Elite.
It’s a baaaaad word!
The moment the Right does not like something anyone says or does, all of a sudden they are classified (really, villified!) as an elite.
(Or, of course, an “activist.” That’s akin to the Right’s calling you an S.O.B., but politely.)
Anyway, today, the National Organization for Marriage took it upon themselves to once again respond to the Ken Mehlman crisis in the GOP. (For more on that, read my piece, “Gay Marriage, the GOP, and a Looming Disaster.”)
In, “GOP Elites Try to Throw Marriage Under the Bus,” NOM writes, “Prediction: after Mehlman announced he’s gay, you will see an increasingly coordinated campaign by certain GOP establishment elites to jettison the marriage issue, an issue about which the majority of Americans–and 80 percent of Republicans–agree. For a prime example check out this story in the normally conservative Daily Caller.”
Here’s the piece “in the normally conservative Daily Caller,” “Glenn Beck is “right†on gay rights.”
In it, Rick Robinson says, “The revelation that former GOP chairman Ken Mehlman is gay was as shocking to the Republican inner circle as was the news that Lincoln had been shot. Sorry, tell us something we haven’t known for years.”
“Nevertheless, this non-event, and the stories that were written about it, come at a key time, a time when many on the right find themselves struggling as much with their own views on gay rights as Mehlman did with coming out.”
But here’s the part in Robinson’s piece that must have put Maggie Gallagher into a tizzy:
“The issue is being brought to the forefront, not by Mehlman, but by icons of the political right. Recently, invoking the principles of Thomas Jefferson, Glenn Beck shocked Fox listeners by stating that same-sex marriage was not a threat to this country. Ann Coulter drew headlines for accepting an invitation to give the keynote address at a gathering of gay conservatives.
“The actions of Beck and Coulter have outraged social conservatives. But their actions, whether viewed as “pro-gay†or simply “live and let live,†are nothing new for many conservatives who, over the years, have stood for individual rights.
“Barry Goldwater, who once told a reporter that every Christian should line up and “kick Jerry Falwell’s ass,†supported gays in the military. Goldwater noted that gays had served honorably in the military since the time of Julius Cesar and further quipped: “You don’t have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.â€
Shortly after saying that, Goldwater died and presumably waited at the Gates of Heaven for Falwell’s arrival.”
Presumably, they’ll both be there one day, awaiting you too, Maggie. Or, not…