Regarding the current Linseed Graham flap, I find the whole sorry episode both disturbing, for the kind of ridiculous, juvenile prejudice it represents, and infuriating, due to the kind of personal and institutional hypocrisy which is at the core of the whole controversy. I think we all have a duty to tell the people of South Carolina just what we think of their White Trash political discourse. First, I have no idea whether or not the Graham cracker is Gay, nor do I care to find out. Second, Im actually amazed, in the perverse and petty political culture of SC, that a lifelong bachelor managed to make it this far without the inevitable innuendo. Graham has to be first confirmed bachelor since Alexander Stephens to achieve any sort of high federal office in Dixie, and Im sure he knew that this day was coming. If Graham is Gay, he owes his comrades in the Gay community some profound apologies for the many years of persecution his closeted homophobia worked on the military policies he enforced as a JAG officer and oversaw as a congressman and senator. Hell, even if he isnt Gay, he owes the LGBT community the same apology. Graham managed to hurt a whole lot of people servicing his political ambitions in one of the more closeted states of our Union. But, truth be told, the most vexing thing is how we all recognize these accusations for what they are -- a political smear campaign by ruthless redneck political thugs -- and we are being forced into the uncomfortable position of feeling sorry for this unpleasant Gomer. It is one thing entirely for a predatory hypocrite like Larry Craig to get arrested making a wide stance. It is something else for a discrete and private individual to be outed merely by calumny and purely for the sake of political advantage. Id like to think the Graham cracker will learn some tolerance and show some compassion if he manages to survive this campaign. But Im more likely to become Francis successor. Grahams lack of compassion and character nevertheless does not change the fact that no one, however personally reprehensible, deserves to be on the receiving end of a George Smathers-style political smear campaign. Graham, like Claude Pepper before him, is indeed a known homo sapiens who admits to having matriculated in college. Gasp! There is no joy in watching ones opponents being destroyed unjustly. Grahams manifold political sins should be brought to a reckoning, including his own needless persecutions of Gay Americans. But this isnt the way to do it. This is just shabby, ugly hate-mongering by the pond scum of Southern politics, a species of great antiquity in the region who have earned a spot on the endangered list.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:29:13 +0000
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