Who's Homophobic Now?
John Roberts
Circa 1972ish
La Lumiere High School
Just a caution for my male readers: if there are any extant photos of you from the ’70’s in plaid pants, better get rid of them now. And it’s not just the evidence of questionable fashion sense. Apparently now that’s the goods on being gay.
Call it the Mary Cheney Strategy. Call it desperation. Some on the Left have started a “maybe he’s gay” whisper campaign against John Roberts.
It started with Manhattan Offender in a post yesterday asking “How Gay is This Guy?” and then he quoted Wikipedia’s entry for Judge Roberts. He zeroed in on some really damning evidence from Roberts’ youthful past: the all-male boarding school, studying French and Latin (gasp!), being a wrestler and, oh the horror, participating in choir and drama.
So, it was only one silly post. Today, however, Wonkette picked up the ball and ran with it:
We’re not making any conclusions here — we wouldn’t want to comment on an ongoing investigation — we’re just laying out the facts: He is a graduate of an all-boys Catholic school where, as a member of the wrestling team, he regularly grappled with other sweaty, repressed boys. That is when he wasn’t the drama club playing Peppermint Patty, for God’s sake.
What’s that about Peppermint Patty?!? Yes, well, that’s where the story starts to get interesting. That’s a reference to a point raised in today’s New York Times profile of Roberts, “Court Nominee’s Life Is Rooted in Faith and Respect for Law,” written by Todd Purdum, Jodi Wilgoren and Pam Belluck. In the midst of a very lengthy profile, Purdum, et.al. just throw in the little factoid that Roberts’ yearbook records that “he played Peppermint Patty in the production of ‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.'”
Did I mention that this was when he was in high school?
So maybe that snarky little bit is just there for a little color? Ann Althouse has picked up the story and she thinks otherwise:
I do think the NYT piece was subtly constructed to plant this idea. Just look at the series of photographs they chose: young John in plaid pants, young John with his boys’ school pals, young John in a wrestling suit with his fellow wrestlers, John with footballers, and — the final pic — John smiling in an all-male wedding photograph.
I think she might have a point.
Of course it is the height of hypocrisy for the (allegedly) pro-tolerance crowd to start questioning someone’s sexual preference. It’s a strange and twisted tactic for those who are allied with the gay rights movement to try to make an issue out of someone supposedly being gay.
Who cares?
Well, that’s just the point: they think we do. They think that they can undermine support for someone among conservatives if they can dredge up some sort of homosexual connection — or, in this case, just the manufactured whiff of a question.
If it weren’t so cruel and small, it would be funny. (It’s not just the plaid pants. Some of the commenters on these other sites have been questioning the Roberts’ marriage, and even referencing their adopted children. That’s just beyond the pale.)
The Left didn’t learn their lesson when they tried this with Mary Cheney and it backfired. John Roberts may have played Peppermint Patty back in the day, but here and NOW, the Left is playing Lucy with the football . . .
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UPDATE: Follow-up posts on this topic are at
Hardball Politics . . . and Humour, and at
* * *
Althouse via Instapundit.
Puppy Nomination at American Daily. Thanks to vector Tom McMahon.
WILLism says wise pick. Salute to Mudville Gazette’s Open Post.
Don’t mess with Karl Rove says Evangelical Outpost.
Wonkette gets it good critiqued over on Ace of Spades HQ.
The Indepundit says lack of paper trail not a confirmation problem.
John Cole at Balloon Juice has the other hot button: abortion.
Thank you to Blogs for Bush for alerting us to JudgeRoberts.com.
Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine calls this the Unstory.
Captain’s Quarters has more on the fashion show at Let Me Revise — Attack The Wife And The Kids.
FaithMouse has Gaybear and the true tolerant take.
Charlotte’s Allen and Hays from IWF write on the (proper) attire .
Boy, you right wingnuts will believe anything. It’s not “cruel and small,” it actually is funny. I guess when you’re a fanatic, anything of sarcasm or satire is lost on you. But, of course, that’s why it’s funny.
I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but Wonkette isn’t always being serious in what she says.
Bob, what a bunch of bull.
You think that you and your buddies on the left can smear someone, and then claim, “It’s all a joke, It’s funny, ha ha.”
Charmaine is correct when she says this “Well, that’s just the point: they think we do. They think that they can undermine support for someone among conservatives if they can dredge up some sort of homosexual connection — or, in this case, just the manufactured whiff of a question”
I read DU and Daily Kos, too. There have been many posts related to this-trying to peel off Conservative Christians by claiming a Republican is Gay. Because the lefts mantra is that conservatives are “homophobic” because many of us do not support gay marriage, they are actually puzzled (I’ve seen it posted) when conservatives don’t respond with horror and distance themselves from the person who is supposedly “gay”.
The left still hasn’t figured out that they do not achieve their goal when they start whisper campaigns saying that a conservative is gay, but only reinforce that liberals, for all their talk, are actually the ones that not only have poor taste but are “homophobic” and “bigots”.
“What goes around comes around,” is the phrase I think you are looking for. Leave it to the right to view satire of right-wing hypocrisy as really an example of left-wing hypocrisy. This is funny on many levels, not the least of which is the blank stare from the right when confronted with their own worldview. What is that I see in the mirror? Persecution!
Geez, Bob
So talking about how great it would be to “out” Jack as gay by the kosskiddies is just all fun and games? (and that was before the idiots making that remark even knew Jack was FOUR YEARS OLD)
But we know how much the moonbats love sarcasm…after having gone ballistic over Iowahawk’s fun at their (and later Armando’s) expense.
I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but Wonkette isn’t always being serious in what she says.
Nifty that only the alternate-reality-based community can make a funny about homosexuality and get a pass from gay activists flinging “homophobe! around recklessly. But no one is supposed to notice that, I suppose?
Pardon us if after decades of experience folks are a bit short-fused on veiled epithets hidden behind false masks of humor.
Wow. I guess people don’t discuss a judge’s actual qualifications anymore…
Actually, I’m surprised that Right didn’t think of this. If he’s outed as gay, the Left will be forced to give him first class treatment and confirm him immediately, lest they come across as homophobic.
Reply to Bob Munck. Hey, it’s the typical response by left-wingers (the real fanatics): pose a lie, certain to raise an inference by innuendo, hide behind NYT v. Sullivan for 1st Am. protection from a libel suit by a public figure (which Judge Roberts is now), and then when conservatives are outraged by the latest low which you amoral thugs pull, you back off and claim that its a joke or parody, and claim that we’re mentally unbalanced. When we wind up being the ones who backpedaled, the new low in political mudslinging is now set, until the next opportunity to deal dirt. As Solomon said in the Word of God that WILL judge your godless soul (whether you believe it or not, jerk!): “Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says ‘I was only joking!’
We are going to win this fight, and the other ones, too. And then you can start doing the howling, as America starts to regain its sanity again, and stick clowns like you back on the societal shelf where you belong!
Wonkette is NEVER serious. Like most on the Left she is usually solemn, occasionally pompous… but never, ever serious.
Wonkette sounds like she’s clowning around, but the NY Times? I’ve seen these subtle NY Times photo arrangements before — it’s a game they like to play. They once had five photos whose orchestrated point were that Orlando is a Mickey Mouse town. It was really quite funny.
What the NY Times is doing now, in a supposed news report, is **simply throwing stuff** at Roberts. The point is — whatever negativity comes of it. In some circles one is not supposed to act insulted at the suggestion that one is a homosexual — there was a funny Seinfeld episode about that. The NYT’s point is to make things unpleasant and uncomfortable for all to see, for Roberts or whoever Bush nominates to a position on the Supreme Court. The NY Times has become such a silly newspaper since the ascendancy of Pinch Sulzberger*.
* Refuses to strike Pulitzer awarded for NYT’s Walter Duranty’s reporting which covered up Stalin’s mass murder.
Sure, it’s just a joke. Like the liberal websites that exist to “out” gay Republicans, whether they are gay or not. Like the GAY C**K! orgy that liberals unleashed on conservative reporter Jeff Gannon.
Liberals are unapologetic hatemongers and Americans are showing over and over that they are sick of their throwback antics.
The Fatal Democrat error.
You hit it. The liberals give conservatives credit for nothing. We have no insight, compassion, capacity to synthesize new ideas and an absoloute hatred for all things not biblical…..a gross strategic blunder. This assumption has caused their near complete undoing. Time and again these attempts at villification fail, and yet they learn nothing. What a shame. A weak adversary will make us lazy and unprepared for the next fight.
Ah, the old “we can say anything we want as long as we claim it’s a joke” line.
Joking, eh? I thought it was politically incorrect to joke about sexual orientation?
Or, maybe if you’re on “the good side,” and not an evil right wing nazi, you can pretty much joke about anything and it just demonstrates your sterling sense of humor.
If it’s serious it’s sad. If it’s a joke it’s hypocritical. You pick.
His Dad was Gay, Too…
With all the focus on four year-old Jack Roberts being a homosexual Nazi clone, nobody ever thought to ask about dear old dad. you gotta love the pants….
Oh my god, I’m gay. I used to wrestle, sang (and sing) in a choir. Was Will in Oklahoma and once had plaid pants. Shoot me now. My daughters are gay too, one is the manager of her high school wrestling team and the other wrestles. They both sing in the high school select choir AND they both act. Where do I get plaid pants for them?
This is insane. You kooks need to see that you cannot throw this stuff around. If this was being done to a liberal, you would all be wailing in the street. Oh yeah, one more thing, YOU GUYS LOST THE LAST TWO ELECTIONS TO GEORGE W. BUSH so sit down and stay quiet.
Who’s Homophobic Now?
The left shows their true colors, and they are NOT plaid.
Dawn Patrol
IRAQ New Device Counters Terrorism, Keeps Troops Alive [GX The Guard Experience] 7/21/05, WASHINGTON ? The Army has developed a new device to thwart terrorist activities while saving service members? lives. The ICE device, which is roughly the size of…
The ad nauseum attacks begin! Can’t say they oppose him because he’s Catholic and has a religious background can they?
Plaid pants???
May I see the part of the Constituiton that mentions anything about clothing styles. If this is the big complaint of the left, they are seriously off their medication.
Dawn Patrol
IRAQ New Device Counters Terrorism, Keeps Troops Alive [GX The Guard Experience] 7/21/05, WASHINGTON ? The Army has developed a new device to thwart terrorist activities while saving service members? lives. The ICE device, which is roughly the size of…
Just a joke, and we right-wingnuts don’t get it? Well, it’s not always easy to know when our Lefty friends are trying to be funny. As a group, they lack humor, are literal-minded and self-serving. Anyway, Wonkette isn’t joking.
What passes for humor on the left is to engage in the politics of personal destruction and when that doesn’t fly then claim it “was all a joke.” Take Al Franken of the failing Airhead America show, he titles a book “Rush is a big fat idiot”, know all the while that Rush HAD a weight problem and noting this outdated piece of information would make brownie points with his pinheaded readers.
And you have to love the hypocrisy of the left with respect to name calling. To here them tell it conservatives are by nature insensitive and mean-spirited so they always resort to stereotypes and name calling (this is a stereotype in itself!) in an attempt to denigrate the competition. So what’s the “open-minded”, “tolerant” and “sensitive” liberal’s excuse for their hateful name calling and fingerpointing? They have none other than “Well, Billy does it, too.” Pathetic. One would expect left-wingers to conduct themselves with far more decorum and sensitivity given the load of crap they whine about in the public square about how “tolerant” they are.
The same goes for the issue of “world peace”. Here are these people more closely identifying themselves with the cause of terrorists than they do with the concerns of their own conservative neighbors right here in America. Here’s their version of “world peace” as indicated by their actual practice: In order to have world peace we must villify our president and hate conservatives!
Get it? To have peace you must hate. Boy, if this isn’t cult-think I don’t know what is. For most Democrats, their politics is their religion, so in that light I say let’s begin applying some separation of church and state, which apparently the general electorate has been doing the last few election cycles by voting out Democrats – at least those voting-aged Democrats who survived the abortion gauntlet.
WASHINGTON POST SINKS TO A NEW LOW
Time and again, Washington Post Style reporter Robin Givhan hides behind fashion snarking and culture reporting to savage conservatives. She did it with Katherine Harris and Dick Cheney and John Bolton–and I’m sure you can remember many more examples …
Wow, you guys just keep making it funnier and funnier. It’s not a joke about Roberts, it’s a joke about you. And it’s right on target.
I’m going back to just ‘blogging’ about things in Manhattan, our beautiful island off of the coast of the United States. This exposure to the ‘reds’ has been disheartening.
I’m starting to think that a whole lot of supposedly-tolerant leftists really are homophobes, given their obsession over everyone’s sexual orientation, and their giddiness at forcibly outing gays (whether they are actually gay or not). The only reason they profess to be in brotherhood is because they see gays as a captive voting bloc. Hence, their unhinged reaction anytime a gay person goes off the reservation on any issue.
Assault On Roberts Begins In Earnest
The Washington Times reports that Democrats will be seeking internal memos written by Roberts during his time at the White House:Democrats said yesterday they will demand that the Bush administration hand over internal legal memorandums written by Supr…
Assault On Roberts Begins In Earnest
The Washington Times reports that Democrats will be seeking internal memos written by Roberts during his time at the White House:Democrats said yesterday they will demand that the Bush administration hand over internal legal memorandums written by Supr…
Let’s go after the family too
Gee, some people like the ever-tasteful Wonkette will feed into every gay stereotype they can just to smirk and spread unfounded rumors. will feed into every gay stereotype they can just to smirk and spread unfounded rumors. will feed into every gay stereotype they can just to smirk and spread unfounded rumors. will feed into every gay stereotype they can just to smirk and spread unfounded rumors.
Anatomy of A Rumor, WIth Links Intact For Now
Wikipedia’s bio of John Roberts indicated that he went to an all-male boarding school, and was on the wrestling team. Manhattan Offender, which appears to be a small personal blog, points this out, along with the fact that he took…
More Gay Witch Hunting From The Left
You know, for a group of people that are supposedly tolerant of “alternative lifestyles” the political left sure seems to be preoccupied who is and is not gay among the political right.
For crying out loud, just minutes after Roberts was …
I thought the left loved gays and everything they stand for? What stuff like this points out is that the Left is elitist, prejudiced and racist. Just imagine in six months when Janice Rogers Brown wins her nomination to the Court. The black jokes will be flying around on dumb sites like these. Maybe you can use the gay and black on her too.
What is wrong with these people?
Charmaine Yoest has discovered that the idiots on the DU and KOS are spreading rumours that Judge Roberts is gay. The leftists rumour-mongers are basing their accusations on the fact that he attended an all-male Catholic High School, wore plaid…
Patch, I think it is in the Declaration of Independence, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of plaid pants”. And who can forget the Boston Plaid Pants Party. And Patrick Henry’s stirring “No Plaid Pants without representation” speech before the Virginia House of Burgess.
This is wrong. I’m glad you spoke out on this terrible injustice.
BTW…Hillary is a lesbian. Pass it on.
It really is a joke. I promise. Cross my heart. (And it’s pc because it’s a send-up of homophobia.)
You’ve got your nominee, and you’ll probably confirm your nominee. Take three deep breaths and enjoy running the country.
Are you serious?!?
Ah yes, that’s quite a hit-piece the Washington Post ran – he must have hated a title like “Court Nominee’s Life Is Rooted in Faith and Respect for Law.” Boy I bet the White House was steamed!!
And they were next on the phone to chew out Cass Sunstein and Larry Tribe for declaring Roberts an excellent choice. Those liberals have no decency at all!!
First, let’s not confuse things. Mary Cheney is gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Second, they’re joking. It’s sick and juvenile, but that sort of “humor” is only encouraged by whipping ourselves into a frenzy over it.
Forget it.
Floyd:
What you describe, it’s called being a slime ball. Some on the left are great at this… claim the moral highground as you plumb the depths of good taste.
I haven’t read much Wonkette much recently, but I was a regular reader for a couple of months. She regularly made jokes about almost every political figure being gay, especially Kerry and Edwards. The key words here are, “made jokes.”
Wonkette isn’t joking? When isn’t Wonkette joking? If you’re not joking, you’re an idiot. And your “Lefty friends…lack humor, are literal-minded and self-serving.” I think you’re projecting.
The Conservatives are getting it all wrog today..
Already talked about how Michelle Malkin is wrong this morning on the Search My Bag…post below. Now, after visiting GOPVixen I have to say she is wrong too. I swear, pretty soon there is going to be a mob outside
More Soft Targets
I noted yesterday, that John G. Roberts teflon had resulted in a change of tactics by the left, presaged by Laurence Tribe’s comment on Larry King that while Roberts was a wonderful guy, he didn’t like the people that liked…
Comments above all make good points. I would say, however, that whether one is homosexual oneself may be a good predictor of where one would stand on the issue of homosexual marriage. Maybe not, but if I had to make a bet about person X and he himself were homosexual, it would influence the odds I would take. I think it Roberts case this is almost certainly hooey. And the points about a double standard are completely correct.
A New New Low
Confederate Yankee wades into the DU fever swamp so you don’t have to. The angry left is still after the children of John Roberts. UPDATE – Okay, maybe plaid pants don’t scream ‘macho,’ but are they really enough reason to…
Left now hinting that John Roberts is (gasp!) Gay
Visit REASONED Audacity for an example of how low and hypocritical the Liberal-Progressives can get. The Left is adding up all the numerous queer circumstances (including plaid pants).
Oh Good: Constructive, Rational Dialogue…
…or. perhaps not.
First, James Joyner notes the following fashion review of the Roberts’ announcement in WaPo: An Image A Little Too Carefully Coordinated
It has been a long time since so much syrupy nostalgia has been in evidence at the…
How Gay Are You?
Hey Guys – Wanna Test Your Gayness? Take the Gay Test. And, BTW, I did not make this up, it is from our lovely inclusive friends on the Moonbat side of reality, Wonkette and Manhattan Offender.
Supreme Nominee Smeared
JOHN ROBERTS once wore plaid pants. Therefore, he must be gay. We’re not making any conclusions here — we wouldn’t want to comment on an ongoing investigation — we’re just laying out the facts: He is a graduate of an…
The homophobic Left
In some precincts of the rabid Left, the moonbats are now suggesting that Judge John G. Roberts Jr. is gay. The “evidence” for this “observation” of Judge Roberts’ sexuality rests exclusively in mendacious stereotype. More…
Does Haberdashery Matter?
It’s now apparent that what will really give John Roberts smooth sailing through the Senate Judiciary seas is a fashion and marketing consultant. Via Michelle Malkin, the Washington Post sneers at the fashion sense of his family on the night
Does Haberdashery Matter?
It’s now apparent that what will really give John Roberts smooth sailing through the Senate Judiciary seas is a fashion and marketing consultant. Via Michelle Malkin, the Washington Post sneers at the fashion sense of his family on the night
Re: The “Peppermint Patty” thing…I wish someone would verify this. Peppermint Patty isn’t *in* “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown”. The earlier character named Patty is. Did they change it for his high school, or is the person who wrote this article for the NYT just too young to remember Patty?
Wouldn’t make much ado about Roberts being ‘gay’ make the left….hypocrites?
Just a thought…
The left is full of a bunch of [d*mn] bigots. Quite frankly the left believes it gets a pass as long as they are the ones calling people queer.
Supreme Nominee Smeared
JOHN ROBERTS once wore plaid pants. Therefore, he must be gay. We’re not making any conclusions here — we wouldn’t want to comment on an ongoing investigation — we’re just laying out the facts: He is a graduate of an…
The Sleazefest Begins
Now the left is beginning to peddle the subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) suggestion that Judge Roberts is gay. I’m assuming the picture perfect outfits for the kids and the Mrs. are all part of the cover.
Well, I finally feel old. This is generational confusion! As someone who grew up in the ’60’s and ’70’s, I know what people were wearing then–and for men, plaid pants were hot! (Remember “Animal House”!) If this indicates anything other than Roberts was “fashionable” — then most of the boys I knew in high school were gay as well.
Yes, it’s probably all a joke–but what you joke about says a lot about your heart and mind.
Wow, I didn’t even hear about these rumors until some righty wing-nut dredged it up from the bottom of the blog ocean…
I love the right’s obsession with Daily Kos. They find one offhand comment from a commenter on the site (which the other commenters all denounced and then say it represents “the left” (insert horror music here). If the left played the same game with the Free Republic and LGF, it would be neverending fun. I like whne the Freepers called Sandra Day O’Connor on the day of her retirement a fat cow. And the LGF’rs, jeez, they constantly endorse genocide of all muslims. Guess what, guys — Kos said that he was not opposing Roberts, and now you can’t attack anyone so you are just digging for stuff . . . . YOu are all crazy.
Does Haberdashery Matter?
It’s now apparent that what will really give John Roberts smooth sailing through the Senate Judiciary seas is a fashion and marketing consultant. Via Michelle Malkin, the Washington Post sneers at the fashion sense of his family on the night
All this is absolutely the most hilarious episode in recent blog-history!!!!
I think you people are so intoxicated with that bile flowing in your veins that you cant even begin to imagine what fools you are making of yourselves.
I only wish that the “left” were clever enough to be able to take credit for setting youse guys up as suckers like this – but no, I think y’all get all the credit for this yourselves.
The left starts “gay” whispering campaign against Roberts
The lefites at their most desperate and pathetic? Check it out at Charmaine Yoest’s blog: Reasoned Audacity: Politics in Real Life: Who’s Homophobic Now?. H/T Hugh Hewitt
“Gay” Roberts
He once wore plaid pants, in the 1970’s, while a teenager. He must be gay. Seriously, if that is the BEST the moonbat left can come up with to bash the distinguished Judge Roberts, then he will easily, easily be
Playing the Catholic card AND the Gay Card?
I noticed this yesterday on Ann Althouse’s blog and I was really hoping it would just go away, that we wouldn’t have to see the Democrats and some on the left once again bring themselves to the edge of something truly ugly by playing the &…
Plaid Pants = Gay to Leftist Smear Machine
Over at Reasoned Audacity, Charmaine Yoest alerts us to the Leftists’ Smear machine gearing up.
Seems the anti-John Roberts Attack Puppies have – ?incriminating? – photos of John Roberts from the 1970s wearing – gadzooks! – plaid pants. (There&…
You’re taking Wonkette way too seriously. I’m a big John Edwards fan, and I didn’t have any problem with her playing up an Edwards-is-gay line.
Look, this is pretty much her M.O. She looks at a news story, finds the silliest link between it and anal sex, and writes about it. Maybe some of you good people are too mature for that, so it doesn’t amuse you. That’s fine. But don’t think she’s being serious.
Observer: All this is absolutely the most hilarious episode in recent blog-history!!!!
No. That would be the Valerie Plame non-scandalgate
The Vile Left
Our liberal and leftwing friends are pretty darn certain that all of us conservatives are raging homophobes…that we just can’t stand the thought of gay people and thus work night and day to destroy homosexuals…this is both untrue, and very…
Plame not a scandal, huh? Bets, anyone? It will bring the illicit Bush house down. Oh how nice it will be! Do enjoy your ‘last throes’!
and my thesis, that conservatives do not have a sense of humour, is now proved.
i mean, jesus, this is wonkette, we’re talking about.
Saturday Morning Reads
I’ve said it before (though I’m not sure if I’ve posted it here) that Democrats are the reactionary party. Their ideology is based on whatever isn’t Republican instead of any honest ideology with the country’s interests in mind. They wait to see wher…
Face it, you guys have no sense of humor. When Ann Coulter says it’s too bad that Tim McV didn’t blow up the NYT building, oh boy THAT was funny. But make fun of a pair of plaid pants? HOW DARE YOU!
Get a [deleted] grip.
Seriously. If ever there was doubr that conservatives don’t understand irony, now is the time.
You guys just have no clue that it’s YOU, not Roberts, being mocked, and you’re making it funnier and funnier with every oblivious comment that makes clear just how clueless you are.
Besides, you really have no worries about us liberals starting “whisper campaigns” or engaging in character association. We might try to learn how, but we would never come anywhere close to the skill, shamlessness and utter lack of moral compunction that’s necessary to do it well. We’ll leave that to your side, because you all do it so very well.
Good lord y’all are tripping! just listen. Everything is going to be fine. You’re very high right now. You will probably be that way for about five more hours. Try taking some vitamin B complex, vitamin C complex.. if you have a beer, go ahead and drink it..Just remember you’re a living organism on this planet, and you’re very safe. You’ve just taken a heavy drug. Relax, stay inside and listen to some music, Okay? Do you have any Allman Brothers?
Its not so much that its a “joke.” Its that we find this behavior by the nominee endearing.
you’re kidding right? please tell me you’re kidding.
Wonkette apparently missed Freud and the vast psychological literature on humor. That brand of “humor” is aggressive and vicious, and not funny at all. Wonkette is seriously humorous.
Attacking John Roberts’ Children
Speaking of respect and children, check out the observations that Danny Carlton makes about the press attacks on John Roberts’ kids.
Remember when class meant the outward display of inner character? And that display wasn’t about clothes, …
Who’s Homophobic Now?
So a gay blogger points to stereotypically gay aspects of the nominee’s biography to insinuate he’s gay and you don’t pick up on the fact that he’s attacking the stereotypes? Have you ever met a gay person? And, if you asked them, did they think that all people who have a stereotypically gay characteristic are, in fact, gay? Far out.
Duh – it’s a JOKE. Maybe not as hilariously funny as, say, when President Bush hunted for the missing WMDs at the corresponent’s dinner, but a joke none the less.
Haven’t you ever heard of “camp”? No one is attacking Roberts for being gay. Hell, the left would love that. They’re just making fun of some funny details in his background. Wonkette also makes a point of posting pictures of G.W. Bush limp-wristed or holding a guy’s hand, but she is not really suggesting that Bush is gay. Its humor, irony. It is funny to see Bush who made anti-gay rhetoric practically a pillar of his campaign in gay poses. Likewise, its funny to suggest a posterboy conservative family guy Roberts would have these silly stereotypically gay characteristics in his history.
The wingnuts do protest too much, methinks.
Hey, right-wingers, here’s the liberal point of view in a nutshell: Being called gay, even if you’re not at all gay, even if it’s not meant as a joke but rather is meant as a serious, sober accusation, IS NOT AN INSULT.
What you wingnuts don’t get is that straight people on the left dont think there is anything whatsoever wrong with being gay. Nothing nothing nothing wrong with it. It’s like being tall or being a preppie – it has no moral right/wrong status whatsoever. We can hang out with openly gay people and talk about their gayness openly, we can innocently joke about the gayness of anyone we wish, and we can call people gay who obviously are not — all without even a drop of judgementalism or condemnation.
We also think it’s fine if our children grow up and become gay. If gay people influence my children to become gay and I end up without any heirs and my family bloodline dries up, so what? I just want my kids to be happy. And yes, gay people are happy.
The fact that we have 100% non-judgemental attitude towards gay people is something you wingnuts cannot understand. You hear a lefty use the word “gay” and you cannot comprehend that it might not be an insult. Listen: it’s not!
In fact, we like gay people so much that we think most gay people are pretty cool. It’s far more likely that the effete aura that some are painting Judge Roberts with will endear him to the gay-friendly left far more than it will alienate him from the left, or even from the right. His plaid pants tell us that maybe, just maybe, he too doesn’t waste his time with insane worries over how gay people are going to lead America’s children astray.
I don’t think anyone has yet pointed out how all these wingnuts lept to the conclusion that the suggestion Roberts may be gay was an attack on Roberts. A totally unwarranted conclusion. Wonkette, for instance, ends her post by saying “I like the guy more and more.”
A clearer display of mass homophobia would be difficult to find. All the more clear for its being uncounscious.
That and the fact that they obviously have very thin and humorless skins on the subject. Sublimate much?
This is hilarious. You’ve set a new gold standard for me for Wingnuts Who Completely Miss The Point.
Congrats on your achievement.
I’m working on a response to these comments which I’ll be posting on the main page later this afternoon. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
The irony is too rich. The irony I’m referring to of course is the fact that lefties have no problem with gays, and that only right-wingers, vividly displaying their own homophobia, would think that a leftie calling someone a gay is a smear or an attack. That you guys don’t even get this only makes it sadder.
Um, wait a sec…
Do you have any evidence of anyone on the left actually calling him gay?
You have one flippant remark by a gay, Wonkette (Wonkette, few gawds sake) and a conservative blogger.
Based on this, to judge from the comments and the trackbacks above, the entire right wing blogosphere is in turmoil.
There is no smear campaign. Not even close. This is just a hyper-sensitive “we’re being picked on” reaction. And it’s silly, and it’s sad.
But Mary Cheney IS, by self description, gay. I’m confused. Are you saying Roberts is gay too?
Alexander: no, you misunderstand my point. I am referring back to the “Mary Cheney strategy” which was: the Left attempting to undercut Dick Cheney’s political support on the Right by emphasizing his daughter being gay. . . the theory was that this was going to inflame the “homophobia” on the Right. Didn’t work. This is what I’m talking about where I say “they think we care.”
It is might hot out
Weekend, limited-edition of NIF
I bet your first commenter “Bob” wouldn’t find the joke in any reference to Hillary Clinton’s sexuality…. Nope.. that, like every other bit of insight in Saint Hillary and Saint Bill is their “private life.”
But should we really be all that surprised that the left sinks to this type of personal attack which is openly playing out in the pages of major newspapers?
After all, they have alredy cut and pasted the most radical talking points from People for the American way right into news stories, nearly unedited.
Mike, I can’t speak for Bob, but I personally find some Hillary jokes to be quite funny — if they’re good jokes!
But your comments show that you don’t understand how humor works. Jokes about Republicans being gay are inherently funny because Republicans are (stereotypically) homophobic. Jokes about Democrats being gay have to work a lot harder to be funny because Democrats are not (stereotypically) homophobic.
That goes for a general audience, but any type of joke can be funny to a more limited audience. For instance, if a wingnut tells a joke insinuating that Hillary is a lesbian, other wingnuts may well find it hilarious, since they share the presumption that homosexuality is a bad thing, and that therefore calling Hillary a lesbian somehow takes her down a peg or two. The rest of us, who don’t share that assumption, simply roll our eyes and shake our heads.
Mike, read the whole thread. Wonkette has joked before about John Edwards being gay. It’s not an insult. It’s a joke. “How Gay Is This Guy?” is a catchphrase. It’s not intended to be taken seriously. Y’all have completely lost it.
Owsley (at July 23, 2005 10:11 AM),
That’s a dirty right-wing lie!! Jimmy Carter never said any of that stuff about “tripping” and “orange acid” and all those other viscous things.
charmaine wrote:
I am referring back to the “Mary Cheney strategy” which was: the Left attempting to undercut Dick Cheney’s political support on the Right by emphasizing his daughter being gay.
See, you even get that wrong. Something inside of your head, some mental barrier, prevents you from understanding the point of view of people who actually like gay people. Something prevents you from seeing that we on the left are able to discuss Mary Cheney’s lesbianism without intending to foment any homophobic hatred whatsoever.
We wanted to discuss Cheney’s homophobia in order to send a message to gay-tolerant people, even gay-tolerant Republicans — not to the gay-hating Republicans (we’ve written them off ages ago). We wanted to say “Look: your Republican leadership is willing to set aside their own personal tolerance for gay people in order to score political points with the extremist gay-hating right. They are willing to step on their own friends – even their own families – in order to maintain power. They care more about maintaining power and leveraging hatred than they do about the rights of gay Americans.”
Your reaction, that we were undermine Bush’s support from the gay-hating ultra-right, is incredibly sad. You are willing to admit that your leadership needs, indeed relies upon, the support of hateful bigoted people, in order to survive. The way I see it, until the Republican leadership vocally disavows all gay-hating groups and all homophobia, they are just as bad as they are. You can’t have a gay daughter and accept money and endorsements from gay hating groups and be a moral leader. Dick Cheney is a hypocrite. That’s our point.
Mike, you’re wrong. We love Hillary-is-gay jokes. We don’t like “Hillary is gay, and that’s why we hate her” jokes.
Some people tell gay jokes in order to justify their fears of gay people living openly in America, and sometimes to leverage those fears into organized political action. Other people tell gay jokes in order to point out the irony that some people act like they are so uncomfortable around gay people even though gay people never hurt them.
Boo! Gay people are everywhere! Scared?
Hi,
It’s a joke.
Thanks for playing.
I had no idea insanity was this contagious. But then, I’m not a conservative.
The Slime Campaign
I knew that the smearing and sliming of John Roberts (President Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court) would be commencing…
I made a typo in my earlier comment. I said the left would never be as good as the right at “character association.” Of course I meant to say “character assassination and guilt by association,” both time-honored right-wing poilitical tactics.
Beyond!
Our friends on the right continue to defy satire. You just can’t make this kind of stuff up.
Wow. This is just amazing. The original joke was sort of funny, but you guys have really taken it to the next level. You’re totally clueless, aren’t you? Thanks for the laughs!
Wonkette: John Edwards is gay! ha ha 😉
Conservative Nut: Is there no depth of depravity to which Democrats won’t sink? This is an outrage!
John Roberts Wears Plaid Pants
There’s no point in paying any attention to conservative critiques of the Times anymore.
Many Funerals
News from Pennsylvania:The family of a Marine who was killed in Iraq is furious with Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll for showing up uninvited at his funeral this week, handing out her business card and then saying “our government” is…
I am referring back to the “Mary Cheney strategy” … This is what I’m talking about where I say “they think we care.”
You’re not telling the whole truth, Charmaine. Big picture, you’re questioning the veracity of the left’s commitment to gay rights, and you are suggesting that the right is more tolerant of gays than the left.
That is insane.
Manufacturing an anti-Roberts conspiracy
Via Kevin Drum and Unfogged comes one of the wackiest blog posts I’ve ever read. The author, Charmaine Yoest, a conservative apparatchik now at the University of Virginia, accuses the left of insinuating that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts is
Not that there’s anything wrong with that
Of all the things obstructionists are accusing John Roberts of being, perhaps this is the most absurd. Call it the Mary Cheney Strategy. Call it desperation. Some on the Left have started a “maybe he’s gay” whisper campaign against John…
To Be (Oblivious) or Not To Be
I — apparently — am studying for the bar too hard. I had no clue when writing Sunday’s post about Judge John Roberts that a whole gay rumor/gay-baiting/gawd, get over it people to-do had sprung up over the past several…
Charmaine, you should be ashamed of yourself for peddling such nonsense as proof of a liberal conspiracy.
It’s nice to know that someone so bright is using her intelligence in such a positive way. This type of slanderous innuendo should be below you.
Sooner or later, you should be smart enough to arrive at this conclusion… You are part of the disease poisoning discourse in this country.
Don’t you take yourself a bit too seriously?
Only a no-sense-of-humour-vative could think one gay guy calling Judge Cutie gay because of happy gayish things like studying French, singing in choir and playing drama is some kind of vicious, conspiracy-orchestrated slur attack.
Turns out the joke is on you, LOL. How about you watch some “Will & Grace” to chill out.
Who’s Gonna “Shoot” J.R.?
….the Left or the Right?
~ ~ ~
The former we’ll deal with in substantially lesser detail below. It is the latter that appears to be percolating at a higher rolling boil.
There are a few voices on the right side of the tracks that are alrea…
I can’t believe this is for real. I’ve tried to put a post together without insulting the author and the conservative posters but I just can’t. You are absolutely loony and if you can’t appreciate why then you have way more serious problems than who the nominee is.
Um – Take it from a Gay Republican.
The vast number of Republicans (including you) ARE homophobic.
The vast number of Democrats are not.
Wonkette is not homophobic. Her post was funny,.
Charmaine Yoest is. Because she wants to deny gay people their rights. Plus she has zero sense of humor.
How difficult is that to understand?
Roberts Probably Straight (Not That There’s Anything Wrong with That)
We’re sort of thrilled that our joking about John Roberts being gay has been officially elevated to a “whisper campaign” intended to bring him down. Does that mean we can take credit for ruining the Kerry-Edwards ticket, too? We’re sure…
Any plaid pants in your closet?
Here’s Garrison Keillor, in 1997, on plaid pants: TR: Get into the mood of spring with a pair of bright, festive plaid pants – the fashion exclamation – plaid pants, one way of saying, “This is me, it couldn’t be…
This is one of the funniest posts/threads I have ever read. Really, people: it’s a joke. Calm down.
And yet, John Kerry was “too French.” Hmmm ….
I’m not a conservative or anything, but you do yourselves a disservice when you get up in arms about things on Wonkette. It’s called parody people. Just laugh at it with everyone else. It might make you seem hip.
This whole topic is ridiculous. What’s with the paranoia about a so-called “whispering campaign”? Not everything is political, you know. Sometimes people – oh my god, BLOGGERS, even – are just having fun.
Relax, stop taking everything so seriously, and have a nice cheese sandwich for once.
[Downtown Lad] Um – Take it from a Gay Republican.
[joke deleted] (This is a family blog young man!) [ed: that’s right.]
Charmaine Yoest is [a homophobe]. Because she wants to deny gay people their rights.
Like Charmaine, I’m a [closet] homophobe as well, but unlike some folks I know 😉 I don’t want to deny homosexuals their human rights (that’s just *wrong*). Like you I think same-sex marriage is a constitutionally mandated human right, especially after Canada – int’l paragon of human rights that it is – has just voted it in (so it must be one, right?).
So, like you I *do* support same-sex marriage — just not for homosexuals. I don’t mind it a bit if two *heteros* get married – it’s their human right after all, and the financial benefits are *worth* it, believe me. And I guess I don’t really mind if you want to marry another Gay Republican [you’re not attracted to] for the same reason; but the idea that you might be joined in marital & carnal bliss with that person… now *that* I [in my narrow-mindedness] just can’t stand!!!
(Unless, of course, they’re an Islamic fundamentalist – no tactic is too bold when enticing someone to give up Jihad…exception granted!)
So here’s my opinion: Before same-sex marriage *is* recognized (and it’s only a matter of time, as the ACLU has announced repeatedly), we need to come up with a means test to ensure that no *actual gays* (except Islamic fundamentalists) in love with each other can wrongly take advantage of it.
The only trick will be making this policy legal…but with the ultra-right-wing about to take over the whole country (and the planet) like I’ve been reading in the NYT, I’m sure that won’t be a problem…
Plus she has zero sense of humor.
Yeah that can be a bit of a drag. (Like John Roberts in his Patty costume.) Thank God there’s enough humor between the both of us to cover her!
Clubbing a joke to a brutal and bloody death.
You gotta love Washington. The NYT publishes a piece on the life of Roberts. Wonkette sees a pattern there and pokes fun at it. Never mind that the fashions of the 70s were guaranteed to make anyone’s lifestyle look “alternative”…
The plaid photo is very good, but do you have a photo of Rudy Giuliani in drag on your Instapundit and Wonkette-approved blog, like I do?
I didn’t think so.
As for the “taking it seriously”, no one took it seriously. But Rove-a-Dope/Plamegate isn’t exactly jumping off the pages either, so we have to amuse ourselves somehow this summer.
Cheers,
Victoria
Have you ever heard of sarcasm, or are you just a complete dumb-a**?
Come Dance ‘Til Your Feet Sing!
It’s time for the Cotillion Ball — and what would a ball be without shoes! Beautiful shoes, elegant shoes, avant garde shoes, silly shoes, vintage shoes, shoes, shoes, beautiful dancing shoes! So take a step out with the ladies of…
A “homophobe” is by definition someone who fears homosexuals. The word does NOT mean that one “hates” homosexuals. One might hate homosexuals and not fear them, or conversely one might fear homosexuals but not hate them.
Honestly, in all my sixty odd years, I have never met anyone who “hates” homosexuals as a group. A lot of people I know fear homosexuals for a variety of reasons.
wyck, there is a fine line between fear and hatred. I can’t imagine fearing something and not having a little bit of hatred for it too.
What is the cause of hate, after all, if not fear?
When a person is filled with hate, are they not also filled with fear at the same time? When you are fearful of a known threat, do you not hate that threat?
Who can hate somebody and not fear them? If you hate someone, you probably have some kind of reason (logical or not) to suspect that they mean to do you harm. In other words, you fear them.
Who can fear somebody and not hate them? If you fear someone, it is usually because you feel they intend to do you harm. It’s natural for hatred to grow hand in hand with fear of harm. I mean, what else causes hate if not fear?
Hate is a word that has a connotation of bigotry. Conservatives bend over backwards to express their disapproval and fear of gay Americans without going all the way to say the word hate, because they don’t want to look like bigots. But what is bigotry, anyway? It’s irrational fear. What is hate? It’s also fear. Fear of gay people is thus irrational, hateful, and bigoted.
John Roberts and the “Politics of Personal Destruction”
Does anyone remember how Clinton’s supporters called for an end to the “Politics of Personal Destruction” in connection with the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal? Or how Kerry’s supports used the same phrase to accuse Bush during the 2004 campaign?
Wel…
Pro-Gay Liberals attack Nominee for Gay Pants?
There have been a number of attacks coming from the left in recent months and the central theme of these attacks has been He’s GAY! If the republican party were to attack ANYONE, or even make a sarcastic joke based
Jeez, you guys are aparnoid aren’t you?
So what if Roberts is gay? Why should that make any difference in whether he’s confirmed or not?
Although, this story does make one wonder what he’s trying to hide:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/04/roberts_helped_gay_rights_activists_win_landmark_ruling/
It does work! A snarky comment about ugly pants and everyone freaks out.
FWIW, the folks who are participating in this idiotic snarkfest do not represent “the left.” They represent the immature and self-absorbed faction, and I’m quite positive the Right has one of those too. Wonkette is a self-promoting clown, and this is obvious to most of us lefties.
You’re probably gay, too. Just look at you… I mean, that’ a pretty butch haircut. Reasoned audacity, indeed!
Announcing: Conservative Bloggers Who Support The Gay Judge Roberts
Sometimes, enough is enough. The time has come for usto take action. It long been axiomatic for the Left that conservatives hate gays. It should be obvious that no political party can remain viable unless it is accommodates a wide…
The important thing for the Left to remember is that conservatives will support Judge Roberts, even if he is gay, which we aren’t saying he is.
http://supportgayjudgeroberts.blogspot.com/
I Want to Be a Macho Man
Everybody’s gay, particularly those who claim not to be. Claiming not to be gay is a sure sign that you live in the closet. Human Bacon has declared that I am gay! Of course, last week he announced that I
Hire the Homosexual
The NCWIT Brad Feld has about the best blog published for early stage companies. But I have a (rare) disagreement with him. The National Center for Women in Information Technology, NCWIT, appointed a male as the board chair. The…