Dave Weigel, at Slate, with news of life among the Big Swinging Cons:
The run-up to CPAC, the annual conference of conservatives, is traditionally marked by a few weeks of what-it-means coverage… Story No. 2, from Beth Reinhard, is that the conference has reversed its policy on inviting gay Republican groups, after two years of sore feelings. CPAC will include “GOProud, the gay-rights group that was banned for the past few years amid noisy boycotts from critics and supporters,” after its new bosses cut a deal with the American Conservative Union.
Two former GOProud summer interns, Ross Hemminger and Matt Bechstein, took over last summer and sought to repair the bitterly frayed relationship. Under a compromise reached last week, they will attend the March 6-8 gathering as guests, without sponsorship or a booth. GOProud sees the lower-profile role as an important first step.
Hang on—as guests? This is an event that allows the John Birch Society to set up a booth, and GOProud still can’t?…
As Mr. Charles P. Pierce would say, I despair of the Rebranding.
Little Boots
sadness all around.
Little Boots
but for a little happy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nE2spOw_o
Little Boots
or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU615FaODCg
Little Boots
okay, I totally miss omnes.
is that wrong?
srv
Joseph Farah head will explode1
He was ranting a couple years back about how all the GOP PACs were infested by teh Gay and had disowned Coulter on his radio show because she was appearing at one of their conferences.
Little Boots
they are sad,
Little Boots
this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVdOQvx379Y
joel hanes
GOProudGOP GrovelersFTF them. Truly pathetic.
Little Boots
what a sleepy place.
Violet
That is just pathetic. They have no self respect. Begging to be allowed in–even as a guest!–to a meeting of people who think they’re icky, immoral sinners who are destroying society. Whoever puts themselves in that situation has something really wrong with them.
Little Boots
@Violet:
yup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo
KG
Well, hopefully it’s a step (a very small step, more like a shuffle really) in the right direction.
Little Boots
for omnes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5pHM-o2_Dk
Bill E Pilgrim
@Little Boots: Every time I hear that or just read the title it makes me think of this one, one of the most amazing pieces of music ever written.
He’s imitating Clara Bow on that third line by the way, and doing a good job of it.
That’s him on piano also.
http://www.metrolyrics.com/condition-of-the-heart-lyrics-prince.html
Little Boots
@Bill E Pilgrim:
that is really lovely. thank you.
Chris
Stupid is as stupid does.
Little Boots
and then there’s this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-tRXewCAmU
ruemara
Well. That is a sad statement on how much they want to be accepted by people who absolutely would cut their throats in an instant if this was Uganda. Fucking idiots. Good luck with that whole “acceptable other” thing. Hope it sticks in your craw.
JustRuss
Dear GOProud: I’m getting the feeling that CPAC is really not that into you.
Little Boots
@JustRuss:
nobody is into them.
tokyo expat
What happened to the Pride in Gay?
Villago Delenda Est
I think the problem here is that the GOProud dudes are submissives, and they just can’t resist being kicked around by closeted assholes.
SRW1
Oh, and dear ‘guests’, as our friend Vlad said: No hitting on the children, ‘kay!?
Pogonip
What happened to Omnes?
gene108
Why on earth would a young want to hang out with the crusty old fucks of the GOP? Or are they really good at keeping the available hookers and blow on the down low?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@gene108:
Not an expert, but I think the young Repubs treat it like a combination job fair and comicon.
geg6
@gene108:
From what I’ve read and heard from people who have been to CPAC is that the GOP yoots go to CPAC for unauthorized drinking, drugs and sexsexsex. It’s the only place they get to do that and none of the adults notice because they all busy with the hookers and blow.
And I’m not kidding here.
NonyNony
@gene108:
Okay, this is just a stupid factoid put in by GOProud. This is just meaningless without a reference that tells us what the polls say about gay marriage among young conservatives. And it’s still almost pointless unless you’ve got some stat to throw out that suggests that the under 25s at CPAC are in favor of gay marriage in any way shape or form.
My strong suspicion is that if you’re under the age of 25 and you want to hang out at CPAC, you’re probably not in the demographic that favors gay marriage. Because you’re at fucking CPAC. I mean I suppose you might just be looking for a bit of that Wingnut Welfare and be willing to hang your hat on whatever cause comes along that will pay you to advocate for it, but Big Gay Conservatism is not yet providing the Wingnut Welfare gravy train.
(This gets right at the heart of Weigel’s incredulous “This is an event that allows the John Birch Society to set up a booth, and GOProud still can’t?” quoted above. The John Birch Society has billionaire backers who keep the Wingnut Welfare gravy flowing. GOProud does not. That’s what you need to be at CPAC – either the ability to bring in lots of gravy, or the ability to bring in lots of votes, or both. GOProud does neither – they’re a minority of a minority so they can’t bring in votes the way the fundies can and while they have some money, they don’t have Koch money. They will never be accepted in the small tent of the GOP because they’ve got nothing the GOP want.)
@Steeplejack (tablet):
Worst. cosplay. ever.
kindness
So essentially the CPAC is going to let GOProud buy tickets to the event?
How progressive can they get over there?
NorthLeft12
I am wondering if CPAC has organized seperate washroom facilities for the GOProud members attending the event.
I am sure that the GOProud leadership would treat that as a win too.
BTW is there a difference between the GOProud leadership and membership. I gotta believe there can’t be too many of these self-loathing people.
RSA
@NonyNony:
Made me laugh.
So I’m wondering whether CPAC will have a session on gay marriage? I can’t imagine it’s not a topic of interest, and it would be religious discrimination to prevent attendees from hating on the gays.
Frankensteinbeck
@geg6:
And a lot of that sex is with other men, but of course they’re not homosexual sinner sodomites like those GOP Prouders.
Bugboy
“GOProud sees the lower-profile role as an important first step.”
First step to what? To being dis-invited yet again when the bigot lobby flexes its muscles?
boatboy_srq
@tokyo expat: To the GOTea, “gay” stands just above “Democrat” on the shame scale.
boatboy_srq
@geg6: The Spartan Ethic strikes again. The GOTea is chock-full of public figures stepping out on their spouses: the shame, if any, is not in doing this but in getting caught. Rekers, Foley, Craig et al didn’t “sin” by going on the downlow; their “sin” was being apprehended.
Between this and the Walker/Kasich/Christie/who’s-next scandals surfacing, one wonders whether the GOTea has become less a political party and more a society of political/social daredevils flouting law and familial commitments to satisfy instant-gratification impulses for the sheer rush of getting away with it. IOKIYAR doesn’t even begin to cover this.
Joe
The only place I ever read that was in a Stephen Glass article for the New Republic. “One of the young men, an Ohioan, is wearing a green-and-white button that reads: ‘Save the Males.’ The minibar is open and empty little bottles of booze are scattered on the carpet….On Friday night, 40 of the young conservatives ditch Lott’s speech and pack a sweaty hotel room on the second floor….Again, the bathtub is filled with beer, and a thick cloud of marijuana smoke hangs above the crowd. A redheaded guy….tries unsuccessfully to program the pay-per-view to show an X-rated movie. Almost everyone in the room says they supported Phil Gramm or Pat Buchanan in last year’s election.”
RaflW
At this point the 5 or 6 remaining gay Republicans are outright pathetic.