Let's raise a toast this morning to the Log Cabin Republicans. They believe in fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense and limited government. They are true conservatives. They have strong beliefs and even thicker skin. How else could a gay be a Republican?
I went to one of their meetings a year ago. State Rep. Carl Bearden was the guest speaker. He had just joined his Republican colleagues in voting to bar school districts from allowing students to form gay support clubs. Imagine that. I admired Bearden for agreeing to speak to the Log Cabin Republicans after such a vote. Which is, of course, why I went to the meeting. I wondered how Bearden would defend that vote. He didn't have to. He might as well have been talking to a Chamber of Commerce. He talked about the need for fiscal restraint and he criticized public schools, and the questions were friendly, supportive and in the same vein.
Oh, there was a little talk toward the end of the night about gay rights. One of the fellows politely inquired about the chance for civil unions. No chance, said Bearden. After the overwhelming vote from the citizenry against gay marriage, the Legislature wouldn't consider civil unions, he said. He was up front about it.
Of course, he didn't have to explain to these fellows that gay-bashing is political strategy. In order to more handily win elections, the old-fashioned Republicans - that is, the ones who believe in fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense and limited government - need the votes of the yahoo Republicans, and the surest way to energize the yahoos is to kick the gays around.
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