Tuesday, May 10, 2005

DOES REPUBLICAN = HYPOCRITE?

Love, Spokane Style

Oh, how I love a story about a holier-than-thou Republican getting his or her comeuppance! From the Associated Press comes the story of Spokane mayor Jim West (isn't that the guy from the old Wild, Wild West TV series?) who yesterday decided to take "a few weeks off" to fight allegations of child molestation and using his position to offer city jobs to gay men he met online. West characterized himself as the victim of a "witch hunt" orchestrated by the local newspaper.

The Spokane Spokesman-Review hired a computer forensics expert to pose as an 18-year old male high school student who engaged in Internet chats with West on the appropriately named website Gay.com. The newspaper reported that West offered the fake teen a City Hall internship, tickets to professional sporting events and other gifts.

Other young men have come out, so to speak, to confirm that West had contacted them and offered them city jobs while hounding them for dates or sex.

The Spokesman-Review also reported that West had abused two boys while he was a sheriff's deputy and Boy Scout leader in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

West is a 54-year old divorced former state Senate leader and staunch opponent of gay rights who was a leader in efforts to try and block gay marriage initiatives. Although he denies decades-old molestation charges, West has admitted to visiting gay online chat rooms and to having relations with adult men.

As the Dana Carvey's Church Lady would say, "Well, isn't that special?" There's nothing quite like a closeted gay conservative Republican when it comes to the topic of denial. I suppose West might argue that he's not really gay, because when his penis is in the anus of other men, he's not really thinking "gay thoughts". (An argument that has actually been made by other outed, self-hating gays in the past, including the notorious red-baiter Ray Cohn.) Talk about voting against your own interests! Everyone who votes Republican consistently in some ways votes against their own interests--but none more so that a Republican politician who uses his position to chase gay tail.

Look, Democrats can and frequently are hypocritical too. Hypocrisy being one of my top pet peeves, I'm always going to be available for rants--and paid speeches, I charge reasonsable rates--if the topic is hypocrisy and I'm not going to let anyone off the hook. It's just that right-wing Republicans are so relentless in the way they try to shove "family values" and God down our throats and so many of them are the ones doing the worst sinning even by their own ridiculously pious standards. I mean, enough is enough!

Now the only thing I need to make my week is to find out that Ann Coulter is clubbing baby seals and drinking the blood of young virgins. If anyone has any info about that, by all means email us at dissent channel and then we can have a hell of a good week...

Peace.