Balloon Juice Explodes

Really, though. I don’t know how you can read that and not see the overt homophobia and the sickness that is Riehl’s mindset. I am sure Dobson and Rove love it.

Really?

Robert Leroy Riehl Born: 05 Jan 1948 Died: 21 Jun 2004

That was an older brother of mine, John. He's dead and, yes, he was Gay. You want to know how he died? He died alone, probably of aids for all I know and probably in a San Francisco flop house living on the government's dime. I say probably because it was the last address I ever had for him from letters exchanged, not having seen the boy/man since I was about 15.

And you know why he died alone? Not because he was Gay. He died that way because of small minded assholes who think that being Gay in America is a crime. And who is perpetuating that stereotype and trying to benefit from it, today, Cole? Me? Because I can mock someone whether they are straight or gay, because the orientation has no bearing on how I treat someone, one way or the other?

Don't you try and lecture me you superficial, sanctimonious twit. You know absolutely nothing about me. I am not doing a disservice to homosexuals because I make no distinction in how I treat people, Gay or straight. "I" couldn't care less. I joke about them both, one and the same. And if an individual feels he wants to live out his life in private because the world today has not shifted enough generation-ally so as to relegate their sexual preference to some meaningless and fictitious norm ... I have no problem with that. Can you say that for your friends who have no greater ambition but to win some passing political victory, you hypocritical jackass?

That filth like Rogers are allowed, by you and your friends, to dress up their humanity-loathing, faux activism in moral outrage aimed at the Right disgusts me. If I ever meet the scumbag, he'll be lucky if I don't bitch slap the clown.

Not a Republican, I vote conservative, in part, because I neither want nor need some nanny state looking after my, or someone else's sexual preference. For the record, I am straight.

I vote conservative because I believe in open competition, not leg-ups for oppressed peoples who have been taught to believe they are inferior somehow - and always by self-professed caring liberals with little more than blind half-good intentions mixed with selfish designs on gaining more political clout.

I'm opposed to Gay marriage, not because I don't like Gays, but because I support the concept of a procreative family which has been the key to mankind's survival since human life began and it does not need to be supplanted by some artificial scientific construct which moves the miracle of life into the realm of scientific design.

You wrote, "I disagree with the outing of Larry Craig." Well, how got-damned noble is all that? You disagree? Some garbage spewing vermin goes trash digging in some real or imaginary pile and comes up with unsupported fact they then attempt to ruin a good man with and you disagree with it? Forgive me if I am unimpressed with your lack of moral clarity made clear in your pathetically weak response.

Don't you dare profess to know my heart and my mind on the issue ... because you have never asked.

And don't you dare try to turn this into another prime example of intolerance on the Right, when clearly it is not.

It is but another new low low in the all time record book of disgusting liberal tactics which have nothing more noble as their goal than a power grab. And your unmoral defense of it is a corollary to its vulgar and ugly intent.

This is not the Right's shame, no matter how you'll try to make it so. It is the Left's disgrace. I called you a c***S***** because of the weak-kneed lip service you are providing to your most repugnant cronies on the Left. Whether or not you derive some sexual gratification from giving them that service, I couldn't care less.

Balloon Juice? Give me a break. Don't look now, John, but I think the balloon exploded and the juice is running from your lips. Here's hoping you enjoyed, it c***s*****.

All I did was half-jokingly call you a name you earned. Congratualtions, obviously, it was well deserved.

Comments

[EnoughIsTooMuch]

You need serious help. SEEK IT!!

[Davebo]

"And don't you dare try to turn this into another prime example of intolerance on the Right, when clearly it is not."

Your post, and you refusal to respond to the commenters on it who were most definately spouting right leaning intolerance says it all.

And seriously now, your brother died because of "small minded assholes who think that being Gay in America is a crime" in San Francisco?

Don't exacerbate a stupid post by digging up the body of your dead brother and tossing out hyperbole.

[JOHN RYAN]

another fine example of family values

[don surber]

What people are overlooking is that this McCarthy-like tactic of "I have a list" and outing homosexuals is really a last-ditch effort by Democrats to regain power. It is that desperation that you react to. With 3 weeks to go, people ought to act cool.

[Dan Collins]

Hey, some of the nicest people I know are c***s****ers. I think you might mean he's a dumbf***er.

[Andrew]

Too bad your brother couldn't get married. Maybe with a loving, stable, legal relationship that offered financial security, hospital visitation, and shared healthcare, he would have lived.

Wait, that is RIDICULOUS!

He can't make babies with any dude. He don't deserve nothin'!

[feral1]

Jesus you are a ridiculous tool. It doesn't get much lower than using your dead gay brother to prop up a party that institutionally despises those like him.

No honor.

[feral1]

Jesus you are a ridiculous tool. It doesn't get much lower than using your dead gay brother to prop up a party that institutionally despises those like him.

No honor.

[jpe]

Balloon Juice? Give me a break. Don't look now, John, but I think the balloon exploded and the juice is running from your lips. Here's hoping you enjoyed, it c***s*****.

Wow. Issues, folks, issues.

[Davebo]

"What people are overlooking is that this McCarthy-like tactic of "I have a list" and outing homosexuals is really a last-ditch effort by Democrats to regain power."

Don, I have a grudging respect for you. But seriously. Does one blogger now represent "democrats"?

Because if so, we've got a much more detailed discussion to get into regarding the host of this site and the Republican party he controls.

[Davebo]

Don Surber,

Sorry, just visited your blog (haven't been there in weeks).

Let me take back my claim to a grudging respect for you. Frankly I've seen sharper bowling balls.

[Rex]

"You want to know how he died? He died alone, probably of aids for all I know "

Do all gay people die of AIDS?

Too bad that your brother chose a place like San Francisco, a city renowned the world over for its intolerance toward homosexuals.

Why did you turn your back on your brother? You claim that society failed him. Seems to me that you failed him too.

Stop with the feigned indignation routine and go back to being Malkin's lapdog--you're pretty good at that.

[Jane]

I am not doing a disservice to homosexuals because I make no distinction in how I treat people, Gay or straight.

Exactly! Exactly! Exactly!

There are a whole lot of gays out there who have no interest whatsoever in being treated like a protected class. They want to live their lives, without the government holding their hand.

My business partner is gay. She told me last week that she felt a lot more threatened by the goverment banning transfats - than she does about it not passing gay marriage. The reason of course is that a government that would intrude enough on another person's life to tell them what they can and cannot eat, would not hesitate to come into her bedroom to tell her who she could sleep with.

And don't you dare try to turn this into another prime example of intolerance on the Right, when clearly it is not.

It's another example of intolerance on the left who would label a black who believes in free enterprise an Uncle Tom, and a gay who despises government entitlements, a homophobe. It is no wonder that Mike Rodgers is their hero, because he will keep all those poor gay people walking in the proper line. Because people on the left are never equal. There are the shephards and the minions, and never the twain shall meet.

Now I guess I should go read Balloon Juice. Oh and nice to meet you.

[The Other Steve]

"Not a Republican, I vote conservative, in part, because I neither want nor need some nanny state looking after my, or someone else's sexual preference. For the record, I am straight."

The party that wants to ban abortions, ban gays, ban thought, ban speech, is champions of the anti-nanny state?

Oh puh-leeze.

[Gold Star for Robot Boy]

"There are a whole lot of gays out there who have no interest whatsoever in being treated like a protected class. "

So, wanting to visit a life partner in a hospital, is that a special protection?

[mylena]

@gold star you know the answer don't you, there shouldnt be a 'need' to protect that. It is just commen sense to visit a life partner in a hospital.... that it cannot is wrong.

[Phoenix]

Ode to Political Suckness

Dan called John a sucker of cock..
Within moments John’s blog began to rock.

John yelled, “It’s my goddamned business and I’m not tellin’!
If I’m in the closet or not, it’s my bag, so stop your yellin!”

Dan is bad, he’s a tool, he’s a moron, the gang all said.
They blasted Dan for almost half the thread.

Then they turned on each other spouting politics galore..
The Dems, the Rethugs, - Goddamn! Everyone’s a whore!

Way to go, Dan! Bring on the fight..
So we dufuses in the middle can see the light.

If the parry here is too dim like the light in a hole...
Get your asses over and read John Cole.

Rock on, commentary!... See the wankers on parade..
You’ll grok why assigning politics to morals is the most bogus charade.

Me? I’m a cocksucker and in its goo I wallow.
But John.... You got goo going that I can’t swallow.

[Jaxebad]

I just find it odd, Dan, that you're directing so much of your anger at John Cole.

But then, it's a perfect illustration of "Republicans eating their own", as Stephanie Miller would say.

[vetiver]

So your brother was rejected by the rest of your family because Democrats don't consider it shameful to be gay and John Cole is a lapsed Republican? I'm not following your logic here.

Also, are you sure he "died alone"? Yes, he died far away from and out of touch with his family. That's not at all the same thing as dying with no loved ones nearby. If your poopoo-peepee sniggering about "GiGi" reflects the Riehl family attitude towards homosexuality, it's entirely possible that your brother was thankful that all of you were very, very far away.

I am heartened to read of your fervent condemnation of those who exploit others' sexuality with "no greater ambition but to win some passing political victory." Damn straight! Any political party that wastes an entire session of Congress pandering to "the base" with some stupid anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment that has no chance of passing is really beneath contempt.

So you're coming out against the Republican platform position on homosexual marriage? I assume so, unless you're one of those hypocritical jackasses you loathe with all your spittle-flecked being.

[Shalimar]

"You want to know how he died? He died alone, probably of aids for all I know"

Damn, you don't even know how your own brother died, maybe you should make more of an effort to find out before using him to prove you aren't prejudiced.

[mylena]

I'm sorry Dan..... I read your story ... and I'm not sure how to understand it. I do not have siblings, I'm not sure what your feelings are. Apparently you didn't talk to your brother anymore, i'm not sure if that was what you wanted, or maybe you do. I just see lonyless for your brother and the same for you: no brother to have. For your parents, it's awful their kid is gone, tjee I'm very disheartend to learn this and to understand what you and your family had and still be going through. All I can say is if I would meet you I would give you a big hug.

[fouro]

"...because I support the concept of a procreative family which has been the key to mankind's survival since human life began..."

Dan, click the 'fouro' link above, you might learn something about "keys to mankind's survival." Social reciprocity, group bonds and conceptual ability have been the key to man's ascent. Nothing about Ward and June Cleaver in that mix. Unlike you, I have to know what I'm talking about in that realm because my clients would fire me if it didn't make them money or give them useful leverage.

Dude, this post is a mess. I'm not even talking about the gay-specifics, just the your willful looking away. You're for "open competition," eh? How do you reconcile all the non-census redistricting Tom Delay did in Texas and all the gerrymandering done to conservative benefit since the '94 GOP crowd went to DC? Is that open competition? And don't say everybody does it. You keep telling us you guys were light years better and braver than us liberals.

Sexual McCarthyism? Dan, conservatives have been riding that horse from 50s contraception horror stories to rumor-mills about Hillary Clinton's preferences, not to mention the full court press of congessional hearings over Willie's infidelity. How much time spent on what Chris Shays now calls the "Sex ring" of Abu Ghraib? 14 hours, stretched over 2 years. What measure of priorities is that?

The conservative means to get out the vote? More *true* McCarthyism. Turn an entire class of individuals into a "dire threat to the sanctity of marriage." Shouting fire in a crowded theater to get a primo seat, nothing more, as the Foley debacle inconveniently points out. Gay-fright ballot initiatives, pumped and dumped from pulpits aplenty. That's what got George Bush his win in 2004 when so many were beginning to sour on his other "ideas." Want more blank paper McCarthyism? Ralph Reed or Bill Bennett whipping people of faith into frenzies over the "loss of American virtue" and the lassitudes and decay of gambling. What do they do? Promote/rip off casino tribes and pump 8 million simoleans into slot machines, respectively. Yes, gimme some more of that old time religion and conservative tent meeting. We'll invite the masters of preference double-entendre and political sex-baiting, Newt, Rush and Henry Hyde the Tinker-Evers-Chance of exponential virtue failure. But Nancy Pelosi? Ah, she's pure evil, even if she does manage to hold a marriage together.

Dan, you might go read the work of Christian pollster George Barna (http://www.barna.org/). You'll see that we liberals seem to walk the talk of a purpose driven life slightly better than all the conservatives telling us how depraved we and our ideas are. It's cause for some consternation amongst "conservatives" in case you haven't noticed.

It's called McCarthyism, not Ervin-ism or ACLU-ism. Your side named it and owns it. Margaret Chase Smith and six other wise conservatives had to shame his psychotic destructive ass off the senate floor in order to save the national fabric and their conservative party. You have such a mess on your hands today. And you might want to reconsider the efficacy of your own "survival instincts" and what damage that twitchy mammalian and reptilian clump called an R-Complex can do to ones credibility and viability. It's called "projection," Dan. Look it up, and quick.

[Seitz]

And who is perpetuating that stereotype and trying to benefit from it, today, Cole?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say "all the assholes that Rhiel votes for in every election". I'm pretty sure I'm right.

[Jane]

So, wanting to visit a life partner in a hospital, is that a special protection?

What an idiotic canard. Let me guess, you believe gays are too stupid to protect their own rights, you want to do it for them. Oh and only the rights you approve of right? Ala Mike Rodgers.

[Nikki]

Uh...your dead gay brother does not give you any special bigot/homophobe perks or passes. That would be like my white boyfriend using the "n" word and claiming, "it's ok, my girlfriend is black."

[Heathers]

Kurt's Dad: My son's a homosexual, and I love him. I love my dead gay son.

J.D.: Wonder how he'd react if his son had a limp wrist with a pulse.

[steve]

Grow a heart, guys!

And enter the real world, where modern American gay-folks exhibit the full spectrum of emotions, pains, addictions and desires that everyone else does.

Dan's brother's life-choices, and his ultimate end, result from this panoply of drives - not soley from his sexual desires. Straight or Gay, tragedy can knock on any door, and wears many masks.

(I thought Liberals understood that.)

Nikki, you presume that conservatives like Riehl need a "special bigot/homophobe pass." That tells me that you don't know any conservatives, and you probably live in a Blue State Ghetto. I hate to break it to you, but all of my urban, Gay friends in California and Arizona vote Republican to protect their private businesses from redistributionist Democrats.

Maybe it's just a Southwest thing...we're free-thinkers out here, and not easily corralled.

State sanction of their partnerships is way low down on most Gay persons' lists of priorities. And "outing" those who believe this will only make the Dem's look like cheap political whores - just in time for the election.
-Steve

[vetiver]

Steve, political whores don't come any cheaper than the Republicans who wasted much of the second session of the 109th Congress on a no-homo-nups amendment to the Constitution. Do you really think that's the most important issue facing our nation?

You don't say where you live in the Southwest but your gay friends might want to check out the 2006 Texas Republican Party platform which, among other things, opposes “any granting of special legal entitlements, recognition, or privileges, including, but not limited to, marriage between persons of the same sex, custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits.” God forbid (literally, according to TX Repubs) that your friends share the fruits of their private businesses with their life partners.

So, jane, you want to rethink your "idiotic canard" dismissal above? (Actually, that would be "think" since it's clear you applied absolutely no brainpower in your initial response.) Just what do you consider acceptable methods of securing and defending one's rights, anyway? And why should anyone else abide by your arbitrary distinctions?

[Pug]

...small minded assholes who think that being Gay in America is a crime.

Sounds like a description of the Modern Republican Party, doesn't it? You're projecting, Dan.

[micah]

What's this about Republicans being "anti-gay"?

That is a TOTAL myth that is cast from the darkest regions of the Left!

Republicans are more gay-tolerant than Democrats, in many ways! I know MANY Republicans who volunteer in outreach programs to AIDS victims. Who supports the gay hairdressers and interior designers all over town? Sorry but lefties rarely visit salons or dress their homes for AIDS fundraisers! Tolerance and love comes from the churches - NOT the hate groups who are so busy proving how much they hate conservatives they leave their own to die alone...
Perish the thought! That Repubs hate gays and lesbians is just a FLAT LIE that has been perpetuated by the LEFT. Trust me, if Al QUADA gains ground in America who do think they'd start executing first? You guessed it the Jews, Christians and homosexuals - in that order. The fact that we are putting our sons and daughters in harm's way to protect America's freedoms SHOWS we are a tolerant people.
P.S. You're welcome.

[Andrew K]

There's a story in here somewhere. Do you care to explain to us why you never saw your brother between the time he was 15 and the time he died?

Was there no transportaion to San Francisco available? Did you or your family treat him is such a way as to cause him to refuse to interact with you? Or did you and your family disown him? Did someone cut his phone line?

Your post implied that the hatred of others caused him to die, but you totally fail to explain why you were not present in his life at all.

[Andrew K]

err... 'caused him to die ALONE'...

[Dan Riehl]

There's a story in here somewhere. Do you care to explain to us why you never saw your brother between the time he was 15 and the time he died?

I may, when and if some of the ignorance dies down. Right now, I see no reason to put more of my life on display for certain fools incapable of mature discussion, or reason.

[missy]

Andrew K.

Reading comp is not one of your talents.

"not having seen the boy/man since I was about 15."

He's talking about his older brother and does not tell us how much older his brother is.

I can relate to Mr. Reihl, my brother is also gay but is still with us. He's very ill and contacts me when he needs me to drive him to the Dr., pick up his meds or grocery shop. We do not discuss his personal life, he's depressed enough so I try to keep things light. I will add that the results of his lifestyle choices have been extremely painful for our family but we will love and care for him to the end.

If Mr. Reihl had lived near his OLDER brother I have no doubt that he would have been there for him too.

[micah]

I'm sorry this man died prematurely and presumably alone. The circumstances were complicated, I'm sure. But to use this tragedy as an example of how "Republicans hate gays", is absurd. I can tell you that I for one, would have gone in and held his hand - gay/straight - republican/democrat - it makes no difference. And I am not alone. He is one of God's children. I say IS, not WAS, because we all have an eternal component to our existence, which matters so much more than the ridiculous politics of THIS life! We are our brothers' keeper.

[Ron]

Micah,

AIDS is not limited to GLBT persons. And simply going to an AIDS fundraiser is not an indicator of tolerance. Oh...and the left do not seek "gay-tolerance", they seek equality for all people regardless of personal or ideological differences. Tolerance and equality are not the same thing.

I agree that the majority of Republicans probably do "tolerate" GLBT persons, but they don't recognize them as equals and continue to utilize hate to motivate their voting base.

Republicans are not the only one putting their lives on the line in the fight to protect our Freedoms, but they are doing a wonderful job of running our once mighty military force and diplomatic power into the ground, thereby making it much easier for Al Quaeda to attack Americans on American soil. Saddam Hussein is an evil man, but Iraq under his dictatorship was a known variable and buffer. Thanks to GWB's little vendetta war, the occupation of Iraq has created a State of Anarchy in the Middle East, improved recruitment for Al Quaeda, and effectively demolished any leverage the U.S. once had to control Iranian and N. Korean nuclear ambitions.

Here at home, the Republicans have granted the Executive Branch dangerously expansive and unprecedented powers that no other president in U.S. history have had and with absolutely no oversight. They have pushed to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution, a document designed to protect minorities from majority opinion. They have given tax breaks and incentives to big business while middle-class and poverty-stricken citizens struggle to make ends meet. They have screwed up Medicare and the Federal Student Loans program. Their solutions to illegal immigration fail to address the root of the problem (here Bush was, amazingly, half right)...and the list goes on. And when the Republican president's ONLY veto was a bill providing federal grants for research that could help save lives and cure diseases, I fail to see how Republicans are fighting for every American citizen's right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. All I see are selfish, ego-centrists who are are only concerned with enriching themselves and maintaining power at any cost. They don't give a damn about the people of their constituencies, not even the so-called "value voters". And when the tables are turned against them using their own tactics, they hypocritically cry "foul".

Not every Republican is a hypocrit, there are some good ones out there. Unfortunately, the party itself has been hijacked by greedy, warmongering extremists who are just as dangerous as the radical Jihadists.

[micah]

Ron, I'll concede this, the word "tolerate" sounds condescending, it certainly was not meant to. "Equality" should be the shared goal of EVERY American. But Republicans are too often painted with the broad brush lie of "hate being their motivating factor". Ron, I have NEVER once heard the GLBT disparaged among the conservatives I know. Of course, GLBT are not the ONLY Americans affected by AIDS, but this is not the only example where GLBT's are considered and respected. Without branding a stereotype, many of our most artistic, gifted people across the nation are GLBT. Their work is praised and supported on it's own merit, regardless of the creator's orientation. To say the present admin has been hijacked by haters and warmongers is just not true. Unfortunately, the world is in a very precarious place - Islamic extremism is the enemy of the West. We gain more traction working together against our common enemy than tearing each other's parties apart. We ALL love our freedoms and we must protect them. What happens abroad affects us here - not only now, but in the future as well. This was going to happen no matter who was in office. It's how we respond now that will make the difference. It's the very freedoms you want protected that make America worth fighting for!

[fouro]

Micah, you make a good point here "We gain more traction working together against our common enemy than tearing each other's parties apart."

But much of your premise before and after it just doesn't hold. And here's some irony: barely weeks after 9-11, while America (the world even) was flush with shared pain and resolve, a gay conservative named Andrew Sullivan began warning against a "fifth column" of leftist anti-patriots. It grew virally from there, even as D & R were standing shoulder to shoulder saying "we're in this together." Not long after, somebody from Karl Rove's office left a briefcase in a DC taxi. It's contents, a powerpoint, found their way to the media. They revealed the 2002 midterm strategy of Republicans going forward from the attacks: Position Democrats as weak on security and dangerous to vote for. Levergae the attacks to electoral benefit.

The list of similar ill-faith is long and undistingushed and continues to this day. Cut and Run is morphing into James Baker's "Redeploy and Contain." Same first letters, same intent, same strategic aplication. But spoken by your guy, therefore "acceptable."

What you say sounds nice and mesured and sage. Some of us are tired of turning the other cheek and having it slapped.

[Jim]

You DO make distinctions in how you treat people, Dan you pious asswipe. You regularly denigrate and slander those who don't espouse your political philosophy.

[Jane]

Maybe it's just a Southwest thing

Naw my gay friends are exactly the same way. 90% of them are conservative, all are willing and able to protect themselves, and all fear government intrusion more than government inclusion. And I live in a blue state.

Now I also know a lot of people who think the nanny-state is exactly what the gays need. But most of them aren't gay.

[Andrew K]

Missy, by my calculation his brother died at age 48. That's about 33 years of no-contact. Even if I lived in Japan, I think I would see my brother a couple of times.

I'm just asking what would keep someone from his brother for so long, if there was love there. Mr. Reihl may have a perfectly good explanation, and i would accept one if it exists. I just find it difficult to believe someone would bring up his dead gay brother, propose without any knowledge that he died the stereotypical AIDS-loney-sex death typical of a homophobic imagination, and also publicly call other bloggers c***S*******.

Very incongruous. Until I hear more, I'm inclined to think Cole has a point about Reihl's mindset.

I also don't disagree with Reihl's point about voting conservative because conservativism is intellectually more fair w/ regard to gender/sexual/racial difference. Of course I would counter that today's Republicans are anything but that kind of conservative.

[Andrew K]

missy... lets assume that Reihl's older brother is 25 years older than himself. Unlikely but possible.

that's still 23 years.

Anyway, Dan, since you brought it up, I would like to know how this all happened. In whatever time frame you feel able to share. Till them I'm rather skeptical about your sentiments

[Dan Riehl]

I'm rather skeptical

Why dress it up so nicely. I post that I have a brother who was gay and state how he died. And you are calling me a liar. And you think I should feel compelled to somehow account to you? If you are "skeptical" - assume I write fiction and shove off. But don't insult me and pretend you are attempting to have a discussion.

The saddest irony in all this is that so, so many of those parading around for "gay rights" today have no conception of what gay oppression really was when it was in full bloom around this country.

[fouro]

Yes, Dan. And once upon a time the average human lifespan was 28 years. What's your point?

Personally, as a man whose brother lives and works in the UK, I still manage to see him from time to time even though he's 10 years older and we're not particularly close.

If I got a terrible phone call tomorrow saying he'd just died, under mysterious or just unknown circumstances, my butt would be on a plane immediately. I would would want to know the details of his end. I'd find the last people who saw him. I'd locate doctors or ambulance drivers. That's why your offering up your brother's sad fate in such a throwaway manner puzzles me, at least.

[Redleg]

Fouoro,
Well said. These folks with short memories do need a reminder of how Bushco and Republican elected officials have marginalized and demonized Democrats, calling them terrorist enablers, un-American, un-patriotic, and treasonous. The real sorry thing is that these knuckleheads act hurt and offended when a few Democratic bloggers and pundits fight back and accuse the GOP of gay-bashing. I've never encountered a more wimpy, easily offended, easily outraged group of wussies than some of these right-wing bloggers and pundits who daily heap scorn and ridicule on Democrats yet cannot take an ounce of criticism of their own views.

[Redleg]

Jane,
The nanny state metaphor is a bit old, don't you think. After all, isn't it Bush who wants to play the nanny, making sure that we never have to encounter the horrors of married homosexuals, the chaos of womens' reproductive choice, or the unspeakable evil of embryonic stem cell research?

You talk about government intrusion- how about the government intrusion of potentially illegal wiretapping of U.S. citizens and the suspension of habeus corpus? How about the government intrusion of collecting and warehousing information on U.S. citizens and the apparent lack of concern for the security and confidentiality of the information (e.g., the lost files of military veterans).

I don't give a crap how many gays you know and how many of them are conservatives. You can't speak for all gays or even a statistically significant subset of them.

[Dan Riehl]

Dan's a bigot, which is obvious from the way he denigrates gay people in every other post.

Yeah, right. Look, when you fags get done here, turn out the lights. m'kay?

[Shalimar]

"I post that I have a brother who was gay and state how he died."

"You want to know how he died? He died alone, probably of aids for all I know"

No one in history has ever died of "alone". You didn't state "how he died", you admit that you don't know. I'm sure there is a good story about why you don't know how your brother died and why you weren't able to keep in touch with him, and you certainly don't have to write about it if you don't want to, but your situation is very weird based on what you wrote in this post.

[mere mortal]

I may, when and if some of the ignorance dies down. Right now, I see no reason to put more of my life on display for certain fools incapable of mature discussion, or reason.
- Posted by: Dan Riehl

All I did was half-jokingly call you a name you earned. Congratualtions, obviously, it was well deserved [labeling (libeling?) someone a cocksucker].
- Posted by: Dan Riehl

...and compares it to a post I did on Glenn aka GiGi Greenwald some time ago, mentioning his homosexuality.
- Posted by: Dan Riehl

He died that way because of small minded assholes who think that being Gay in America is a crime.
- Posted by: Dan Riehl

How could the same person have posted all of the above? A haphazard fiction writer, or an unspeakable moster? Difficult to be certain, but reflecting on what it portrays as an unjust end of its brother (perhaps it even approved of that end, it does not make itself clear.), it remains sanguine about its casual and hurtful slurs. A vicious, vomitous, disgusting thing. Here's hoping it is a creation of absurd, inept, unbelievable fiction.
- Posted by: mere mortal

[ilyka]

Dan, I probably don't agree with ya on a damn thing politically, but I did just want to say that I am so sorry about your brother. Grief is neither Democrat nor Republican and I am sorry for your loss.

I hope at some point you do post more about him if you feel up to it. I'm sure he was a great guy.