Monday, February 14, 2005
Maya Keyes has courage; James Guckert has gall
Wow, it's been quite the day for the gays & the Internets. Two unconnected but profoundly similar stories found their way to the big time: Maya Keyes is OUT OUT OUT and I'm not sure when I've seen an act of bravery quite like this in the political arena in quite some time. It's far greater than anything James "I have to tell you I'm gay before I'm sued by my former lover!" McGreevy did, and I'm nervous for her. Hers is the courage of the young - 19, newly out, a fresh face, a giddy liberty. For so many of the gays, however (this blog not exempted) she was and will be a weapon to be used against her loathsome but still impressive father. Her act of speaking out could be seen as inappropriately airing family laundry. But I see it instead as a powerful act of speaking truth to power, and I applaud her for it.
As for dad Alan, you are a freak show, but it seems you did a fine job in raising your daughter. Please figure your shit out soon. Oh, and thanks for the "selfish hedonist" line. I'm really loving it.
[Thanks to Val at Uppity Negro for calling this to my attention, and I'm sorry I missed the memorial in my hood - stupid conference!]
Then there's J.D. Wow. I don't really know where to start. Check out dailykos.com or Americablog for the deets, but basically what you have here is a male escort using his wiles to become a prominant cog in the right-wing machine during the past two years, meanwhile laughably passing himself as a journalist who could count on Scott McClellan to call on him regularly during white house press briefings, but who then basically self-immolated when he decided to ask our fine president a really really stupid question at a press conference. Oh, and when Wolf Blitzer asked what all these sex site rumors (says Wolf, "I don't understand what that is..." because that would take actual RESEARCH) "Jeff Gannon" flat-out lied. It would seem. Even stupider is the idea that people WOULDN'T find out about his escort past (present?) eventually. I mean, the guy had SUCH a wide and deep Internet presence that it was almost inevitable that he'd slip up - and he did, particularly with the AOL profile. However, maybe this was just part of his master plan to drum up more business for the "32 year old" "Jeff" and his $1200 weekends.
Anyway. Here's where the gall comes in. For some weird reasons, although the front page is down, several of the pages from his self-branding effort (The Conservative Guy) are still up (at least as of this posting). There's this Whois page along with weird postings that are clearly just ideas for future articles on "gay" and "black" ... (in the latter, which begins "I WISH I WAS BLACK," he calls Alan Keyes, of all people, a man of "accomplishment and distinction," and speculates that blacks need to "keep you children in school" sic). On the Whois page, the second sentence is this: "Some people don't remember my name because I am an average type guy."
Jeff. James. J.D. ... GANNON! GUCKERT! Maybe the reason "some people" don't remember your name is because you change it more often than Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure!
I don't know if you're gay, straight, bisexual, or just a lonely little boy trapped in a big man's body. But you got served by a young girl who actually has her shit together. Oh, and she doesn't have to wish. She is black.
As for dad Alan, you are a freak show, but it seems you did a fine job in raising your daughter. Please figure your shit out soon. Oh, and thanks for the "selfish hedonist" line. I'm really loving it.
[Thanks to Val at Uppity Negro for calling this to my attention, and I'm sorry I missed the memorial in my hood - stupid conference!]
Then there's J.D. Wow. I don't really know where to start. Check out dailykos.com or Americablog for the deets, but basically what you have here is a male escort using his wiles to become a prominant cog in the right-wing machine during the past two years, meanwhile laughably passing himself as a journalist who could count on Scott McClellan to call on him regularly during white house press briefings, but who then basically self-immolated when he decided to ask our fine president a really really stupid question at a press conference. Oh, and when Wolf Blitzer asked what all these sex site rumors (says Wolf, "I don't understand what that is..." because that would take actual RESEARCH) "Jeff Gannon" flat-out lied. It would seem. Even stupider is the idea that people WOULDN'T find out about his escort past (present?) eventually. I mean, the guy had SUCH a wide and deep Internet presence that it was almost inevitable that he'd slip up - and he did, particularly with the AOL profile. However, maybe this was just part of his master plan to drum up more business for the "32 year old" "Jeff" and his $1200 weekends.
Anyway. Here's where the gall comes in. For some weird reasons, although the front page is down, several of the pages from his self-branding effort (The Conservative Guy) are still up (at least as of this posting). There's this Whois page along with weird postings that are clearly just ideas for future articles on "gay" and "black" ... (in the latter, which begins "I WISH I WAS BLACK," he calls Alan Keyes, of all people, a man of "accomplishment and distinction," and speculates that blacks need to "keep you children in school" sic). On the Whois page, the second sentence is this: "Some people don't remember my name because I am an average type guy."
Jeff. James. J.D. ... GANNON! GUCKERT! Maybe the reason "some people" don't remember your name is because you change it more often than Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure!
I don't know if you're gay, straight, bisexual, or just a lonely little boy trapped in a big man's body. But you got served by a young girl who actually has her shit together. Oh, and she doesn't have to wish. She is black.
