Looking at my last posts, I've completely dropped my personal life (at least editorializing on it) in favor of politics.  While I'm a political kinda guy, there's alot more to me than that.  (and I've been up to some pretty cool stuff recently)

Time to start correcting that and start blogging on the rest of my life (with some politics injected for flavor.)

This is one of the posts that got eaten when tblog hiccuped so badly the other day.  It's also one that think deserves to be on here, so I'm posting it again:

Over the past few months, political discourse in the US has descended into a battle between little children. There are very complicated issues before us and instead of addressing the issues and treating those with different opinions with respect, we’ve devolved into an ‘us vs. them’ battle of insults.

I for one am sick of it and won’t play the game anymore. I’ve been told by others that ‘the Republicans started it.’ Well, maybe they did. But that holds as much weight with me as ‘he hit me first’ did for my mother.

So, here’s the stances I choose to take – if you don’t want to play, then don’t but don’t expect me to play your game:

1. Not all conservatives are evil or enamored with the current administration or even Republicans. Not all liberals are traitors or disciples of Michael Moore or members of the Democratic Party.

2. There are more than two sides to any discussion. Listen to what a person is saying instead of what their ‘side’ says. (As a further corollary, don’t tell me what I believe and I won’t tell you what you believe.)

3. No one person knows the Truth. Maybe, just maybe, one could be mistaken on an issue.

4. No one party holds a monopoly on patriotism. Disagreeing with someone does not make you a traitor. (corollary: Protest is an American Value.)

5. Keep the personal insults out of it. It pollutes the water and doesn’t help either the insulter or the insultee.

Now that I got that out of my system, I have made personal attacks against individuals. I have referred to politicians in less than flattering terms. Going forward, I don’t intend to do that. I may use sarcasm or humor, but I don’t intend to use either in conjunction with insults and hatred.

Let the games begin.

The world ‘lifestyle’ has been tossed around for the couple decades as a term to group people into easily recognizable categories.  It’s a form of shorthand that I really dislike as it’s overly generic and often used to categorize a group one disapproves of.  I’ve never heard a religious conservative refer to the Born-again lifestyle.

In my world, I most often hear the term in conjunction with gay people.  Most recently this is popping up around the issue of gay marriage.  It would be an affirmation of the gay lifestyle, many contend.  Just what is this lifestyle being referred to that we cannot affirm?  As a gay person, I own a home that I maintain.  I work at least 40 hours a week.  I walk my dog and go grocery shopping.  I do many of the same things that my heterosexual neighbors do.  So, which of the events in my life distinguish it enough to have a separate lifestyle from heterosexuals?  I could list things I do that not all heterosexuals doe – but all of them are done by some heterosexuals.

The only thing I can think of that distinguishes me from my neighbors has to do with my genitals and what I may or may not do with them (or what others think I do with them).  That’s just a polite way of saying I’m a fag.  Publicly very few people talk about all the ‘nasty’ things they think gay people do anymore.  Instead they use words like ‘lifestyle’ as a code for the same thing. 

I posted this article yesterday, but the tblog server is on drugs and blended it with a previous post .... once it sobers up I hope those posts function correctly.  Until then, here's a duplicated version:

As an openly gay person, I know that coming out of the closet is a deeply personal, often painful and extremely difficult thing to do.  I strongly oppose outing someone for tabloid-like titillation.

That said, if a gay person stays in the closet and then actively works to harm other gay people, then the gloves are off.  At that point, outing is not a matter of gossip but a way to expose hypocrisy.  If an anti-drug crusader was found to have a coke habit, no one would complain about outing him.  This is the same thing in my book.

Published on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 by the Los Angeles Times

'Outing' Tactic Stirs Debate
by Richard Simon and Johanna Neuman--

WASHINGTON — The allegation appeared on a website last month: A conservative Republican congressman, Edward L. Schrock of Virginia, was secretly gay. It was picked up by other sites — and on Monday, Schrock withdrew his bid for reelection, saying only that his campaign could no longer focus on his district's issues.

The Web posting was the latest move in an intensified campaign by gay activists to fight what they perceive as antigay legislation by "outing" lawmakers who they believe to be gay and who vote for the measures — including the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would amend the Constitution to say that only men and women can enter into a legal marriage.

The outing campaign is a new tactic in a battle between some gay activists who decry what they call the hypocrisy of closeted gays who support the amendment or work for lawmakers who back it, and those who assail the tactic as an invasion of privacy. It comes as Republicans have ratified a platform at their party convention in New York supporting President Bush's call for the amendment, which would effectively ban same-sex marriage.

The Gay, Lesbian & Allies Senate Staff Caucus criticized the outing campaign, calling it "counterproductive."

"We are troubled by this idea that staffers must agree with their bosses on every issue or they are somehow 'hypocrites' and should, consequently, be harassed," the group says on its website. Steven Fisher, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest advocacy group for gay and lesbian issues, said his organization opposed using "sexual orientation as a weapon."

Christopher Barron, political director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay group, said: "We disagree strongly with the outing campaign, but we also strongly disagree with President Bush's sponsorship of the antifamily Federal Marriage Amendment. It is all very unfortunate."

The debate over the outing campaign intensified after Schrock, who represents the conservative military cities of Norfolk and Hampton Roads, abruptly announced Monday that he would not seek reelection to a third term.

His announcement came after Michael Rogers, a gay-rights activist in Washington, posted on his website a recording of a phone call that he alleged was placed by Schrock to a gay dating service several years ago.

Schrock, 63, a retired Navy captain who is married, did not comment on Rogers' allegations. His office issued a written statement saying that his decision to withdraw from the race was spurred by unspecified allegations that have "called into question" his ability to serve in Congress.

His office did not return a call Tuesday. A House GOP leadership aide who spoke on condition that he not be identified said Tuesday that Schrock's "initial instinct was to fight this thing tooth and nail, but [he] wound up deciding that he didn't want to drag his family through it."

Rogers defended his actions, saying he was determined to expose officials who vote against gay rights while maintaining a secret gay life and to reveal the sexual orientation of closeted gay staffers who work for lawmakers who support antigay legislation.

"This is about exposing hypocrisy," he said in an interview. Schrock is among 127 House sponsors of the amendment. The Senate blocked the measure in July; the House is expected to vote on it this fall.

Schrock also voted in July for a House-approved bill designed to let state courts, rather than federal courts, decide whether states should recognize out-of-state marriages between people of the same sex. Rogers, 40, a fundraising consultant, said he started his website in July after Bush announced his support of the constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage.

Rogers said an anonymous tipster sent him a recording of the call allegedly made by the congressman. Rogers said he called the lawmaker's office several times, but was hung up on.

In one of the postings on Rogers' Web log, a reader wrote: "Certainly I have mixed feelings on outing. But not when it comes to hypocrites who are actively working to perpetuate the hatred and discrimination we face."

Another posting says, "I do not understand a site such as yours that fights hate and bigotry with a very similar type of hate and attacks…. What have you accomplished by outing these men?"

John Aravosis, a Washington political consultant, runs http://www.DearMary.com" title="http://www.DearMary.com" target="_blank"http://www.DearMary.com , a website that encourages supporters to write Vice President Dick Cheney's openly lesbian daughter, Mary, entreating her to lobby her father against Bush administration policies.

Aravosis said the White House all but invited the outing tactic by endorsing the constitutional amendment. "They declared war," he said. "We're not going to respond with a hug." He said he had qualms about outing people — "and I still do, you're talking about someone's personal life, something that can cause them real pain."

But he said Bush's endorsement of the Federal Marriage Act in February "changed everything. They dropped the legislative equivalent of a nuclear bomb."

A former staff lawyer to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Aravosis compared the campaign to the superpower nuclear showdown during the Cold War.

"Mutual assured destruction worked once," he said. "Maybe it will again." Saying the White House has used gay issues as a wedge to win support from its conservative base, Aravosis added, "If they want to call a truce, our phone lines are open."

© 2004 Los Angeles Times

I am a 40yo guy living in Dallas, Texas with my partner of 18 years, Gilbert, and our puppy, Rex. I'm both a fun loving, happy guy in my everyday life and a loud mouthed Progressive.

I love to travel and meet people. My goal in life is to go everywhere and meet everyone.

So, pull up a chair, make yourself at home, enjoy my mental wanderings and feel free to drop me a line to tell me what you think...