not punished. In many if not most the penalty is death.
Mr. Trump is correct. He is a friend of gays. Sometimes friends disagree on minor issues.
The intolerance inherent in the way Islam is practiced today needs to be addressed. This intolerance is especially pronounced with respect to their treatment of gays. Name a Muslim country where homosexuality is not punished. In many if not most the penalty is death.
Mr. Trump is correct. He is a friend of gays. Sometimes friends disagree on minor issues.
3
The survivors of Matthew Shepherd say that the same applies here, without the formality of a court. There are tens of thousands of hate crimes committed against the LGBT community here, many in red states where Republicant politicians demonize that community, such as bogus bathroom bills.
2
Hyperbolic and misleading. The issue is American Muslims' attitudes toward LGBT in the USA (not those in ISIL).
Note that Christian nations in Africa have laws that make homosexuality punishable by death. By your logic, this means that all Christians in the USA want to kill homosexuals.
BTW, homosexuality is legal in Turkey, though LGBTers are socially discriminated against outside of big cities (like in North Carolina).
Note that Christian nations in Africa have laws that make homosexuality punishable by death. By your logic, this means that all Christians in the USA want to kill homosexuals.
BTW, homosexuality is legal in Turkey, though LGBTers are socially discriminated against outside of big cities (like in North Carolina).
3
Trump is delusional (as usual) in thinking that many LGBT people will support him, but his rhetorical appeal to them reflects a kind of progress in that, especially after a tragedy like Orlando, even Republicans recognize that outright queerbashing is no longer a viable strategy in this country. Even Republicans are less open to open queerbashing (as opposed to biased legislation) because, by now, most Republicans have family members, or decent neighbors and coworkers and would be turned off by outright hatred.
3
Great piece as always by Charles M Blow. However I don't believe that all Muslims would choose to go and slaughter all of the LGBT community. I think that is a sweeping generalization. Most all religious groups have a hard time with coming to grips with the LGBT community but are dealing with it despite whatever sort of quotes they can dig up from their holy books. As a member of the LGBT community, it looks to me like two steps forward one step back. My hope is that their is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and that pot of gold contains acceptance of everyone.
3
The LGBT Community in Florida knows full well that Governor Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi have spent most of their political lives opposing every civil rights gain by that community.
But as we awoke that Sunday to the news of the massacre of LGBT people at Pulse, all the major news outlets emphasized the shooting as a terrorist attack. The community targeted by the shooter's hate was barely mentioned until one or two days later. The Governor and the Attorney General were interviewed ad nausiam centering the conversation on terrorism, Muslims and the Middle East.
The reporting of news, especially on the all news channels, is often so shallow or so superficial as to be a lie. Not a deliberate lie, perhaps, but certainly false or only half true statements are made.
As I write this, in an unrelated matter, sixty thousand Japanese have demonstrated their displeasure with American bases on Okinawa. But what is the coverage I am listening to from a major news outletright this minute?
An assertion by the reporter that American bases are a force for good on Okinawa because they provide jobs. And then came the obligatory interview with a Japanese man who owns a small business on Okinawa who avers that he hopes the US bases remain because of the jobs they create.
Surely, we Americans like to listen to news, especially when there is a national tragedy. But often we are given news that is not only false, incomplete or factually messy, it is harmful.
But as we awoke that Sunday to the news of the massacre of LGBT people at Pulse, all the major news outlets emphasized the shooting as a terrorist attack. The community targeted by the shooter's hate was barely mentioned until one or two days later. The Governor and the Attorney General were interviewed ad nausiam centering the conversation on terrorism, Muslims and the Middle East.
The reporting of news, especially on the all news channels, is often so shallow or so superficial as to be a lie. Not a deliberate lie, perhaps, but certainly false or only half true statements are made.
As I write this, in an unrelated matter, sixty thousand Japanese have demonstrated their displeasure with American bases on Okinawa. But what is the coverage I am listening to from a major news outletright this minute?
An assertion by the reporter that American bases are a force for good on Okinawa because they provide jobs. And then came the obligatory interview with a Japanese man who owns a small business on Okinawa who avers that he hopes the US bases remain because of the jobs they create.
Surely, we Americans like to listen to news, especially when there is a national tragedy. But often we are given news that is not only false, incomplete or factually messy, it is harmful.
4
Not my experience here in SoCal. Coverage of Orlando tragedy emphasized what Pulse represents to the gay community and the targeting of LGBT citizens.
1
@Dick Rubin:
The news channels of which I speak, CNN and MSNBC in particular, report the same news in California as they report here in Massachusetts.
And I watched both of them. Wolf Blitzer of CNN as well as Brian Williams of MSNBC emphasized a terrorist-Muslim-Middle East attack.
It was not until Anderson Cooper started emphasizing the attack as a hate crime rather than as a terrorist attack that the networks toned down the terrorist connection.
The news channels of which I speak, CNN and MSNBC in particular, report the same news in California as they report here in Massachusetts.
And I watched both of them. Wolf Blitzer of CNN as well as Brian Williams of MSNBC emphasized a terrorist-Muslim-Middle East attack.
It was not until Anderson Cooper started emphasizing the attack as a hate crime rather than as a terrorist attack that the networks toned down the terrorist connection.
1
It may simply be thst the GOP leadership has become so blimded by the corruptimg influence of their basic bait and switch strategy of the last 35 years that they believe it will actually work in this case. It's a sad reality that one of this country's great political parties has fallen so far. It is however very unlikely that we will be seeing a book asking thev question "What's Wrong With The LGBT Community?"
2
Trump is trying to set gays against Muslims, whites against Latinos, blue collar workers again white collar workers..... Americans against Americans. This crass and relentless appeal to the worst of human instinct set Trump far apart than all past Presidential candidates. I think that Trump is intelligent enough to know the consequences his action and he choose this path because winning is all that matter to him. There are genuine tension in our society, like income inequality, but the solution is never to demonize our fellow Americans.
5
"...the solution is never to demonize our fellow Americans."
Tell me, PeterS, are YOU a regular reader of the Times? I doubt it because no one who reads the Editorial Board offerings and op-ed pieces on a daily basis could ever make such a statement without tongue in cheek...
Tell me, PeterS, are YOU a regular reader of the Times? I doubt it because no one who reads the Editorial Board offerings and op-ed pieces on a daily basis could ever make such a statement without tongue in cheek...
1
Or to give them preferred status?
2
Until last Sunday, I'd bet that Trump thought LGBT was a sandwich. A cynical ploy to supply some semblance of respectability and decency to the 30% of the voting populace that is considering voting for this huckster. The only ones to swallow this will be those already supporting him and who need to convince themselves that they aren't really bigots.
Is it really such a leap from, "look at my African-american over there!" to "LGBT is starting to like Donald Trump very much lately?"
Is it really such a leap from, "look at my African-american over there!" to "LGBT is starting to like Donald Trump very much lately?"
7
Given Donald Trump's media savvy, the idea that they would seize the opportunity to put as much pro-Republican "spin" on a tragic event shouldn't come as a surprise. One can respect the attempt, while feeling disgust that they would actually be callous enough to take it from an idea in a meeting to public pronouncement. But then, this has been the Republican strategy for a long time now. The elite hold the coin, and make the middle class the wager, "heads we win, tails you lose." And the middle class has fallen for it, each and every time.
6
Mr. Blow wants us to believe that the Democrats will take of gay people. But the facts show that gay people don't rate quite as high in the "victim" index as Muslims. In fact, women, the press, and the public in general don't rate as high either.
The lack of our security agencies to use the tools they have, and to take action BEFORE an attack has been hobbled by directives from this administration that show political correctness is more important than public safety.
And safety starts at the border, by not letting illegal aliens in, by not allowing unvetted Syrians in, and by following through on intelligence and taking action against people who spout Islamic extremist garbage that rises to a danger level.
Democrats actually have to care about their "victims" more than lip service. And they've thrown everyone under the bus to placate their newest and mod important "victims" the Muslims.
The rest of us aren't fooled anymore on this doublespeak.
The lack of our security agencies to use the tools they have, and to take action BEFORE an attack has been hobbled by directives from this administration that show political correctness is more important than public safety.
And safety starts at the border, by not letting illegal aliens in, by not allowing unvetted Syrians in, and by following through on intelligence and taking action against people who spout Islamic extremist garbage that rises to a danger level.
Democrats actually have to care about their "victims" more than lip service. And they've thrown everyone under the bus to placate their newest and mod important "victims" the Muslims.
The rest of us aren't fooled anymore on this doublespeak.
6
Your support for gay people is underwhelming. You label them as "victims," then spend 4 paragraphs talking about how much Democrats allegedly love terrorists. You are sticking to the talking point, but the talking point doesn't make sense.
4
So now it's gotten to the point where conservatives refer to the U.S. Constitution as 'political correctness'.
3
Nonsense, minh. The shooter in this case was born in Queens, just like Trumplestiltskin himself was.
And as far as hamstringing out safety, when the Republicants made it impossible for the CDC to conduct research on the effects of gun violence, known as the Dickey Amendment, and when they seek to muzzle doctors' first amendment rights to ask about the presence of guns in the household, as they routinely do about illegal drugs or excess alcohol consumption, they are creating more danger than any of the bogus claims you make here.
You claim not to be fooled by doublespeak, but it's the only language Trumplestiltskin speaks.
And as far as hamstringing out safety, when the Republicants made it impossible for the CDC to conduct research on the effects of gun violence, known as the Dickey Amendment, and when they seek to muzzle doctors' first amendment rights to ask about the presence of guns in the household, as they routinely do about illegal drugs or excess alcohol consumption, they are creating more danger than any of the bogus claims you make here.
You claim not to be fooled by doublespeak, but it's the only language Trumplestiltskin speaks.
4
Anyone (in any country, most pathetically in a "modern," well-educated country) who believes that the well-being of a nation has anything to do with who is allowed to screw whom, has a screw loose in the first place. This issue is, and has always been a red-herring to distract those being taken advantage of by government from the issues that will truly affect their lives.
8
True, Harvey. Screws are also found loose in those who insist on referring to themselves in the third person, as Trumplestiltskin does with regularity.
1
IMO the reason the republicans and Trump a spewing this new rhetoric is strictly PR. They know the damage they have caused and the pain they have inflicted. It is like a wife beater talking about how much they love their spouse and how they only want to care for their family once they are caught.
11
The Duplicitous Donald has been a consistent opponent of marriage equality for same-sex couples! AND supports the so-called 1st Amendment Defense Act which would expose GLBT couples to even more discrimination using religion as a legal excuse to deny goods and services otherwise offered to the general public. He's also said he would appoint only Supreme Court justices committed to overturning the landmark decision of marriage equality. He's a "friend" like the wolf in sheep's clothing.
10
I think most Americans -- and the media as well -- are getting to the point where they just assume that the vast majority of stuff that comes out of Trump's mouth have little basis in fact or reality and are to be viewed (if at all) for entertainment purposes only.
So, yeah, that's the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party: a guy who's immediately discounted the moment he opens his mouth.
So, yeah, that's the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party: a guy who's immediately discounted the moment he opens his mouth.
15
I have a good friend (someone I've known for nearly six decades) who has been trying desperately to convince me the LGBT community is changing loyalties to Trump. She sends me links (from questionable sources like Breitbart) trying to prove to me I should support Trump instead of Hillary. I send her more links showing the opposite is actually true. We are NOT supporting Trump now or at anytime in the future. Trump has said (often) he would appoint judges to SCOTUS to undo Obergefell and Windsor. This is like a surefire way to lose the LGBT community. He can say he's our best hope, but Hillary has proven it time and time again.
4
“The same Republicans who have argued that gay couples should not be allowed to marry, that L.G.B.T. Americans don’t need federal anti-discrimination protections and that trans people should not use the bathroom that matches their identity are now claiming"
No, not "the same Republicans." Whatever his other manifest faults, Trump did not say those things. He was one of the few who said early that trans people should use whichever bathroom is comfortable to them. He has not spoken against gay marriage.
Yes, the Republican he defeated all did those things. Yes, they still have him for it.
Attacking Trump for everything, things he deserves and things you just make up, does no real service to your cause.
No, not "the same Republicans." Whatever his other manifest faults, Trump did not say those things. He was one of the few who said early that trans people should use whichever bathroom is comfortable to them. He has not spoken against gay marriage.
Yes, the Republican he defeated all did those things. Yes, they still have him for it.
Attacking Trump for everything, things he deserves and things you just make up, does no real service to your cause.
6
Sorry -- "Yes, they still *hate* him for it."
Suggesting Trump would be kinder to those communities cannot rally Republicans behind him or make them feel better. It just alienates them. He's doing it anyway.
It won't do him any good, not on either side. He's doing it anyway.
Suggesting Trump would be kinder to those communities cannot rally Republicans behind him or make them feel better. It just alienates them. He's doing it anyway.
It won't do him any good, not on either side. He's doing it anyway.
5
Trumpisms are migrating to the G.O.P.
They deserve each other and hopefully the decline of the evil empire will begin!
They deserve each other and hopefully the decline of the evil empire will begin!
6
It's more blatant with the LGBT community that the GOP is being exploitative after Orlando. Children don't vote. But adults can and do. The GOP may want my vote but they are not getting it. I'm tired of hearing how they are America's moral standard bearers, particularly when those morals include trying to control my reproductive decisions, my marriage decisions, my decisions on where I can feel safe as a Jewish Lesbian American, and when their candidate makes America the laughingstock of the world.
I'm also fed up with hearing about how hard I should work when they take numerous vacations, leave lots of unfinished business on the table in order to avoid doing their jobs (something the rest of us would be fired for), and act as if the government we pay them to lead isn't worth leading. If they feel this way they can get out of our government and let people who want it to work get into office. This country needs to upgrade its educational system, its infrastructure, its telecommunications, everything. Funding these projects would create jobs for skilled and unskilled people. It would create opportunities for people to improve their skills, to improve their lives. Yet the GOP, the self proclaimed party of the people, has refused to do anything. Even having a hearing for a Supreme Court nominee is too difficult. We should not let these people continue to serve us because, as of now, they aren't.
I'm also fed up with hearing about how hard I should work when they take numerous vacations, leave lots of unfinished business on the table in order to avoid doing their jobs (something the rest of us would be fired for), and act as if the government we pay them to lead isn't worth leading. If they feel this way they can get out of our government and let people who want it to work get into office. This country needs to upgrade its educational system, its infrastructure, its telecommunications, everything. Funding these projects would create jobs for skilled and unskilled people. It would create opportunities for people to improve their skills, to improve their lives. Yet the GOP, the self proclaimed party of the people, has refused to do anything. Even having a hearing for a Supreme Court nominee is too difficult. We should not let these people continue to serve us because, as of now, they aren't.
168
As of 7+ years ago, when they first ANNOUNCED that they would stop working. They're all traitors to their country.
4
This!
Are we really taking anything he says seriously? As much as I don't want Clinton to be president either, Trump has set a record, which I hope will never be approached, of making false statements, and is uninformed and inarticulate with disordered thinking. I still shake my head when I hear people say he's smart. How has he ever demonstrated that? By being rich and famous? I'm not saying he doesn't have normal intelligence and he's great at his brand and making money, but, in every way that might be pertinent to being president, he shows almost no intelligence. I don't even think he's bigoted anymore, though he has said astonishing things. I think he is just fumbling to articulate things and isn't capable of it.
The most frequent comments I get when I ask Trump supporters why they support are in the line of "He's our only hope," or "He'll break the system," as if, when he's elected, it will be an end to political correctness, identity politics, special interest groups, pay for play, corruption, etc. The only rational reason I can see for Trump supporters is that they will likely get a S. Ct. Justice(s) they like much better than if Clinton is elected. But, how can anyone be sure? He could change his mind in a tweet.
None of this is supports Clinton. She is much more prepared than Trump and can articulate her thoughts, but she also has an embarrassment of riches of character flaws and bad policies in the majority view. It is hard to have hope between the two.
The most frequent comments I get when I ask Trump supporters why they support are in the line of "He's our only hope," or "He'll break the system," as if, when he's elected, it will be an end to political correctness, identity politics, special interest groups, pay for play, corruption, etc. The only rational reason I can see for Trump supporters is that they will likely get a S. Ct. Justice(s) they like much better than if Clinton is elected. But, how can anyone be sure? He could change his mind in a tweet.
None of this is supports Clinton. She is much more prepared than Trump and can articulate her thoughts, but she also has an embarrassment of riches of character flaws and bad policies in the majority view. It is hard to have hope between the two.
10
If you REALLY don't want Trump in the White House, you don't have many other options. Clinton has too much baggage for my taste but realistically, who's left that actually has a decent chance of winning?
1
Why does Hillary Clinton have "character flaws" that are worse than other politicians? This needs an explanation. Clearly she and her has been attacked by the Right Wingers since 20 years.
2
The modern Republican Party is built on bigotry and racism and Donald Trump is the non-P.C. face of the "Deport 'Em All" anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant, anti-gay bigots and racists that include Mr. Deportation, Mo Brooks. It is the party adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage and even letting transgender people go to the bathroom of their choice. And it it is the party that continually seeks to legislate this bigotry with Religious Freedom Restoration Acts that are aimed specifically at the LGBT community. Need one say more! Well yes! This is the party that would rather show their compassion and remorse for the massacre of 49 innocent young gay people in Orlando by continuing to allow suspected terrorists to buy assault weapons.
26
It's interesting that after a mass shooting at the Pulse the Republicans are saying this proves that Muslims want to kill all gay people. Using that logic this proves that white men want to kill postal workers, government workers, movie theater attendees, high school students, college students, people who eat at McDonalds and elementary school students. Mass shootings (in one case a bombing) have taken place in every one of those venues yet no one says we need to profile all white men, or, we need to keep white men from buying guns. Do the Republicans have logic? Do they think things through?
77
It's interesting that you use the word "logic" for such rationalization. I guess that's how Democrats "reason" out that when a gay, Muslim Democrat kills a bunch of people at the bar he frequents, it's somehow the Republican Christians' fault? Likewise, Blow accidentally points out that there is a contradiction, even a two-faced-ness, in the Democrats chasing after the gay and the Muslim vote simultaneously. But thinks the two groups won't notice this blatant pandering, while noticing Trump's? The question you should ask yourself: "Did I take a course in logic at university?" If not, then maybe you shouldn't use the word.
2
Right on! When "the Donald" says we need to do racial profiling, my first reaction is that the most dangerous profile is that of Angry White Male. More of them have caused more horror, terror and death with guns and other weapons in this country than Muslims have. Our endless news cycle has to stop feeding the idea that if women, members of minorities, or the LGBT community gain parity, it somehow takes something away from white men - unless that something is the ability to look down o everyone else. Come to think of it, that's the problem - DT and his minions are bullies who need to be able to look down on others for their perceived faults (having the "wrong" skin tone, genitalia, or orientation). If they feel that they can't, then they have the perfect excuse to buy an assault rifle and take out as many of the 'offenders' as they can before committing suicide by cop. So yeah, let's start profiling insecure white males with antisocial tendencies and a need to dominate those who can't or won't fight back.
2
No, logic escapes the Party of Lincoln in its current iteration!
1
I personally enjoyed Anderson Cooper's polite but persistent questioning of Florida AG Pam Bondi and her brand-spanking-new embrace of Florida's LGBT community.
Then later, she wailed that Anderson's polite but persistent questioning had fomented anger. She was wrong about this, of course. LGBT people have been angry with her barely-disguised theocracy masquerading as justice ever since she was sworn into office. Anderson merely shone a very bright, very focused light on her crocodile tears and theocratic crap.
Here's a little newsflash, honey:
LGBT people are way smarter and far less gullible than your typical voters. We have long memories about those who have wronged us and why they did it.
Please find in yourself a smidgen of grace and decency and stop peddling your garbage and lies on the graves of the murdered at Pulse.
Then later, she wailed that Anderson's polite but persistent questioning had fomented anger. She was wrong about this, of course. LGBT people have been angry with her barely-disguised theocracy masquerading as justice ever since she was sworn into office. Anderson merely shone a very bright, very focused light on her crocodile tears and theocratic crap.
Here's a little newsflash, honey:
LGBT people are way smarter and far less gullible than your typical voters. We have long memories about those who have wronged us and why they did it.
Please find in yourself a smidgen of grace and decency and stop peddling your garbage and lies on the graves of the murdered at Pulse.
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I have yet to hear any one of my gay friends or relatives say that they are 1. Republican 2. support Trump.
34
"This was a way to salvage nobility for the homophobic, to say that there are factional benefits for tribalism, that liberalism itself is flawed because you can’t house the wolves with the rabbits.
"But this too shall fail."
Don't count on it. The GOP is full of members who are frighteningly good at painting the white roses red to protect their self image.
Why do so many right-wingers gabble endlessly about their awesome relationship with god? Because they want to believe that they are really Good People in spite of their vicious talk about poor people (takers, lazy, irresponsible) and support for cutting all benefits.
They also reject the label "racist," insisting that the GOP is actually better for African Americans. Affirmative Action is based on the insulting premise that blacks could not get ahead without help, they say. Get rid of it, and millions of African Americans can experience the joy of achievement by their own efforts!
So the idea that the GOP is better for LGBT isn't that much of a stretch. I'm not homophobic; I just don't think unenlightened people should have to act against their religious beliefs by making a cake for a gay wedding!
Thank you, Charles, for calling them on their chop logic.
"But this too shall fail."
Don't count on it. The GOP is full of members who are frighteningly good at painting the white roses red to protect their self image.
Why do so many right-wingers gabble endlessly about their awesome relationship with god? Because they want to believe that they are really Good People in spite of their vicious talk about poor people (takers, lazy, irresponsible) and support for cutting all benefits.
They also reject the label "racist," insisting that the GOP is actually better for African Americans. Affirmative Action is based on the insulting premise that blacks could not get ahead without help, they say. Get rid of it, and millions of African Americans can experience the joy of achievement by their own efforts!
So the idea that the GOP is better for LGBT isn't that much of a stretch. I'm not homophobic; I just don't think unenlightened people should have to act against their religious beliefs by making a cake for a gay wedding!
Thank you, Charles, for calling them on their chop logic.
13
The faith based community needs to get it through its solid bone skull that no legislature in the US is empowered to give respect to any faith based belief.
1
'Donald Trump said “L.G.B.T is starting to like Donald Trump very much lately, I will tell you, starting to like Donald Trump very, very much lately.” ....
“So you tell me who’s better for the gay community and who’s better for women than Donald Trump?”'
What is WRONG with that man (other than pathological narcissism and and delusions of grandeur)?!! Who else ever refers to him or herself in the third person by name?
“So you tell me who’s better for the gay community and who’s better for women than Donald Trump?”'
What is WRONG with that man (other than pathological narcissism and and delusions of grandeur)?!! Who else ever refers to him or herself in the third person by name?
95
Who else refers to themselves in the third person? Royalty. We have rather lot of that here.
1
Well, Nixon actually, as in "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." Nice company.
2
Who else ever refers to him or herself in the third person by name? Bernie Sanders. He does it, too. Why do they do this? It makes both of them look foolish. I sure wish I could have my Sanders' contribution back. He needs to get OUT NOW and fully endorse and work for Clinton. And he needs to stop referring to himself in the third person. One can expect it from Trump, the Narcissist, but Sanders? Maybe Sanders likes his rallies too much, just like Trump.
2
Wasn't Trump's second father Roy Cohn a deeply closeted gay man? What could he have learned from Commie inquisitor's black list right hand man to McCarthy but how to exploit fear?
53
Well ... Trump also learned that if you make a statement loud and clear, and repeat it endlessly, people will start to believe you; and that facts are a nuisance and it's much better to make up stuff that suits your immediate needs.
2
Charles, if Trump wants to demonstrate his support for gay Americans, he can pledge to name only centrist judges who would not overturn any of the cases that established L.G.B.T. rights to the Supreme and Federal Courts - and demand that Senate Republicans confirm Judge Garland before the end of President Obama's final term.
67
Uh....no. Trump is too smart not to know that his supporters wish to overturn Obergefell and Windsor.
1
Maybe they are doing us a favor. Garland is pretty much a centrist. SC could use a more liberal justice to overturn a lot of the poor decisions made under its roof the last 8 years. Hopefully, Hillary will 1) get elected and 2) find her liberal way out of the centrist box Bill has put her in.
1
"No amount of the exploitation of fear and the revising of history is going to change what we know about the Republican Party and their continued abysmal record on gay rights."
Amen, Charles. Actions, not words, are the ultimate convincer. When you think about it, on any topic. With Trump claiming to be "greater" for any number of subgroups, it's ludicrous to think that's even remotely possible. But since Trump is running as a king, not a President, he's having trouble understanding--or even caring--that he won't be able to deliver all his grandiose promises.
The GOP response to Orlando was telling--Rick Scott to my knowledge never acknowledged that many, if not most, of the 49 slaughtered were from the LGBT community.
LGBT is a wedge issue that the GOP and its "religious" adherents use to drive up votes. To use Christianity and first amendment rights to deny federal liberties to LGBT citizens will never go unnoticed by those they would seek to punish from full participation in a free society.
Funny, I wonder how the Log Cabin Republicans feel about all this? One hasn't heard much during this campaign about Trump, and his laughable claims about who he "loves" and "will protect.
Perhaps they're smarter than the rest of this hapless political party.
Amen, Charles. Actions, not words, are the ultimate convincer. When you think about it, on any topic. With Trump claiming to be "greater" for any number of subgroups, it's ludicrous to think that's even remotely possible. But since Trump is running as a king, not a President, he's having trouble understanding--or even caring--that he won't be able to deliver all his grandiose promises.
The GOP response to Orlando was telling--Rick Scott to my knowledge never acknowledged that many, if not most, of the 49 slaughtered were from the LGBT community.
LGBT is a wedge issue that the GOP and its "religious" adherents use to drive up votes. To use Christianity and first amendment rights to deny federal liberties to LGBT citizens will never go unnoticed by those they would seek to punish from full participation in a free society.
Funny, I wonder how the Log Cabin Republicans feel about all this? One hasn't heard much during this campaign about Trump, and his laughable claims about who he "loves" and "will protect.
Perhaps they're smarter than the rest of this hapless political party.
57
Trump wants to be a king? That's a laugh -- Hillary is the ULTIMATE Empress-wannabe.
3
Log Cabin Republicanism is a variation of Stockholm syndrome, a form of traumatic bonding, where the abused and tortured express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their abusers and suppressors.
Homosexuals for Homophobes is obviously irrational in light of the real danger and risk endured by homosexuals in real life, but then again, tens of millions of heterosexual poor and middle class whites vote blindly for Grand Old Poverty and Greed Over People every chance they get, so the broader Republican voter base also suffers from Stockholm Syndrome as well.
Both Stockholm syndrome victims and GOP voters have "strong emotional ties that develop between where the abuser (the Republican party) intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the victim."
Traumatic bonding is the Republican voter's response to trauma in becoming a real-life victim of Republican political nihilism.
Identifying with the Republican aggressor is the way that the damaged, traumatized ego of the Republican voter defends itself.
When the Republican voter victim believes the same values as their 0.1% GOP aggressor and the 0.1% GOP manipulators - the Republican Party itself - ceases to be perceived as a threat.
That's why tens of millions of Republican voters - and Log Cabin Republicans - vote for frozen minimum wages, against decent health care, against gun control, against environmental regulation - and for legalized homophobia.
Ya gotta' support your abusers.
Homosexuals for Homophobes is obviously irrational in light of the real danger and risk endured by homosexuals in real life, but then again, tens of millions of heterosexual poor and middle class whites vote blindly for Grand Old Poverty and Greed Over People every chance they get, so the broader Republican voter base also suffers from Stockholm Syndrome as well.
Both Stockholm syndrome victims and GOP voters have "strong emotional ties that develop between where the abuser (the Republican party) intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the victim."
Traumatic bonding is the Republican voter's response to trauma in becoming a real-life victim of Republican political nihilism.
Identifying with the Republican aggressor is the way that the damaged, traumatized ego of the Republican voter defends itself.
When the Republican voter victim believes the same values as their 0.1% GOP aggressor and the 0.1% GOP manipulators - the Republican Party itself - ceases to be perceived as a threat.
That's why tens of millions of Republican voters - and Log Cabin Republicans - vote for frozen minimum wages, against decent health care, against gun control, against environmental regulation - and for legalized homophobia.
Ya gotta' support your abusers.
252
Soc: Working class Tories.
1
Socrares, NYT should replace M. Dowd with you. You have been consistantly intelligent and well spoken. Thank you for speaking for many of us.
4
It's just plain sick.
2
If anyone believes a word of Donald's claim that “L.G.B.T is starting to like Donald Trump very much lately, I will tell you, starting to like Donald Trump very, very much lately,” there's a bankrupt casino I'd like to sell you. I'd like to sell you that casino very very very much.
71
Yeah. You really should buy it from Donald Trump. It's YUUGE!
1
There are as many LGBT republicans as there are democrats. The difference is that the republican coalition includes religious zealots many of whom have the same opinion of the LGBT community as radical islamists. I feel like "Captain Obvious" writing this, because I think the vast majority of voters already know it.
11
Yes, there are dumb gays too, just look at john thiel.
2
Not obvious that there are equal numbers of Repubs & Dems, ummmmm....no, where'd ya pull that from?
3
I agree there are plenty of conservative and republican LGBTs.
However, the "religious zealotry" of (say) Christians or Catholics or other groups is nothing compared to Islamic terrorism. You don't see Westboro Baptist Church cutting off the heads of journalists, or murdering people in a nightclub. There is a wide gulf between "disapproval' and murder.
However, the "religious zealotry" of (say) Christians or Catholics or other groups is nothing compared to Islamic terrorism. You don't see Westboro Baptist Church cutting off the heads of journalists, or murdering people in a nightclub. There is a wide gulf between "disapproval' and murder.
2
Donald Trump has never been antagonistic to LGBT people. In fact, he's been quite accomodating. Isn't this what Blow wants - a GOP candidate that is sensitive to their issues? What's ironic is that the Democratic candidate for President, Hillary Clinton, has taken tens of millions of dollars from countries that execute gay people. As the old saying goes, "follow the money".
6
Ray: accommodating? When did people need to be accommodated?
3
Well, we know that a Saudi prince bailed out Trump on one of his multiple bankruptcies. He and you aren't kidding anyone with that utter fallacy.
How about that Trump golf course he is building in Abu Dhabi...you know, one of them Muslim countries.
How about that Trump golf course he is building in Abu Dhabi...you know, one of them Muslim countries.
3
Because traditionally Republican have never taken money from despots and have always been inclusive and helpful to the LGBTQ community.
Yea, sure, get real, get informed.
Yea, sure, get real, get informed.
4
The logic among Republicans is: I will support LGBT rights only as a spear against Clinton. I. they say, really don't believe in gay rights, but I can use that idea as a weapon against Clinton because I hate her more than I hate LGBT. By the same logic, America can only become great again if Trump becomes President, because its greatness depends upon his confirmation. Without Trump, America cannot become great because he lost. His very losing proves America's weakness.
7
RE: "He mentioned that the Clinton Foundation had taken money from countries where 'they kill gays,'".
Do Republican's really believe that Clinton and the Democrats will suddenly start seeking Sharia law punishment for people who are homosexual or transgendered? Or suddenly require women to wear burkas or stop driving? Or start stoning women for sexual transgressions as they do in the Middle East?
Or is that simply a cynical assertion to pander while accusing Clinton of saying what people want to hear? And in this case of the Republicans, made by the same people who were quoting the Bible to justify their treatment of LGBT people in things from personal health and safety to rights of being and person-hood?
If the tables were turned and Trump's foundation had accepted money from the Saudi's wouldn't he being saying "Look how smart I am, I took their money so now they have less of it, while I have more of it! How stupid are they?"
And I am still not sure if one is worse than other, accepting money from big donors or simply being the big donor yourself. On that Trump has simply cut out the middle man where he has proved that the only person he is beholding to is himself, certainly not the American people, and his followers see that as a good thing.
Do Republican's really believe that Clinton and the Democrats will suddenly start seeking Sharia law punishment for people who are homosexual or transgendered? Or suddenly require women to wear burkas or stop driving? Or start stoning women for sexual transgressions as they do in the Middle East?
Or is that simply a cynical assertion to pander while accusing Clinton of saying what people want to hear? And in this case of the Republicans, made by the same people who were quoting the Bible to justify their treatment of LGBT people in things from personal health and safety to rights of being and person-hood?
If the tables were turned and Trump's foundation had accepted money from the Saudi's wouldn't he being saying "Look how smart I am, I took their money so now they have less of it, while I have more of it! How stupid are they?"
And I am still not sure if one is worse than other, accepting money from big donors or simply being the big donor yourself. On that Trump has simply cut out the middle man where he has proved that the only person he is beholding to is himself, certainly not the American people, and his followers see that as a good thing.
7
Trump is a phony, a braggart, a liar, a cheat, a bully. The worst is that he knows nothing except how to exploit human nature.
48
Trump is exploiting fear, insecurity and ignorance!
Exploitation of these conditions have helped propel a long list of Republicans into the White House!
Exploitation of these conditions have helped propel a long list of Republicans into the White House!
2
Overall, I think LGBT citizens tend to stay better informed regarding politics. Obviously this is a generalization but I have found it to be largely true. We have had to be - our lives and liberty have been front and center in the political arena for most of my now rather long life. It has made us both cynical and practical. We have gained our civil rights incrementally - in one doable objective after another. We have seen how few politicians of either camp are motivated by any genuine concern for our welfare but rather by how we can be positioned on the chess board of politics. A shallow conman like Trump does not fool us. We are intelligent and informed enough to examine which party and which candidate has done us the most good, regardless of the genuineness of motivation, and that would be the Democrats by a wide margin. As for Trump's absurd claim that we are flocking to him - HA! Just check #askthegays. The results are hilarious. The Donald lives in a self-constructed bubble of fantasy in this as in so many other regards.
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You are an NYT pick with quite a few recommendations so it must be me. Generalizations do nothing except what you point out. They allow us to agree with our assumptions and biases. I am not denying your life experience and the assumptions you have drawn from it, but I could make many of the same points from my life as a woman. Your chess board analogy is correct for both parties. And, while I understand that the Republican party has vocal anti-gay elements, I also remember that Ted Olson worked along with David Boies to advance the rights of gays to marry. And that both Obama and the Clintons had to be brought along on that issue. Remember that Joe got out ahead of his skis?The current Congress certainly has too many Republican foot draggers. Voters can and should change that. We, as American voters, not interest group members, should vote for individuals, regardless of party, who commit to advance the civil rights of all of us.
3
Well Magpie - - laying eggs in other's nests - - as a woman you should have noticed that the right of women to control their own bodies has not been promoted by the GOP. Of course, Abrahamic religions in general are patriarchal and assign women lower status (no women priests in the Roman Catholic or Orthodox churches - just one example) and oppose a woman's right to choose. Many women still support them even on these points. Therefore, they have no problem with the GOP. They likewise have no problem with the anti-gay positions put forward by these entities. I have looked for gay-supportive GOP candidates for fifty years. I have found NONE. How many can you name?
2
Trump lives in an alternate universe. Unfortunately, he is visible and audible in this one. The Republican Party is an alternate universe where lie is truth, fact is fiction. Fact is what they say it is and nothing more. Truth, or what passes for it in Republicana, can be conceptualized as the image a funhouse mirror reflects of the object before it. It beggars the imagination. Republicana is the world of Lewis Carroll's Alice become a physical entity.
30
For those readers in New Jersey, Rep Chris Smith in District 4 (R) actually said that Gay Rights are not Human Rights. And Rep Scott Garrett, District 5 (R) in Bergen county, wouldn't pay his dues to the RNC because they help Gay Republican candidates. You don't have to go to Alabama to find bigotry. Both are up for election this November. Get to the polls.
200
I w.ould add that Chris Smith is as virulently misogynist and patriarchal as is he homophobic, and he has the record to prove both of these. You are so right
2
The information given by reader123 is exactly what's needed! Who are the politicians who are homophobic? Who are the elected officials up for re-election that are in the pocket of the NRA? Get their names out there, then vote them OUT!
1
Good information, reader123, and just what we need to do - get the word out at local levels and send the haters back where they came from.
2
At about 5% of the population, excluding those who are in same sex relationships or inclined to them but do not identify as gay, that would be more than twice the fraction of the population that is Jewish. Civil rights don't hinge on reaching a certain percentage of the population.
9
Gay people are not 5% of the population -- not even close.
I remember when Gavin Newsom (then mayor of SF) said that gays were 15% of the population. Well, that is not true, not even in gay-friendly San Francisco!
The most generous estimates are about 2.5-3%. This is based on studies that consistently show gay & lesbians are 1.5% of the population, then adds 1-1.5% extra for those who are in the closet. Though how many are in the closet TODAY, when it is ultra fashionable to be gay or transgender?
On the other hand, Jews are about 1.6% of the US population. So no -- we have close to zero influence on any election, and so much for the idea that Jews can tilt support for Israel.
I remember when Gavin Newsom (then mayor of SF) said that gays were 15% of the population. Well, that is not true, not even in gay-friendly San Francisco!
The most generous estimates are about 2.5-3%. This is based on studies that consistently show gay & lesbians are 1.5% of the population, then adds 1-1.5% extra for those who are in the closet. Though how many are in the closet TODAY, when it is ultra fashionable to be gay or transgender?
On the other hand, Jews are about 1.6% of the US population. So no -- we have close to zero influence on any election, and so much for the idea that Jews can tilt support for Israel.
1
Re "literature linking homosexuality and atheism."
Goodness me, how could all those terrible gays find the least fault with organized religion?
Goodness me, how could all those terrible gays find the least fault with organized religion?
42
I'm pretty sure we simply need to butt out of people's bedrooms and a simple solution could be a single bathroom with no "w" or "m". I don't think any women care that much as we all have stalls. But I don't see how men would be threatened by a woman who transitioned to a man.
They have no problem showering together in locker rooms or using urinals at stadiums. It sounds rather paranoid. I can't imagine the pain that my friends have been through trying to love who they want to love and feeling different. I personally didn't care if they were gay. I am secure in my heterosexuality and am not threatened in the slightest bit or thought my female friends were lusting after every woman just as I do not list after every man I meet.
The reality is that if that were the case, we would get absolutely nothing done. That's what we need to throw in people's ridiculous arguments.
They have no problem showering together in locker rooms or using urinals at stadiums. It sounds rather paranoid. I can't imagine the pain that my friends have been through trying to love who they want to love and feeling different. I personally didn't care if they were gay. I am secure in my heterosexuality and am not threatened in the slightest bit or thought my female friends were lusting after every woman just as I do not list after every man I meet.
The reality is that if that were the case, we would get absolutely nothing done. That's what we need to throw in people's ridiculous arguments.
16
Have you ever used a unisex bathroom??? Men pee on the floor!! Even my husband is nauseated and disgusted by the appalling condition of most public men's rooms. They also don't put the seat down. Do you really want to go into a public restroom and have to handle the toilet seat before you relieve yourself? I have no problem with transgendered using the restroom facilities that they feel most comfortable with. I do have problem with unisex bathrooms though. Not to mention the fact that women's rooms have far more stalls to accommodate users than men's rooms which have urinal troughs. Do we want even longer waits to use the ladies' room? Men are notoriously known to not wash their hands. My husband has first hand knowledge of this. Do you really want to handle a urine coated doorknob after washing your hands? Will sinks be placed outside of the restroom to overcome this public health menace? This isn't a question of equality it's a question of hygiene. And I for one want my public restroom to have as little urine on the floor as humanly possible!
2
I guess it would solve YOUR politically correct, wishy washy lefty liberalism to make ME use a unisex bathroom -- but you'd be changing things for the 99.7% of us who are NOT transgender -- including all gay men and lesbian women, who are entirely secure in their gender.
Nobody, not even the most conservative, have ever asked gay people to use separate bathrooms or give up their privacy.
I know the left wants unisex bathrooms. They have for a long time, and now they feel they can force the issue due to "transgender rights".
Nobody, not even the most conservative, have ever asked gay people to use separate bathrooms or give up their privacy.
I know the left wants unisex bathrooms. They have for a long time, and now they feel they can force the issue due to "transgender rights".
2
For once Mr. Blow is saying something I agree with, and think he could go further. These are the same Republicans who denounced Trump's racist, xenophobic comments within a breath of support for him as their candidate. They are by every definition, corrupt, immoral, lacking decency. I highly doubt anyone, particularly a person who is part of a minority group (aside from those with serious self image issues) will be voting for Trump. I predict a landslide unseen in U.S. History. But, in the meantime, it makes for trashy but profitable press $$ to track and report Trump's every move. The Republicans need to figure out who they are. They've simply decided to be opposed to everything and for nothing. Case in point, infrastructure. The country is falling apart. The President wants t put people to work, they've killed every measure every time. Shame. Quit being manipulated with fear. Wake up working class white men. Read what is really going on.
30
This article dove-tails with Paul Krugman's article. Republicans are an organization of politicians looking for voters, rather than a coalition of voters looking for politicians. So of course, it is only natural that Republican politicians reach out to segments of the population that can be wedged away from the Democrats. This is true even though the different segments they are trying to appeal to are in total disagreement with each other.
17
Half (or more) of those people that vote Republican have consistently voted against their financial situation. And it's not about to change. Personally, I don't get it. They value their guns more than they value health care (which they need to patch up their gun shot wounds); they value their guns more than food and most of those guns do not supply a lot of food. They value their social values more than they value their neighbors. Crazy world.
23
@esp: we are near the end of the Obama Administration - nearly 8 years.
My economic security has never been worse. I am earning no more money than 8 years ago. My house has never recouped its 2006 value. My savings accounts were earning 2.5% 8 years ago -- today, they are earning 0.1% (that is not a typo). I am nearing retirement, so that is a DISASTER. Yet Obama does nothing.
My health insurance has gone up over 60% in the past 5 years since Obamacare made things exponentially worse. Now my employer-based health insurance has been DISCONTINUED -- because of the increasingly high costs. Hello! where is that $2500 per year check Obama promised me!!! Hello? Hello?
So please do not try to feed me the bunk that "I am voting against my financial situation". Democrats have NEVER helped my financial situation.
My economic security has never been worse. I am earning no more money than 8 years ago. My house has never recouped its 2006 value. My savings accounts were earning 2.5% 8 years ago -- today, they are earning 0.1% (that is not a typo). I am nearing retirement, so that is a DISASTER. Yet Obama does nothing.
My health insurance has gone up over 60% in the past 5 years since Obamacare made things exponentially worse. Now my employer-based health insurance has been DISCONTINUED -- because of the increasingly high costs. Hello! where is that $2500 per year check Obama promised me!!! Hello? Hello?
So please do not try to feed me the bunk that "I am voting against my financial situation". Democrats have NEVER helped my financial situation.
2
Concerned citizen: You must be one of the 1%. Obama was NOT responsible for the crash. It was on W. Bush's watch. Obama did the best he could to fix it. He saved the auto industry. I am retired. My medicare payments have NOT gone up (Universal insurance for all). My house has not recouped its value and continues to lose value. That is also NOT Obama's fault. It all goes back to Bush, and even further back to Reagan and is voodoo trickle down economics.
The economic decline was one of the reasons Obama beat McCann. And the recovery is also one of the reasons he beat Mitt.
The economic decline was one of the reasons Obama beat McCann. And the recovery is also one of the reasons he beat Mitt.
1
Republicans ahve passed or introduced legislation to take away the rights of the LBGTQ communities, and also of women in all the states they control, and in the US Congress. This is no secret and should be shouted from the rooftops.
23
How how dumb does Trump think we LGBT Americans are? As dumb as the working class whites who actually believe Trump us going to turn back time and make America great again for blue collar white men working in unionized factories that no longer exist while the ladies stay home and mind the kids? The only diversity and freedom Republicans celebrate is the freedom to discriminate in countlessly diverse ways. Does Trump think we don't remember how the Grand Old Patriarchs terrified its base by claiming our morally legitimate desire to marry would destroy the institution of matrimony? Does this con man imagine we don't recollect Republican malign indifference to the spread of AIDS in our community? Does he believe we haven't noticed that the "men of God" who fulminate against our very existence all support the Republican Party? The only gay men I have ever known who vote Republican are the 2 or 3% who hate taxes more than they love their own civil rights. Trump is more than welcome to have them.
79
Corporate "democrats" share some of the blame for the disappearance of family-wage union jobs. Obama goes to Sweatshop NIke in Oregon to praise Phil Knight who exported a million jobs to slave labor conditions in Indonesia and Vietnam (60+ hour weeks for $10), buys the shoes for $10 and sells them to kids in Baltimore for $300. Makes a personal $22 Billion for destroying 1 million jobs, and Obama salutes him. Hillary had a union-busting PR guy as chief of staff in 2008.
8
Obama did the same with Steve Jobs. He had the chance to call on the dying Jobs, to bring back Apple manufacturing to the US....and he didn't even give a shot.
Democrats turned their backs on the working classes 50 years ago and never looked back. They are the party of corporatists today.
Democrats turned their backs on the working classes 50 years ago and never looked back. They are the party of corporatists today.
2
Trump is trying to have his cake and eat it too.
For so long, the GOP has attempted (and often succeeded) at appealing to their core constituency of white, Christian, heterosexual males by legislating bigotry against various groups who are not white, Christian, heterosexual males -- disapproving of gay marriage (LGBT), de-funding Planned Parenthood (women), requiring pre-abortion trans-vaginal ultrasounds (again, women), de-funding public schools (children), and reducing funds for the social safety net (poor people). But changing demographics make it difficult, if not impossible, to alienate all these groups and still win an election. There aren't enough white, Christian, heterosexual males left.
Romney's 47% remark in 2012 proved fatal to his campaign not only, I believe, because of its content, but also because of his presumptuous miscalculation that the remaining 53% were "his" demographic. As history proved, there were not enough white, Christian, heterosexual males left in his infamous 53% to give him the necessary majority.
Trump, despite being a naturally incurious overstuffed laundry bag full of psychological broken parts, seems to know this (perhaps because it's a self-serving thing to know). So while one side of his mouth courts the GOP base with vile anti-Mexican, anti-Muslim, anti-female rants, the other side attempts to cobble together the additional votes needed for a majority by claiming to be a friend of "the blacks," "the gays," "the Hispanics"...
For so long, the GOP has attempted (and often succeeded) at appealing to their core constituency of white, Christian, heterosexual males by legislating bigotry against various groups who are not white, Christian, heterosexual males -- disapproving of gay marriage (LGBT), de-funding Planned Parenthood (women), requiring pre-abortion trans-vaginal ultrasounds (again, women), de-funding public schools (children), and reducing funds for the social safety net (poor people). But changing demographics make it difficult, if not impossible, to alienate all these groups and still win an election. There aren't enough white, Christian, heterosexual males left.
Romney's 47% remark in 2012 proved fatal to his campaign not only, I believe, because of its content, but also because of his presumptuous miscalculation that the remaining 53% were "his" demographic. As history proved, there were not enough white, Christian, heterosexual males left in his infamous 53% to give him the necessary majority.
Trump, despite being a naturally incurious overstuffed laundry bag full of psychological broken parts, seems to know this (perhaps because it's a self-serving thing to know). So while one side of his mouth courts the GOP base with vile anti-Mexican, anti-Muslim, anti-female rants, the other side attempts to cobble together the additional votes needed for a majority by claiming to be a friend of "the blacks," "the gays," "the Hispanics"...
13
Romney lost because he was a Mormon -- a group hated equally by the left and the right. The right does not consider Mormons to be Christians. The Evangelicals did not support Romney, and stayed home.
I am sure you will be blitherlingly happy in your brave new world of gay Muslim transgender terrorists.
I am sure you will be blitherlingly happy in your brave new world of gay Muslim transgender terrorists.
2
According to reports from sources other than the New York Times - yes, there are other media outlets besides the NYT! - the Clinton campaign has received tens of millions dollars fro Middle East countries, namely Saudi Arabi, which outlaw LGBT communities and behead gay people. Based then on who the main financers of the Clinton campaign, whi can Hillary Clinton say she is for the LBGT community? In that sense, Trump is a more reliable candidate for the LGBT community.
10
Funny how the cozy relationship the Bush clan has with the Saudi"s is never mentioned by you guys as an issue.
27
Sources please??? It is illegal to accept any foreign monies as campaign contributions unless the donor is an American citizen. You don't just get to write it here, you have to back it up with verifiable proof. the readers of the NY Time are a far superior class than the readers of AOL news, Fox news and other such fact free garbage. Facts matter here.
3
Conflicts with the narrative.
1
Mr. Blow is lumping the GOP and every different element it represents with Donald Trump, who clearly does not represent every one of these elements. Donald Trump, in his very odd and crude way, is trying to be inclusive (except if you are an illegal immigrant, or, possibly, a Muslim). The extreme right of the Republicans have courted the Bible thumpers who are generally anti gay and gay rights. Hopefully Trump will run roughshod over that segment of the Republicans and steer the party more towards the middle, which will in fact align it with the mainstream. While his crudity and bizarre spontaneous way of speaking is scary, he is not personally promoting an anti LGBT (plus what ever other letters people add on) platform.
6
Any pivot to the middle will be seen by his supporters as a betrayal. They like him as he is because he refuses to shift or compromise. That is the very core of his appeal. He will be seen as merely another politician like Jeb and Marco, who will say anything to win. They would rather have him lose as he is, then change.
3
Thanks to the GOP words and their meaning have gotten a divorce.
22
Nicely phrased. While, however, they tell everyone they are still married because divorce is not permitted by their faith.
8
When Don Lemon of CNN asked Trump about whether he was antigay, Trump responded by saying, "I love everybody, the evangelicals..."
It would have been useful for Lemon to point out that he mentioned an antigay group in his response about "love".
Trump is using the old "divide and conquer" mode, and he is dangerous.
Religion, plus Trump, will create a hell-on-earth.
It would have been useful for Lemon to point out that he mentioned an antigay group in his response about "love".
Trump is using the old "divide and conquer" mode, and he is dangerous.
Religion, plus Trump, will create a hell-on-earth.
21
Trump certainly isn't the only divide and conquer pol. The D's thrive on it too. Our self interests often blind us to seeing the whole picture.
2
"He mentioned that the Clinton Foundation had taken money from countries where 'they kill gays'"
Donald Trump has also taken money from a country where they kill gays: The United States.
In case he has forgotten, Omar Mateen was an American.
Donald Trump has also taken money from a country where they kill gays: The United States.
In case he has forgotten, Omar Mateen was an American.
35
This is the sort of unthinking and illogical false equivalence that makes it increasingly difficult to take the left seriously. There is a huge difference between a country where the government legally executes citizens for being gay, and a country where an individual citizen illegally murders gay people.
1
Need more proof of GOP homophobia?
Look at two of Trump's biggest supporters in upstate New York: Carl Paladino and Chris Collins.
Collins is against gay marriage, and Paladino has a record of anti-gay remarks.
Paladino said in 2010: “I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option — it isn’t.”
Look at two of Trump's biggest supporters in upstate New York: Carl Paladino and Chris Collins.
Collins is against gay marriage, and Paladino has a record of anti-gay remarks.
Paladino said in 2010: “I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option — it isn’t.”
21
According to Paladino. my gay family consisting of self - college professor, husband - staff member of an Episcopal Cathedral, and the boys, now young men, we helped raise from their teen years - our "sons" - one with two MA degrees, now a highly paid clinical therapist and university professor, another a medical doctor, another a social worker in a specialized position for a major hospital, another a world record holder and published author, another, if you are a New York fashionista you've attend shows he has organized for important designers during Fashion Week, another a clinical massage therapist and astounding poet - I guess we are dismal failures. Oh well. Guess I need to re-evaluate.....NOT. Paladino is an idiot.
3
Indeed, the G.O.P.'s cynical gay ploy, ironically, amounts to political transvestitism.
I can't decide if that means Republicans are in or out of the closet.
But maybe "a wolf in sheep's clothing" was one of the earliest cross-dressing metaphors.
I can't decide if that means Republicans are in or out of the closet.
But maybe "a wolf in sheep's clothing" was one of the earliest cross-dressing metaphors.
11
The gay population is a fraction of the U.S. population.
3
All those fractions add up to an America.
Each "fraction" are American citizens.
And the gay community is very organized. Orlando has woken up queer millennials who thought they were safe in this country. Queer people will keep up the fight. It will be gay people who may get us closer to sensible gun laws than anyone else.
Each "fraction" are American citizens.
And the gay community is very organized. Orlando has woken up queer millennials who thought they were safe in this country. Queer people will keep up the fight. It will be gay people who may get us closer to sensible gun laws than anyone else.
17
And this statement of the blindingly obvious is supposed to prove....what? Any category of citizens you care to name is "a fraction of the U.S. population."
11
And?
9
That statement by Mo Brooks is reprehensible and reckless. Sickening.
9
I agree that politicians use identity labels to manipulate voters, but I very much disagree that it somehow magically appears only when it has a Republican label.
In Trump's case, whether or not one hates him, I do believe his support of gays is genuine to his own values; he has been a long time supporters of gays & in fact by speaking out bluntly like this he risks more rifts with his own party, which is turning against him both for being unstable & for being "too liberal" in social values.
What I myself don't believe is identity politics for myself. I'm independent. I don't believe one party has an automatic corner on gay rights simply because they belong to a party. What the Democrat party is doing very successfully - brazenly - that Mr Blow leaves unaddressed is to manipulate voters by breaking them down into individual identities - gay, brown, Latino, women, African American - and then arguing that a) that is the most important thing about them & b) the only way they can keep the identity is to vote for the Democrats, otherwise they are traitors to their identity or don't even have the identity. This is how it is feminist to vote for Clinton but not for Fiorina; racist to attack Obama but not to attack Carson--under the Democrat ideology, once you go to the Republican party, you lose your identity. They successfully argue that the *only* way you keep your identity is through party allegiance to them.
Now *that's* a cynical ploy.
In Trump's case, whether or not one hates him, I do believe his support of gays is genuine to his own values; he has been a long time supporters of gays & in fact by speaking out bluntly like this he risks more rifts with his own party, which is turning against him both for being unstable & for being "too liberal" in social values.
What I myself don't believe is identity politics for myself. I'm independent. I don't believe one party has an automatic corner on gay rights simply because they belong to a party. What the Democrat party is doing very successfully - brazenly - that Mr Blow leaves unaddressed is to manipulate voters by breaking them down into individual identities - gay, brown, Latino, women, African American - and then arguing that a) that is the most important thing about them & b) the only way they can keep the identity is to vote for the Democrats, otherwise they are traitors to their identity or don't even have the identity. This is how it is feminist to vote for Clinton but not for Fiorina; racist to attack Obama but not to attack Carson--under the Democrat ideology, once you go to the Republican party, you lose your identity. They successfully argue that the *only* way you keep your identity is through party allegiance to them.
Now *that's* a cynical ploy.
5
The big problem with your analogies is that we didn't "attack" Carson because he is African-American, we attack him because his policies are dangerous and his paranoia and delusions of grandeur were appalling. His protection of the second amendment was despicable. To quote " ‘I Never Saw a Body with Bullet Holes That Was More Devastating’ Than Taking Away 2nd Amendment Rights."
His stupidity-"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain.."
His bigotry- "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,"
His appalling ignorance-"A lot of people who go into prison straight and when they come out, they’re gay, so did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question," he told Chris Cuomo.
His blatant hyperbole-"Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery."
More of his appalling bigotry-“Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn't matter what they are, they don't get to change the definition."
He is not scorned because he is black. he is scorned because he is DANGEROUS!
Carly Fiorina is DANGEROUS. Trump is DANGEROUS. If I don't vote for Trump am I anti-male? Is my husband? Or can we just recognize despicable demagogues whose ideologies are reprehensible?
His stupidity-"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain.."
His bigotry- "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,"
His appalling ignorance-"A lot of people who go into prison straight and when they come out, they’re gay, so did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question," he told Chris Cuomo.
His blatant hyperbole-"Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery."
More of his appalling bigotry-“Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn't matter what they are, they don't get to change the definition."
He is not scorned because he is black. he is scorned because he is DANGEROUS!
Carly Fiorina is DANGEROUS. Trump is DANGEROUS. If I don't vote for Trump am I anti-male? Is my husband? Or can we just recognize despicable demagogues whose ideologies are reprehensible?
25
"....Republicans like Karl Rove have used anti-gay marriage amendments in crucial states to help draw homophobes to the polls and benefit Republicans."
With this strategy the Republicans swept state governorships and houses. The Republicans' payback to homophobic funders and voters is the agendas at state levels focused on the continuing discrimination of the LGBTQ community (and women) with legislation of hate and fear. The only message that will help the Republicans to understand that this politics of division, scapegoating and hatred is unacceptable is complete and total loss at all levels in 2016. Not one Republican should be left standing. Trump didn't start the politics of division Ronald Reagan did. Trump is just using Reagan's playbook.
With this strategy the Republicans swept state governorships and houses. The Republicans' payback to homophobic funders and voters is the agendas at state levels focused on the continuing discrimination of the LGBTQ community (and women) with legislation of hate and fear. The only message that will help the Republicans to understand that this politics of division, scapegoating and hatred is unacceptable is complete and total loss at all levels in 2016. Not one Republican should be left standing. Trump didn't start the politics of division Ronald Reagan did. Trump is just using Reagan's playbook.
26
This is exactly what the GOP is doing in Washinton with a bill that would repeal protections for transgenders that have been in force for 10+ years.
6
Boy, I really don't think many LGBT citizens are in danger of being deceived by this shallow GOP double talk.
They follow the news. They know, thanks to Rachel Maddow, that in November 2015 three Republican candidates for the presidency -- Cruz, Jindal, Huckabee -- all shared the stage with and pandered to a crazed preacher, Kevin Swanson, who flung a bible over his head and called for the execution of all gays in America (he's willing to give them a little time to repent) and declared that if he had a homosexual child who wanted to marry, he would kneel outside the church and cover himself in sackcloth, ashes, and manure. This took place at a "religious freedom" convention.
And of course there was the day in September 2015 when Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz elbowed each other to be the first on stage with Kim Davis, the employee who refused to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. More "religious freedom."
You don't have to look hard or far to discover key Republicans stampeding to display themselves alongside homophobes.
They follow the news. They know, thanks to Rachel Maddow, that in November 2015 three Republican candidates for the presidency -- Cruz, Jindal, Huckabee -- all shared the stage with and pandered to a crazed preacher, Kevin Swanson, who flung a bible over his head and called for the execution of all gays in America (he's willing to give them a little time to repent) and declared that if he had a homosexual child who wanted to marry, he would kneel outside the church and cover himself in sackcloth, ashes, and manure. This took place at a "religious freedom" convention.
And of course there was the day in September 2015 when Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz elbowed each other to be the first on stage with Kim Davis, the employee who refused to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. More "religious freedom."
You don't have to look hard or far to discover key Republicans stampeding to display themselves alongside homophobes.
56
Neither Cruz nor Jindal nor Huckabee are running for POTUS anymore -- or are the nominee -- so who cares what they do? Donald Trump did not meet with Rev. Kevin Swanson.
Kim Davis is a courageous heroine, and I hope someone erects a statue of her -- a brave fighter for religious freedom.
BTW: Kim Davis is a registered Democrat.
Kim Davis is a courageous heroine, and I hope someone erects a statue of her -- a brave fighter for religious freedom.
BTW: Kim Davis is a registered Democrat.
1
If you define religious freedom by your right to discriminate, something is definitely wrong with your value system..
3
The Democratic Party is large, and like Walt Whitman, it contains multitudes. She's no real Democrat. And Trump, like his allies in the Republican Party, has promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who would revoke the rights of gay men and women to marry legally. It's really all pretty clear, you know. And I believe you do know it.
2
What a glorious time we live in! In 2004 Karl Rove pandered to the masses by raising the specter of gay marriage. In 2016 Trump panders by claiming how much those LGBTs love him. We've come a long way, baby.
13
At the gas station yesterday, I saw a man at the adjoining pump wearing a Trump t-shirt with a put Hillary in prison logo on the back.
The man was at least 70, with a voluminous gut overhanging the tucked-in shirt.
The man was at least 70, with a voluminous gut overhanging the tucked-in shirt.
16
It'd be interesting to know what year & make/model car/truck he was fueling.
2
Since he was overweight, Kevin, obviously his opinion does not matter.
I was at my in-laws for Father's Day. Lots of young nephews and nieces, all millennials. Many were wearing TRUMP 2016 t-shirts or caps, or had Trump bumper stickers on their cars. The front lawn of the house where the party was, had a TRUMP political sign on the lawn. So did many neighboring homes -- and this was an upscale, affluent exurb.
I could not find a single Hillary sign.
I was at my in-laws for Father's Day. Lots of young nephews and nieces, all millennials. Many were wearing TRUMP 2016 t-shirts or caps, or had Trump bumper stickers on their cars. The front lawn of the house where the party was, had a TRUMP political sign on the lawn. So did many neighboring homes -- and this was an upscale, affluent exurb.
I could not find a single Hillary sign.
2
CC: "I could not find a single Hillary sign." I guess you need to get out more and get some variety in your life - smothering yourself in Trump land will not do good things for you!
3
The error to paying too close an attention to naked identity politics in parsing which groups might support which candidate is that people aren’t that predictable in their ideological preferences – and they have interests that go beyond those the identity claims.
For instance, it’s an accepted fact that the trans community suffers staggering rates of poverty and violence (http://www.lgbtmap.org/news/understanding-transgender-issues-unfair-pric.... The establishments of BOTH parties have performed abysmally in terms of improving the economic lives of Americans, but Trump’s claim that he’ll make America more prosperous and the traditional claim of Republicans that they’re the party of law and order could well attract their share of even trans votes. Bet that this point will be made to the LGBT community by Republicans.
And I find it particularly objectionable that some would question Republican electoral tactics when Democrats are so manifestly the party of attracting votes by promising to give people “stuff” they haven’t earned, and that couches the giveaway as exercise of a “right” funded with other people’s money.
That last paragraph was revenge against a column that has succeeded in upping the ante in hatred this election season; but perhaps revenge is the wrong response, as this column has the cess of desperation about it that I certainly don’t sense in Trump’s approach to the electorate, LGBT or otherwise.
For instance, it’s an accepted fact that the trans community suffers staggering rates of poverty and violence (http://www.lgbtmap.org/news/understanding-transgender-issues-unfair-pric.... The establishments of BOTH parties have performed abysmally in terms of improving the economic lives of Americans, but Trump’s claim that he’ll make America more prosperous and the traditional claim of Republicans that they’re the party of law and order could well attract their share of even trans votes. Bet that this point will be made to the LGBT community by Republicans.
And I find it particularly objectionable that some would question Republican electoral tactics when Democrats are so manifestly the party of attracting votes by promising to give people “stuff” they haven’t earned, and that couches the giveaway as exercise of a “right” funded with other people’s money.
That last paragraph was revenge against a column that has succeeded in upping the ante in hatred this election season; but perhaps revenge is the wrong response, as this column has the cess of desperation about it that I certainly don’t sense in Trump’s approach to the electorate, LGBT or otherwise.
9
What "stuff", Richard?
34
The ones who support laws which make life difficult for the LGBTQ community are Republicans. Name one democrat in national politics in 2016 who supports the abridgment of rights for the LGBTQ community. I won't hold my breath
33
Say and think what you like, and avoid the obvious truth. The GOP is now and has forever been anti-gay.
33
Unfortunately for Trump, the LBGT community is not stupid.
106
There are plenty of gay Republicans. I happen to know a few. For example a couple who have adopted a child and live in So Cal.
They are deeply Christian. That's the only excuse I have for them. Otherwise they make no sense to me.
They are deeply Christian. That's the only excuse I have for them. Otherwise they make no sense to me.
8
Not plenty, minuscule. And they care more about their money then they do their civil rights
3
I'm waiting for Trump to tell us that "some of my best friends are Jewish," so that he can try to corner the Jewish vote. "My daughter even married a Jew and she became a Jewess. Jared...where's Jared? Here's my Jew! Jared, say 'Shalom' to everyone."
307
When Trump appeared before the AIPAC convention, he began by saying that he conveys greetings from his daughter, a seemingly random comment by quite obviously intended as a total pander. Not quite "some of my best friends are Jewish", but almost as ridiculous.
23
I am not a Trump voter, but why is it "ridiculous" for Trump to have accepted a Jewish son-in-law into his family, and his daughter's conversion to Judaism, and for him then to mention this at a large gathering of Jews to signal his warm acceptance of Jewish people? Do you understand that Trump's daughter is Jewish? You're the one perverting the situation by trying to paint it as fake and a political ploy - but for all of Trump's flaws, nobody questions whether his love and acceptance of his daughter and her husband is real.
5
I never said it was "ridiculous." You did, Scott; that was your word, not mine. Ridiculous is criticizing someone for a comment that he didn't make.
My implication, however, which wasn't subtle but which you apparently missed, was that Trump was pandering. It was, just as was his pointing out a supporter from a different minority group at a recent rally, and his repetitive telling, as just one example, of his belief that Mexicans love him and how many Hispanics he employs.
Pandering certainly doesn't make Trump unique as a politician, but his blunt crassness takes it to a new level, particularly when it follows his inflammatory and condescending rhetoric singling out exactly the same minority groups in a less than flattering way. Capice?
My implication, however, which wasn't subtle but which you apparently missed, was that Trump was pandering. It was, just as was his pointing out a supporter from a different minority group at a recent rally, and his repetitive telling, as just one example, of his belief that Mexicans love him and how many Hispanics he employs.
Pandering certainly doesn't make Trump unique as a politician, but his blunt crassness takes it to a new level, particularly when it follows his inflammatory and condescending rhetoric singling out exactly the same minority groups in a less than flattering way. Capice?
8
In the immediate aftermath of the Orlando tragedy, not Muslim Imans, but two Christian preachers were seen celebrating and cheering the horrific carnage of lost lives in Orlando, one smearing gays as pedophiles, both citing Bible references to assert their positions that the mass killing occurred because intra-gender sexual identity is against God's will. Instead, the local Orlando Muslim community was working with other faith and community groups to attend to the survivors (none of whom have condemned Islam or the Islamic community as the cause!) and to heal the city (which has embraced the help of Muslim groups without suspicion or fear).
Nationally, Muslim groups across the country have openly condemned the act of the killings, and have organized and participated in memorials, and are raising money for the families of the dead and the survivors.
It is shameful--no, disgraceful--that national Republican officials and conservative journalists distort the facts to use Islam and the carnage in Orlando as a political wedge. It is a moral attack on America's ideals of faith and democracy to say a group that also needs to heal (every tragedy brings a circle of victims) should itself be victimized by profiling, as the GOP Presidential candidate has purposed.
It is the GOP with the problem! That is: how to uphold the constitution and it cherished, fought for American ideals. Freedom cannot be protected by those who would destroy it.
Nationally, Muslim groups across the country have openly condemned the act of the killings, and have organized and participated in memorials, and are raising money for the families of the dead and the survivors.
It is shameful--no, disgraceful--that national Republican officials and conservative journalists distort the facts to use Islam and the carnage in Orlando as a political wedge. It is a moral attack on America's ideals of faith and democracy to say a group that also needs to heal (every tragedy brings a circle of victims) should itself be victimized by profiling, as the GOP Presidential candidate has purposed.
It is the GOP with the problem! That is: how to uphold the constitution and it cherished, fought for American ideals. Freedom cannot be protected by those who would destroy it.
920
Considering that two weeks before the Orlando massacre, an imam preached at an Orlando mosque that homosexuals should be killed, I'm not convinced by your rose-colored-glasses view of the religion.
7
You are deeply good
2
Take time to watch any of the Palestinian protests in support of the martyr Mateen? No? The Egyptian or Iranian ones then? There are more Muslims than simply the ones in this country. And it is absolutely hilarious to me that this comment is an effort to allay broad generalizations about Muslims, which you then accomplish by making broad generalizations about Christians. Hypocrisy thy taste is oh so sweet
2
Donald Trump is:
A. Trying to create the impression that he is liberal in many ways - even more so than his opponent Hillary and her fellow Democrats.
B. Convinced he is so personable, persuasive, and brilliant he can be loved by those in groups he or his fellow-traveling Republicans have trashed for years.
C. So nuts he believes his own stuff.
D. Laughing like hell every time he walks backstage after his appearances.
E. Any and all of the above.
A. Trying to create the impression that he is liberal in many ways - even more so than his opponent Hillary and her fellow Democrats.
B. Convinced he is so personable, persuasive, and brilliant he can be loved by those in groups he or his fellow-traveling Republicans have trashed for years.
C. So nuts he believes his own stuff.
D. Laughing like hell every time he walks backstage after his appearances.
E. Any and all of the above.
92
F. A used car salesman who is in over his head but will literally say or do anything to try to make the sale.
20
All of the above -- and he's still laughing. It's come to that.
2
More like the guy in a bar who'll say anything to get laid.
A used car salesman may actually sell a good vehicle.
A used car salesman may actually sell a good vehicle.
4
Mr. Trump has said that he (and by extension, his party the Repubs) will be the best person for LGBT folks, for African-Americans, for Mexicans and all Hispanic Americans, for Muslims, and for every group that he has insulted, denigrated and demagogued.
I guess he might fool some of the people some of the time, but then he sold worthless "diplomas" too.
Not worth a column.
I
I guess he might fool some of the people some of the time, but then he sold worthless "diplomas" too.
Not worth a column.
I
21
So he of the "fat pigs" and "look better on your knees" and "flat chested women can't be 10"s" guy is now the friend of women and gays?
Next he's going to spot a woman in the crowd and say - "there's my woman" or someone HE identifies as L or G or B or T or Q and says "there's my L.G.B.T.Q." to prove his statement.
Remember the old "Some of my best friends are black" statement to prove you were not racist?
The man is dangerous and delusional and gets more so every day.
And he is stupid. Do you hear him speak?
"L.G.B.T is [sic] starting to like Donald Trump very much lately. I will tell you, starting to like Donald Trump very, very, much lately.".
They say he is a Harvard grad? Harvard diplomas are really for sale aren't they?
Next he's going to spot a woman in the crowd and say - "there's my woman" or someone HE identifies as L or G or B or T or Q and says "there's my L.G.B.T.Q." to prove his statement.
Remember the old "Some of my best friends are black" statement to prove you were not racist?
The man is dangerous and delusional and gets more so every day.
And he is stupid. Do you hear him speak?
"L.G.B.T is [sic] starting to like Donald Trump very much lately. I will tell you, starting to like Donald Trump very, very, much lately.".
They say he is a Harvard grad? Harvard diplomas are really for sale aren't they?
121
Actually, it's another Ivy League institution, the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School of Business). But unfathomable nonetheless.
14
Beware anyone who speaks of himself in the third person. And also speaks Stupid fluently.
21
Yes they are; and that has been a problem for over a hundred years.
6
According to the participants and onlookers at the Pride Parade I attended this weekend, none of these cynical Republican ploys are working. Perhaps they should have targeted a more naive, less sophisticated minority group because they aint fooling anyone in the LGBT community. They are not only barking up the wrong tree of life, they are trying to get over the wrong rainbow.
323
Well, sure, Mr.Blow. It is another wedge, set in place to separate sympathy for the LGBT community apart from the Muslim community. The wedge isn't aimed at either of those two groups, but at me, and people like me.
The GOP is trying to make itself palatable to Christian, straight, middle aged, well employed people, who might hate taxes, but loathe the social conservatism of the party more, by pretending the party has compassion.
They are not very good at it. Supporting LGBT by demonizing Muslims is a bad start.
But don't underestimate the ploy. People hear what they want to hear, and if they want to believe that the taxaphobes are compassionate and pro-LGBT, they will believe it. That is the joy of the modern GOP: they exist in a fact free zone.
And the bonus? If they can get people riled up enough about Muslims and terror, we might all forget about wedding cakes, and bathrooms, and legislation that legalizes discrimination, not to mention abortion and birth control.
The GOP is trying to make itself palatable to Christian, straight, middle aged, well employed people, who might hate taxes, but loathe the social conservatism of the party more, by pretending the party has compassion.
They are not very good at it. Supporting LGBT by demonizing Muslims is a bad start.
But don't underestimate the ploy. People hear what they want to hear, and if they want to believe that the taxaphobes are compassionate and pro-LGBT, they will believe it. That is the joy of the modern GOP: they exist in a fact free zone.
And the bonus? If they can get people riled up enough about Muslims and terror, we might all forget about wedding cakes, and bathrooms, and legislation that legalizes discrimination, not to mention abortion and birth control.
475
"They want us to forget that although people of all political stripes have evolved on the issue of gay equality — including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton —Republicans are the trailing edge of that evolution."
Please give us a break here. Obama's and Hillary's position "evolved" only because of political expediency, but that's not a surprise, is it?
Please give us a break here. Obama's and Hillary's position "evolved" only because of political expediency, but that's not a surprise, is it?
7
Both the Clintons and the Obamas were always supportive of LGBT equality, trailing only on marriage equality. "Political expediency" always favours the majority, and so it is farcical to suggest a minority vote impacts significantly, indeed pandering to it could have a negative influence.
34
Our time has been a time of discovery. When I was young, I discriminated based on the thought that homosexuality was unnatural.
Then, I discovered it was not. *MY* position has evolved as I learned, as we as a whole have learned. You may cast a cynical eye upon the similar evolution of political positions. I can hardly blame you. However, I've trod that path, and have no problem believing others, even politicians, have as well.
Then, I discovered it was not. *MY* position has evolved as I learned, as we as a whole have learned. You may cast a cynical eye upon the similar evolution of political positions. I can hardly blame you. However, I've trod that path, and have no problem believing others, even politicians, have as well.
49
What if there was "Political expediency" involved? At least they are listening. They recognize reality and respond to it. What's wrong with that?
33
1972 was the first year I was eligible to vote for president. I was in the army and had an absentee Florida ballot. I had registered as a republican, because I liked Nixon. Imagine that. That summer of '72 I heard Spiro Agnew railing against some gay activists who were protesting things he'd said. Agnew bellowed:' Those are the kind of people we do not want in our country' .
I tore up that ballot and switched to Democrat for the next election. I have voted in every election since at local, state and national level and always as a Democrat.
I tore up that ballot and switched to Democrat for the next election. I have voted in every election since at local, state and national level and always as a Democrat.
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There was the time in 1988 when Patrick Buchanan, serving as a commentator at the Democratic National Convention, got upset by a boisterous session in support of something led by a contingent of gay delegates, Buchanan pointed out the window of the broadcast booth and angrily said "That is NOT America!"
10
Nixon was a prince compared to what they've got now. Now, Kissinger on the other hand...
6
Thanks for the reminder about Agnew. The GOP sure can pick 'em.
4
The fact that trump refers to LGBT...as "the Gays" kind of says it all....sort of like saying eating a taco bowl makes you a friend to "The Mexicans" (the ones he calls rapist and criminals) or his pointing out "My African American..."
The Republican party that has been spewing hatred of homosexuals, fought and continues to fight marriage equality, passes laws ALLOWING discrimintation against LGBT....is now the party of "The Gays?"
As for all Muslims wanting to kill all of "The Gays,?" if memory serves from this week it was the Christian group of Westboro Baptists, usually known by their noxious hate slogan "God Hates Fags" who was protesting in Orlando and claiming that "The Gays" got what they deserved.
"The Republicans" must assume LGBT folks are as stupid as the people at a trump rally.....
The Republican party that has been spewing hatred of homosexuals, fought and continues to fight marriage equality, passes laws ALLOWING discrimintation against LGBT....is now the party of "The Gays?"
As for all Muslims wanting to kill all of "The Gays,?" if memory serves from this week it was the Christian group of Westboro Baptists, usually known by their noxious hate slogan "God Hates Fags" who was protesting in Orlando and claiming that "The Gays" got what they deserved.
"The Republicans" must assume LGBT folks are as stupid as the people at a trump rally.....
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Actually, as far as I can tell, "The Republicans" always assume everyone, but themselves, are stupid enough to believe anything they say. Sadly, in all too many cases they are right - as Limbaugh's "Ditto Heads" proved.
13
And speaking of wanting to kill off "the gays", it was their saint ronnie who failed to deal with AIDS, turning it into a full-blown epidemic. It was only "the gays" and those awful haitians who were its victims at the time.
2
These efforts by the GOP are so evil they are seen through by the overwhelming majority of the LGBT community immediately.
At 58 years of age and having come out in 1977 in LA where I was from, I have seen it all-anti gay teacher's initiative here, Reagan's purposeful denial of AIDS, the religious right and their decades long junk propaganda campaign. None of it worked in the long run. We as a community have the ability to see right through all of it, because we have to. We lead our lives, not other people, although we continually have others telling us how to do it.
The GOP is never going to sway the LGBT community. We will outlast them at the rate they are going. They have morphed into a totally malevolent group.
At 58 years of age and having come out in 1977 in LA where I was from, I have seen it all-anti gay teacher's initiative here, Reagan's purposeful denial of AIDS, the religious right and their decades long junk propaganda campaign. None of it worked in the long run. We as a community have the ability to see right through all of it, because we have to. We lead our lives, not other people, although we continually have others telling us how to do it.
The GOP is never going to sway the LGBT community. We will outlast them at the rate they are going. They have morphed into a totally malevolent group.
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The cynical lip service to LGBT interests is not only, or even primarily, about making homophobes feel better about themselves. It's about easing the consciences of those LGBT people wealthy and powerful enough to insulate themselves from bigotry and to see their self-interests more in the Republican devotion to the oligarchy than in the Democratic commitment to civil rights. Both prejudice and phony tolerance are means, not ends, for the Republicans. The material interests of the wealthy and powerful are always the point.
40
Donald Trump said “L.G.B.T is starting to like Donald Trump very much lately, I will tell you, starting to like Donald Trump very, very much lately.” That is the most absurd thing Trump has said, in at least the past twenty four hours. He speaks of himself in the third person as if he is a savior for the LGBT Community, when he really doesn’t give a damn about their rights. In the past Trump said:''I don't support gay marriage. They should not be able to marry." There is no way that Trump will win the LGBT vote. Or the women vote for that matter.
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After the Reagan 1980's AIDS calamity when thousands died before he even mentioned the word AIDS in public, no gay person should take the GOP seriously on any L.G.B.T. issue.
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Never forget!
5
I hold Reagan personally responsible for the AIDS epidemic. Had he given the same resources to finding the cause of AIDS that was given to finding what caused Legionnaires disease a few years earlier, it might never have had a chance to spread so widely.
I wonder if we are any more ready for the next epidemic. My guess is that we are not. The GOP is so short-sighted they cannot think more than ninety days in advance of anything.
I wonder if we are any more ready for the next epidemic. My guess is that we are not. The GOP is so short-sighted they cannot think more than ninety days in advance of anything.
8
I just watched "Angels in America" (I'm straight and ignorant- I always thought it was stories of people thinking they saw actual angels) so it with true awe that I read in the NYT today of the self loathing Roy Cohn's mentoring of The Donald. The circle is unbroken.
3
Division! Division!
Isn't it time to have all segments of America just be Americans? Their are no LGBT, African Americans, Italian Americans, Latino Americans, etc. etc. We are all just Americans. The USA as a melting pot has worked and will work now and in the future if the media and ooliticians just let us be Americans. The tradgedy in Orlando did not happen to LGBT, it happened to 50 dead and scores of injured Americans. It was terrorism against the USA and should be treated as such. Please media and politicians no more division.
Isn't it time to have all segments of America just be Americans? Their are no LGBT, African Americans, Italian Americans, Latino Americans, etc. etc. We are all just Americans. The USA as a melting pot has worked and will work now and in the future if the media and ooliticians just let us be Americans. The tradgedy in Orlando did not happen to LGBT, it happened to 50 dead and scores of injured Americans. It was terrorism against the USA and should be treated as such. Please media and politicians no more division.
15
There's millions of us who are LGBT. Speak for yourself. You sound like somehow you are uncomfortable with our presence. Although it's veiled.
33
All Americans can be all Americans when each of us are teated as all American. Until then, to negate the special circumstances and difficulties that some Americans, who happen to be from backgrounds such as LGBTQ, African American, Italian, Latino et al.. is to say the problems those communities have to deal with, the prejudices that impact their daily lives, are dismissed. If you are a member of any hyphenated-American community you already know what you are facing..to dismiss the differences so cavalierly shows your privilege.
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Except that those who hunt down and kill the LGBT amongst us don't see it that way.
31
If ANY of the "clowns" in the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE's "clown car" think the LGBT community have forgotten their efforts to promote "DOMA" (the "Defense Of Marriage Act") then they'd better have their "elephant's memory circuits" checked out.
Unless you're a 1% LGBT'er, then the Republicans have no place for you in their absurd scheme of things.
And among the LGBT community members I know, there isn't a single voice claiming support of Mr. Trump and his Party. Let's hope that this year is the last year we have to hear from this money grubbing pack and that control of the government is returned to sane and rational people.
Unless you're a 1% LGBT'er, then the Republicans have no place for you in their absurd scheme of things.
And among the LGBT community members I know, there isn't a single voice claiming support of Mr. Trump and his Party. Let's hope that this year is the last year we have to hear from this money grubbing pack and that control of the government is returned to sane and rational people.
43
GOPers' reviled tactics will be on full display as the election draws closer and they try to drive their base's turn-out by flogging/demagoguing the transgender bathroom issue - they strive to find wedge issues that will animate their base, yet drive down Dem turn out.
The only way GOP'ers win is if Dems don't vote early/vote often.
The only way GOP'ers win is if Dems don't vote early/vote often.
52
Hoping DT(s) goes down in the biggest blaze of glorified infamy this nation
has ever seen.
Hopefully DT(s) will really know how it feels to be the biggest "loser" of them all.
I simply can not get it through this thick head of mine why people can't just
live their lives and let others live theirs. It's no business whom one loves or marries, just as it is no one else's concern what a woman does with her body.
has ever seen.
Hopefully DT(s) will really know how it feels to be the biggest "loser" of them all.
I simply can not get it through this thick head of mine why people can't just
live their lives and let others live theirs. It's no business whom one loves or marries, just as it is no one else's concern what a woman does with her body.
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my head is just as thick as yours.
5
Excellent to attack the Party and not just Trump, who at this point epitomizes the Party in its narcissism, omniphobia, angry white older male, sexism. It would be interesting to illuminate why the 18% of LGBTs, and the similar percentages of African-Americans and women, are still supporting the remnant of the GOP who opposes them. Why are they not voting their real interests?
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Black is white, up is down in the GOP Wonderland, but just saying something doesn't make it true. If fact, voters are sensing (if the current polls are accurate) that whatever Trump says, the opposite is true.
36
Rep. Mo Brooks:
“The Democrats are in a perplexing position. On the one hand, they’re trying to appeal to the gay community, but, on the other hand, they’re trying to also appeal to the Muslim community, which, if it had its way, would kill every homosexual in the United States of America.”
If that quote genuinely represents the Republican mode of thinking - that plurality means conflict as opposed to co-existence (at the least) - then a fundamental issue needs to be resolved. I'm not sure why Brooks believes that any individual involved would otherwise come to the same conclusion other than being a simple thinker.
“The Democrats are in a perplexing position. On the one hand, they’re trying to appeal to the gay community, but, on the other hand, they’re trying to also appeal to the Muslim community, which, if it had its way, would kill every homosexual in the United States of America.”
If that quote genuinely represents the Republican mode of thinking - that plurality means conflict as opposed to co-existence (at the least) - then a fundamental issue needs to be resolved. I'm not sure why Brooks believes that any individual involved would otherwise come to the same conclusion other than being a simple thinker.
16
I can't wait to witness the hand-wringing and summersaults of the Log Cabin Republicans as the election approaches. Trump's claims of his appeal to gay voters are simply bogus and dishonest, and he and they know it. "The gays," as Mr. Blow eloquently points out, are too smart to believe Donald's drivel. We have very long memories of the overt and covert homophobia emanating from the GOP for decades. Mrs. Clinton is the only rational choice for the LGBT community.
425
Why haven't we heard from the Log Cabin GOPers??
20
They probably haven't receive the newest version of the Approved Talking Points List yet.
2
Heh! The LCRs had a booth at Denver PrideFest this past weekend. It was a very, very lonely booth. My partner and I kind of felt sorry for the guys manning it. But not *too* sorry.
3
Why wouldn't he say it, Mr. Blow? He has lied repeatedly yet his supporters eat it up as gospel. He could say the earth was square and those rabid imbeciles will argue till blue in the face that astronomy has been wrong all these years and that Donald Trump was there to sort it all out. I don’t think you have to worry, Mr. Blow. They are the ONLY people to believe him. So why do you care? Is it because the candidate you support is weak? If so, you should have thought about that in the primary. Good luck in the general – your party will need it.
7
The Republican Party have never made a secret of their disdain for LGBT people and their belief we are not equal citizens with equal rights. They have opposed every single LGBT rights ordinance since the year dot and this is clearly because it is seen to be supported by US voter behaviour.
US voters gave a landslide majority to the Republican Party in both houses of the Legislature in the mid term elections, despite the fact that they have done nothing but obfuscate and filibuster against every single Obama initiative, including affordable healthcare, to the point of shutting down the government.
The GOP have likewise opposed every single LGBT rights ordinance in US history, and that includes DADT Repeal, DOMA Repeal, Prop 8 Repeal, the White House Memorandum on LGBT Rights, each and every states rights measure to safeguard LGBT minorities, ENDA and Marriage Equality. They have moreover introduced "religious freedom" laws in 20 states, handing to the religious among us Special Rights alongside tax exemption to discriminate against LGBT minorities.
Given Republicans' sworn and oft-played religion based animus against their LGBT fellow Americans, it would be gratifying to see them propelled into oblivion by the wind of popular rejection. However prospects don't currently look great, given that Americans handed governance of of Congress to the Republican Party at the mid terms and Trump is now their presidential nominee on a rising wave of populist xenophobia.
US voters gave a landslide majority to the Republican Party in both houses of the Legislature in the mid term elections, despite the fact that they have done nothing but obfuscate and filibuster against every single Obama initiative, including affordable healthcare, to the point of shutting down the government.
The GOP have likewise opposed every single LGBT rights ordinance in US history, and that includes DADT Repeal, DOMA Repeal, Prop 8 Repeal, the White House Memorandum on LGBT Rights, each and every states rights measure to safeguard LGBT minorities, ENDA and Marriage Equality. They have moreover introduced "religious freedom" laws in 20 states, handing to the religious among us Special Rights alongside tax exemption to discriminate against LGBT minorities.
Given Republicans' sworn and oft-played religion based animus against their LGBT fellow Americans, it would be gratifying to see them propelled into oblivion by the wind of popular rejection. However prospects don't currently look great, given that Americans handed governance of of Congress to the Republican Party at the mid terms and Trump is now their presidential nominee on a rising wave of populist xenophobia.
513
Everything you claim to want, is not necessarily good for you (or your identity group) nor for society. Anyways, LGBTQ are still only about 2.5% of the population, and not always inclined to vote. And not always in lock-step to lefty liberalism. Caitlyn Jenner is a transgender REPUBLICAN. I've known other gay Republicans. So even if nearly every LGBTQ person voted for Hillary -- assuming here, that not one LGBTQ person was a Bernie Sanders supporter who feels cheated & abused & steamrollered -- it wouldn't have that much effect on the final outcome of any national election.
2
I wanna see a citation for 2.5% of the population. Right quick there.
17
Concerned citizen in battleground states that "2.5" percent could be the difference.
13
What I find unbelievable, incredible, staggering, and most of all unconscionable, is that apparently almost one in five of our community find ANYthing acceptable about Mr Trump.
As for the Republican party, it appears to be moving to La-La Land.
p.
As for the Republican party, it appears to be moving to La-La Land.
p.
373
Why waste energy on the few who undermine their own interests?
3
In some families and/or regions of the country there are some things worse than being Gay, being a Democrat is one of them.
2
This is hyperbole for no reason.
2
"Gallup’s Frank Newport pointed out that just 18 percent of those who identify as L.G.B.T. held a favorable opinion of Trump." Mr. Blow, I'd give a lot to know why 18 percent of these folks think Donald Trump is progressive to the point of recognizing their bloc as viable and legitimate citizens when the GOP's long-standing hostility towards LGBT's is hardly a secret.
For years beyond count, I've debated with black folks who identified as Republicans. "Why would you aid those who mean you no good?" I would ask, mostly with undisguised anger. The answers would invariably be the same: "They're both the same"; "my education will get me in the door"; "they'll look past their biases and accept me". These explanations are like walking a minefield on a moonless night. Why would you do it?
Frank Bruni, in a Sunday Review op-ed piece about the coming Republican convention in Cleveland, detailed the frantic struggles going on behind the front lines of the party. He wrote about the operatives who fear a coming nuclear disaster because Donald Trump is as far from unifying the party on *any* issue as the east is from the west.
Karl Rove remains a powerful operative within the party. He's one of the names on the masthead. Just because it looks bad for the GOP right now, LGBT folks shouldn't concede the election to Hillary Clinton. If Trump found a way to 271 electoral votes, they'd regret soon enough "starting to like Donald Trump...I will tell you."
Think: chickens and Col. Sanders.
For years beyond count, I've debated with black folks who identified as Republicans. "Why would you aid those who mean you no good?" I would ask, mostly with undisguised anger. The answers would invariably be the same: "They're both the same"; "my education will get me in the door"; "they'll look past their biases and accept me". These explanations are like walking a minefield on a moonless night. Why would you do it?
Frank Bruni, in a Sunday Review op-ed piece about the coming Republican convention in Cleveland, detailed the frantic struggles going on behind the front lines of the party. He wrote about the operatives who fear a coming nuclear disaster because Donald Trump is as far from unifying the party on *any* issue as the east is from the west.
Karl Rove remains a powerful operative within the party. He's one of the names on the masthead. Just because it looks bad for the GOP right now, LGBT folks shouldn't concede the election to Hillary Clinton. If Trump found a way to 271 electoral votes, they'd regret soon enough "starting to like Donald Trump...I will tell you."
Think: chickens and Col. Sanders.
64
L.G.B.T.s have better taste than to like anything ever touted or tainted by the Donald Trump, or his hypocritical Republican sycophants.
40
of course, Conservatives are fundamentally anti-LGBT based on their philosophy. but so are the Democrats except when it suits the purpose of getting votes. the only LGBT supporters are (and always has been) the Libertarian Party.
2
Oh, please! But then you said it yourself - 'naive'.
p.
p.
75
The Libertarian Party's position is that it's okay to be LGBT but that it's also okay to discriminate against LGBT people.
165
@Tom Yates: And prominent libertarians like Ron and Rand Paul are anti-choice. They believe in freedom and self-determination, but only for the male half of the population.
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