09 May 2008

Hillary Dearest

Kevin, at Citizen Crain, telling the gay community that no tears should be shed over Hillary Clinton's apparent loss of the Democratic presidential nomination:
A lot of tripe is thrown around about gay Republicans in the gay media, and has been for over a decade. But not enough has been written about the toxic impact that Clintonism has wrought on the gay community and its political leadership. The cravenness of it, the poisonous combination of raising hopes with glistening promises, and dashing them at the first sign of political risk -- all the while shifting the blame to others -- has done more to destroy what was once a potentially powerful movement than anything a small band of hapless, closeted gay Republicans on Capitol Hill (now "cleansed" for the most part) could ever have done...

[Clinton's defeat] Whether you realize it or not, [is] good for you. Embrace it. And get back to work in making your party something other than a gigantic waste of money, hope and effort.
If what the Clintons did to the black community during this campaign was any indication, the gay community would have been in for a world of hurt under a Hillary Clinton administration.

Kevin's argument aside, we should remember that despite having Bill Clinton throw us under the bus at the first sign of political turmoil (Melissa Etheridge's words, not mine), the gay community thrived on its own, thank you, despite that. And it had absolutely nothing to do with the Clinton Administration (who, I remind you, put "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in place and who, I remind you, signed the Defense of Marriage Act). Yes, he was an excellent president on most matters and, had it been an option, a third term would have benefited the nation more than the presidency of George W. Bush. (I certainly would have voted for him despite the political expediency; and, yes, for Hillary this year had she been the nominee.) But let's get one thing...uhhh..."straight" - the huge strides the gay community made in the 1990s happened for one reason and one reason only: The gays themselves made them happen.