Rod 2.0:Beta

Gay Bush Supporters Divided Over McCain, Some Support Obama

Remember the "Austin 12", the dozen well-known gay Republicans who famously met with and lobbied George W. Bush during the 2000 campaign to be more LGBT-inclusive? That was looooong ago when W. was still promising to be a "compassionate conservative." The Washington Blade interviews the 12 conservative homos, and, surprise, they are "not exactly rallying around John McCain." Several are openly supporting Barack Obama.

"In all, three said they either would vote for Obama or are seriously considering it; three are undecided between McCain and Obama; three are backing McCain and three others declined to comment." That means only 25 percent are publicly supporting the party's presumptive nominee. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. The reasons should be obvious.

During the meeting, the “Austin 12” urged Bush to appoint open gays to federal offices, include an openly gay speaker at the 2000 Republican National Convention and maintain President Clinton’s executive order banning discrimination against gays in the federal workforce. Bush complied with each of those requests during his presidency.

But Bush’s record, most notably his endorsement of the Federal Marriage Amendment, has soured some members of the “Austin 12” so much that they refuse to support the Republican Party’s presidential choice, even though McCain voted against the FMA in the U.S. Senate.

David Catania, an at-large City Council member for the District of Columbia, has sober words for the capital gains tax cut-loving homos in the Log Cabin Republicans. "I wouldn’t give supporting [McCain] a second thought. ... I think gays are kind of kidding themselves if they think John McCain is going to be any better for the gay community than George Bush.

‘Austin 12’ divided over McCain [Wash Blade]

More POLITICS
More JOHN McCAIN

You May Want to Read ...
McCain Supports California and Arizona Marriage Bans [R20]
McCain Secret Meeting with Log Cabin [R20]
McCain Highlights Opposition to CA Marriage [R20]
McCain to HRC: I "Was Proud to Receive" Log Cabin Endorsement [R20]
Log Cabin Defends McCain's Anti-Gay Record [R20]
HRC Blasts McCain's Gay Rights Record [R20]
"Straight Talk" for John McCain's Gay Supporters [R20]
McCain (Finally) Rejects Hagee and Parsley [R20]
McCain Silent on Hagee's Homophobic Slurs  [R20]
McCain Campaigns with Singer Who Compared Gay Marriage to "Incest" [R20]
McCain to Ellen: No "Right" to Get Married [R20]
McCain in Selma, Recalls Historic Civil Rights March [R20]
DNC Debuts First Ad Against McCain [R20]
McCain Will "Criticize" Obama's "Elitist" Comments [R20]
McCain in Memphis: "Wrong" to Oppose Holiday [R20]
Republican Senators Block Stimulus Package [R20]
McCain Targets Romney with Anti-Gay Robo-calls [R20]
NH Voters Targeted by Anti-Mormon "Push Polls" [R20]
Romney, McCain Offer More Anti-Gay Rhetoric [R20]
McCain Flip-Flops on Gay Rights [R20]
McCain Promotes Abstinence [R20]

Bush Tax Rebates "Stimulate" Porn Industry, Online XXX Sales Are Up

Way back in January, when President George Bush announced his economic stimulus package that included tax rebate checks—you know, the same stimulus package blocked by Republican senators and John McCain—the president boasted his plan was the "right size" to "boost ... consumer spending." Size matters and apparently the new bulge in consumer wallets is leading to "growth and "higher consumer spending" in the most unlikely business sector: The gay and straight pornography industry.

Amanda at Think Progress notes, "The adult pornography industry reports that it has seen a huge uptick in business thanks to Bush’s package. An independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of Americans’ mailboxes across the country." Many sites surveyed report "20-30% growth in membership rates since mid-May when the checks were first sent out."

Is that an economic stimulus check in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Dennis Haysbert: Role on "24" Helped Pave the Way for Obama

As the nation prepares to nominate its first black presidential candidate, and, possibly elect him to the White House, some ask if actor Dennis Haysbert's breakthrough presidential role on the hit series 24 influenced how people perceived Barack Obama's quest for the White House. Haysbert believes his role made a difference:

"If anything, my portrayal of David Palmer, I think, may have helped open the eyes of the American people," said the actor, who has contributed $2,300 to the Illinois Democrat's presidential campaign.

"And I mean the American people from across the board — from the poorest to the richest, every color and creed, every religious base — to prove the possibility there could be an African-American president, a female president, any type of president that puts the people first," he said Tuesday. ...

Haysbert, who also played Nelson Mandela in the 2007 film "Goodbye Bafana," said his role as President Palmer seemed to "confuse people" who would approach him on the street "every day, almost every hour, and ask me to run."

Haysbert offers a very interesting anecdote that illustrates the impact of his work on the series. The actor said he recently had dinner with his daughter south of Los Angeles in Dana Point, Calif., which he described as "very wealthy, very white and very Republican."

"I go into this little restaurant with that demographic and a lady comes up to me and says, `You know, I want to vote for you,'" he said. "I don't know if it is a joke or that people just like to say those things. But to me, for them to say it out loud means they are thinking about it."

Obama has often said The Wire is his favorite television show, but, we're sure he has watched a few episodes of Dennis Haysbert on 24. Just for practice.

Haysbert: Prez role on '24' may have helped Obama [AP]

"Only Good Reporters" Sit Next to McCain on New Campaign Plane

Leading the cable news broadcasts and the Washington Post ...  breathless coverage of John McCain's new "Straight Talk Express" campaign airplane. The new Boeing 737 "features a special area" outfitted with "a couch and two captain’s chairs" where the presumptive Republican nominee "will conduct group interviews with the press." Via Think Progress is news that reporters must "earn" the right to hobnob with McCain in the "special area."

Top McCain aide Mark Salter said " 'only the good reporters' would get to sit in the specially-configured section for interviews. ‘You’ll have to earn it,’ he said." So how can these reporters "earn" a seat? Never challenge the Senator, as McCain biographer Matt Welch explained in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times:

[McCain is] very open to people. You can come on the bus, everything is great but if he knows or if his team knows that you have a hostile line of questioning or you have a long and well documented critique, they’re not going to talk to you.

Just weeks ago, it seemed the press was tripping over themselves to get invited to "legendary grill man"  John McCain's barbecue to taste his "slow cooked baby back ribs." Now, they're tempted with extra leg room and a "captain's chair" on the "Straight Talk Express" if they ask "good" questions.

Obama Will Expand and Rename Bush's Faith-Based Program

Only weeks after a closed-door meeting with religious leaders and announcing outreach to evangelicals and Catholics would be a "significant" component of its campaign, Barack Obama now announces more policies aimed at courting the evangelical vote. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee slams President George Bush’s faith-based initiative as failure and says he would expand the office and faith outreach would be a "critical" part of his administration. The New York Times:

On the second day of a weeklong tour intended to highlight his values, Mr. Obama is traveling to the battleground state of Ohio on Tuesday to present his proposal to get religious charities more involved in government programs. He is scheduled to give an afternoon speech at the Eastside Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio, a program that provides food, clothes and youth ministry. ...

Mr. Obama is proposing $500 million per year to provide summer learning for 1 million poor children to help close achievement gaps for students. He proposes elevating the program to the “moral center” of his administration, calling it the Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and changing training from infrequent huge conferences intended to empower larger religious charities to smaller ones in their communities.

Mr. Obama and his advisers are seeking support among relatively moderate evangelicals and are trying to take advantage of signs that some conservative Christians are rethinking their politics, urged along by a new generation of leadership and intensified concern about issues including climate change, genocide, AIDS and poverty.

Mike Allen at Politico: Anticipating criticism from the left, Obama said, "I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don’t believe this partnership will endanger that idea—so long as we follow a few basic principles. First, if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them—or against the people you hire—on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we’ll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work."

Rod 2.0 has extensively reported the impact of the Bush Administration's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives on the gay and black gay community. At best, it has been a mixed record. More churches have received federal funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and support. However, many gays rights and HIV/AIDS advocates have criticized the White House for granting funding to anti-gay ministries—such as the Rev. Willie Wilson, Washington DC's notoriously homophobic pastor, who announced from the pulpit "faggots or sissies" were not real men. Many faith-based HIV/AIDS initiatives have become criticized by auditors for excessive anti-gay rhetoric from the top, charges of exaggerated results, and, the main complaint, discriminating against gay men and focusing resources on women and children. A number of evangelical churches receiving faith-based funding have been linked to violent anti-gay evangelism in Uganda, as well as deadly and ineffective "abstinence only" policies throughout Africa.

Not really sure is this the "change" many expected with an Obama candidacy and/or administration, but, it's very consistent with his previous statements and positions on religion.

Obama Plan Would Expand Faith-Based Program [NYT]
Obama to rename Bush's faith office [Politico]

Some Background ...
Report: "Abstinence Only" Policy Spreads HIV, Death [R20]
Bush Admin Funding Anti-Gay Groups in Uganda [R20]
How Do Churches Provide HIV/AIDS Support? [R20]
Should Homophobic Churches Receive HIV Funding? [R20]
Black Baptist Convention FINALLY Mentions AIDS [R20]
Rev. Willie Wilson Outed [Keith Boykin]
Is HIV A Gay Disease? [Keith Boykin]
Ending Black Homophobia Will Reduce HIV [R20]
Bishop: "No Faggots or Sissies" (Rod 2.0)
"Urban Rally Against AIDS" [R20]
The HIV Morning After Pill? [R20]
Black Gay Men and "The Pill" [R20]
Jonathan Perry in "The Advocate" [R20]
Primetime Reports Black HIV Epidemic [After Elton]
"Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" [R20]
Hill Harper on HIV/AIDS [R20]
Ending Black Homophobia Will Reduce HIV [R20]

Adulterers Larry Craig and David Vitter Co-Sponsor Marriage "Protection" Amendment

And now for the day's entertainment. Two United States Senators implicated in highly-publicized charges of extramarital sexual activity are among the first to co-sponsor the new marriage protection amendment that defines marriage as "only of the union of a man and a woman." Both of the names should be familiar to Rod 2.0 readers: De-closeted, anti-gay men's restroom cruiser Larry Craig and serial prostitution client David Vitter. Page One Q :

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), who was arrested June 11, 2007 on charges of lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport terminal, is co-sponsoring the amendment along with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).

Craig, who entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, was detained and charged for attempting to engage in sexual activity with a male undercover police officer. His arrest and plea became public two months later. At that time, Craig attempted to withdraw his plea and enter a new plea of not guilty. To date, his efforts have been denied by the courts.

In July of 2007, Vitter was identified as a client of a prostitution firm owned by the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, commonly known as The DC Madam.

This isn't the first time the two disgraced adulterous senators have tried to defend marriage. Rewind to our first column in The Advocate last fall. "Vitter had also been racking up frequent-flier points in a New Orleans bordello," we wrote and "somewhere between floor speeches supporting 'traditional marriage' and cosponsoring a constitutional ban against same-sex marriage, the serial adulterer found time to call the escort service -- from the Senate Republican Cloakroom, reportedly." Only in the Republican Party can two men accused of being serial adulterers get away with such naked hypocrisy on so-called "family values." Oh, and it goes without saying the mainstream media will be slow to call them on their hypocrisy.

Full text of S. J. RES. 43 here, and, list of co-sponsors, including anti-gay former presidential Sam Brownback and anti-gay global warming denialist James Inhofe.

Craig and Vitter co-sponsor Marriage Amendment  [P1Q]

More LARRY CRAIG
More REPUBLICANS

Some Background ...
A Tale of Two Cities [Advocate]
5 Gay Men Describe Sexual Encounters with Craig [R20]
"Romney Threw Me Under the Bus" [R20]
Anti-Gay Vitter on DC Madam's Client List [R20]
Vitter Subpoenaed Regarding Prostitutes [R20]
Report: Anti-Gay Senator Patronized Brothel [R20]
Craig Inducted into Idaho Hall of Fame [R20]
Senate Republicans Knew About "Closeted" Larry Craig's "Weird Problem" [R20]
Larry Craig Vows to Remain in Office [R20]
Larry Craig Pays a Surprise Visit to Senate [R20]
News: Larry Craig Latest, David Vitter [R20]
Larry Craig Latest: "Not Guilty!" [R20]
Craig Latest: Wasn't Going to Run for Re-Election [R20]
Craig Latest: Maybe I Won't Resign After All [R20]
Craig Resigns Senate Seat [R20]
RNC to Larry Craig: Resign or Else [R20]
NY Post Runs "Are You a Gay Senator?" Quiz [R20]
Idaho's Largest Paper Calls for Craig's Resignation [R20]

McCain Supports California and Arizona Marriage Bans

Happy Gay Pride from John McCain!

In a move that wasn't entirely unexpected, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain endorsed Thursday the controversial California Marriage Protection Act initiative expected to go before the state's voters this November.

"I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona," McCain said in a message widely distributed via PRNewswire. "I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."

McCain also supports recent attempts by the Arizona legislature to offer an anti-gay marriage amendment to voters in the fall. That proposal was narrowly rejected this week and could be re-voted over the weekend.

Meanwhile, CNN confirms the presumptive Republican presidential nominee had an off-the-record meeting with Log Cabin Republicans, the gay Republican group, presumably to wish them a happy gay pride. Still no announcement of the meeting on the virtual Log Cabinette  ... nor any mention of McCain's support for the proposed California and Arizona marriage bans. Happy pride!

McCain endorses CA Marriage Protection Act [Politicker]
McCain reaches out to gay Republican group [CNN]

More POLITICS
More JOHN McCAIN

You May Want to Read ...
McCain Secret Meeting with Log Cabin [R20]
McCain Highlights Opposition to CA Marriage [R20]
McCain to HRC: I "Was Proud to Receive" Log Cabin Endorsement [R20]
Log Cabin Defends McCain's Anti-Gay Record [R20]
HRC Blasts McCain's Gay Rights Record [R20]
"Straight Talk" for John McCain's Gay Supporters [R20]
McCain (Finally) Rejects Hagee and Parsley [R20]
McCain Silent on Hagee's Homophobic Slurs  [R20]
McCain Campaigns with Singer Who Compared Gay Marriage to "Incest" [R20]
McCain to Ellen: No "Right" to Get Married [R20]
McCain in Selma, Recalls Historic Civil Rights March [R20]
DNC Debuts First Ad Against McCain [R20]
McCain Will "Criticize" Obama's "Elitist" Comments [R20]
McCain in Memphis: "Wrong" to Oppose Holiday [R20]
Republican Senators Block Stimulus Package [R20]
McCain Targets Romney with Anti-Gay Robo-calls [R20]
NH Voters Targeted by Anti-Mormon "Push Polls" [R20]
Romney, McCain Offer More Anti-Gay Rhetoric [R20]
McCain Flip-Flops on Gay Rights [R20]
McCain Promotes Abstinence [R20]
McCain Hires Producer of Racist Ads [R20]
McCain Flip-Flops on Gay Rights [R20]

Michelle Obama at DNC Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council

On Wednesday, we announced Michelle Obama would keynote the DNC's Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council gala Thursday in New York City. Here is the update. The wife of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama received a standing ovation for her speech, which promised Obama would prioritize gay rights and compared the fight for gay rights to the civil movement. Newsday.

"Barack believes that we must fight for the world as it should be, a world where together we work to reverse discriminatory laws," she told the crowd at a Manhattan fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee's Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council. ...

"We are all only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in the pursuit of a more perfect union," she told the group, gathered a two days before the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots between gays and New York police, and three days before New York's gay pride parade. "The world as it is should be one that rejects discrimination of all kinds."

This was a great move because many in the black community, especially the churches, are unwilling to link gay rights to civil rights. She also called for a renewed effort to fight HIV and AIDS and said the  black community should overcome homophobia, the same message her husband delivered at a presidential debate. "Nothing we have to do over the next four or eight years is going to be easy. There will be powerful forces who believe that things should stay just as they are, that everything is fine, and that’s where you all come in."

Michelle Paterson, the first lady of New York state, also spoke at the gay leadership gala. The gala raised raised about $1.3 million for the DNC. From Selma to Stonewall, let freedom ring.

Obama's wife says he'll fight for gay equality [Newsday]
Michelle Obama speaks to gay Democrats [Reuters]

More OBAMA
More POLITICS

Some Background ...
Michelle Obama to Keynote DNC Gay Ldrship Council [R20]
Obama Camp Marches in Boston, DC and Indy Prides [R20]
Obama Talks to "The Advocate" [R20]
"Christians" Opposed to Obama [R20]
Far-Right Not Interested in Disease [R20]
Far-Right Not Interested in Disease Pt 2 [R20]
"Pastor Warren, Would You Let a White Supremacist Speak at Your Church?" [R20]
Obama: Not "Very Christian" to Criticize Gays [R20]
Obama Buys Ads in Gay Newspapers in TX, OH [R20]
Obama: Hospital Visitation for Gay Couples is "Not a Special Privilege" [R20]
Right-Wing Townhall.com: "Obama Would Be First Gay President!" [R20]
Behind the Gay-Friendly Faces [The Advocate + PDF]
A Tale of Two Cities [The Advocate]
I Have a Dream ... Ticket [The Advocate] 
Democratic Debate Addresses Homopohobia, Race [R20]
Obama Snubs Clinton at SOTU [R20]
The Advocate: Clinton vs Obama [R20]
Obama Addresses Homophobia and Anti-Semitism [R20]
HRC/Logo Forum: Obama Conference Call [R20]
HRC/Logo Forum: Morning After [R20]
Obama Meets the Press to Discuss Gays [R20]
Obama on McClurkin to "The Advocate" [R20]
Obama Resigns From Trinity [R20]
Obama "Outraged" by Wrights' "Ridiculous" "Rants" [R20]
NC Gov Endorses Clinton, NC/IN Polls Tightening [R20]
Wright at the National Press Club and Detroit NAACP [R20]
Wright on PBS: Obama "Says What He Has to Say as a Politician" [R20]
NC GOP Targets Dems with Obama/Wright Attack Ad [R20]
Teddy Endorsed Obama to Preserve JFK's Civil Rights "Legacy"? What Legacy? [HuffPo]
Obama's "A More Perfect Union" Speech [R20]
Obama and the Turban Non-Story [R20]
PA Debate: Meltdown and Morning After [R20]
"Bitter" Billionaire Fundraiser" [R20]
Obama Camp Provides Photo of Wright and Clinton [R20]
Obama to Make "Major" Speech on Race [R20]
Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Black LGBTs [R20]
McCain Aide Suspended, Circulating Wright Video [R20]

McCain's Secret and Off-the-Record Meeting with Log Cabin Republicans

In early June, capital gains tax cut loving homos at the Log Cabin Republicans began attacking the Human Rights Campaign for an exhaustive report that documents the John McCain's long history opposing the gays. The gay Republicans defended McCain's anti-gay record and promised McCain "has had an open door to us at Log Cabin." Apparently the "open door" is an, err, back door because word has just emerged McCain secretly met with the gay Republicans.

Bruce at Gay Patriot has the exclusive.

Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain held a personal meeting with the head of the national gay Republicans organization, the Log Cabin Republicans.   Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon confirmed his meeting with Senator McCain earlier today.

A source with close ties to the Log Cabin Board of Directors provided information about the meeting to GayPatriot earlier this week.  This source disclosed that the Log Cabin meeting was not reflected on Senator McCain’s published schedule in advance and the meeting.  A second source familiar with the Log Cabin-McCain meeting reports that Senator McCain has routine personal meetings that are not shown on the Senator’s public schedule.

Patrick Sammon tells GayPatriot the Log Cabinettes "expect to have more conversations with the campaign as we head toward November."

If McCain was "proud to receive" the pink thumbs up from the Log Cabinettes, he should just as proud to meet with them again. Unfortunately, the gay Republicans have yet to officially announce their conversation and the LCR blog makes no mention of the clandestine event. Meanwhile, the Arizona Republican is preoccupied securing his nomination, pandering to the social conservatives, and, does not wish to publicize his back door diplomacy with the gays. But most offensive is the fact that it's gay pride week and the Log Cabin Republicans refuse to announce their meeting with the Republican presidential candidate. There is no pride in that whatsoever.

McCain Meets with Log Cabin Republicans [Gay Patriot]

More POLITICS
More JOHN McCAIN

You May Want to Read ...
  McCain Highlights Opposition to CA Marriage [R20]
McCain to HRC: I "Was Proud to Receive" Log Cabin Endorsement [R20]
Log Cabin Defends McCain's Anti-Gay Record [R20]
HRC Blasts McCain's Gay Rights Record [R20]
"Straight Talk" for John McCain's Gay Supporters [R20]
McCain (Finally) Rejects Hagee and Parsley [R20]
McCain Silent on Hagee's Homophobic Slurs  [R20]
McCain Campaigns with Singer Who Compared Gay Marriage to "Incest" [R20]
McCain to Ellen: No "Right" to Get Married [R20]
McCain in Selma, Recalls Historic Civil Rights March [R20]
DNC Debuts First Ad Against McCain [R20]
McCain Will "Criticize" Obama's "Elitist" Comments [R20]
McCain in Memphis: "Wrong" to Oppose Holiday [R20]
Republican Senators Block Stimulus Package [R20]
McCain Targets Romney with Anti-Gay Robo-calls [R20]
NH Voters Targeted by Anti-Mormon "Push Polls" [R20]
Romney, McCain Offer More Anti-Gay Rhetoric [R20]
McCain Flip-Flops on Gay Rights [R20]
McCain Promotes Abstinence [R20]
McCain Hires Producer of Racist Ads [R20]
McCain Flip-Flops on Gay Rights [R20]
Yes But No—But Yes [R20]
McCain: Not "Catering" to Far Right [R20]
McCain Promotes Abstinence [R20]
McCain's MLK Day: "Pandering" to Racists [R20]
McCain Wins Republican Nomination [R20]
McCain Camp Enlists Racist Shock Jock [R20]

McCain AWOL From Senate

Via Think Progress.  Republican presidential heir apparent John McCain is now the "most absent member of the Senate."

According to the Washington Post’s votes database, McCain has "missed 367 votes (61.4%) during the current Congress." In fact, CQ reports today that McCain hasn’t voted in the Senate since April 8. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) last voted on June 4.

Your tax dollars at work.