Thursday

Janeane Garafolo on Karl Rove:

"The only interesting thing about Karl Rove, in my opinion, is that he is, I believe, gay or bi. I find that to be the only likeable thing about him. I think that Karl Rove should be outed as gay only because if their fundamentalist evangelical right-wing backers (I know that a lot of progressives are evangelical, I'm just talking about the conservative fundamentalists) knew that one of their masters, Karl Rove, is in fact gay -- and there's absolutely no crime in that -- I think that might shake their fundamentalist evangelical base. That might be helpful in stopping people from voting against their best interests."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is one of the more insipid quotes I've seen on here. I am surprised that Katie would find it worthy of posting. Dick Cheney's daughter helped with the campaign and it didn't turn off evangelical christians.

Karl Rove may or may not be gay. Who cares?

Anonymous said...

Duh! Because his party supposedly stands for 'family values': you know, marriage between a man and a woman ONLY, etc?
But it's not so surprising to me anymore than plenty of people in the Bush Whitehouse aren't who they pretend they are. So much for their personal morality when "Scooter" Libby turns out to be the author of a disgustingly pornographic novel.

Anonymous said...

"Duh!"

Congrats on the strong rebuttal!

Let me say it a bit clearer with a few examples. The quote implied that evangelical christians would turn away from the Republican party if Karl Rove were outed (true or not). This is the same logic that both Kerry and Edwards used when they - in the middle of nationally televised debates made sure to say something like, "and you know ... CHENEY'S DAUGHTER is GAY!"

It didn't turn out very well for Kerry/Edwards because it was seen for what it was - a mean spirited personal attack with no relevance.

In many ways, statements like "Karl Rove is gay and gasp, he is a Republican" are similar to hateful and insipid statements like "Katie Granju pretends to know everything about raising a family and, gasp, she got a divorce!"

Katie found this worth quoting for one of two reasons: (1) she thought it was insightful political analysis; or (2) she wanted to spread an unsubstantiated rumor relating to someone's sexuality about someone she doesn't like. Knowing her as I do, I don't think she is so simple minded as to think the possibility that Rove is gay might bode well for the democratic party is worthy political discorse. So I have to say, I am dissapointed that she would spread rumors about someone's sexuality. I'd say the same if somone said, "let's out Hilary Clinton because I think she is a LESBIAN and no one votes for LESBIANS!"

Here is my own amateur political analysis. If gay marriage isn't mentioned in 2008, the democratic candidate wins by five percent. If gay marriage is the sole issue and the democratic candidate was in favor, democratic candidate loses by 10%. Of course, presidential elections are never about one issue. But with so many democrats opposing gay marriage, it would be political suicide to dwell on it. I suppose that is why Kerry kept stating that his position on gay marriage was essentially the same as Bush's.

Julie said...

Wrong on all counts related to why I posted it.

I posted it because the way JG said it amuses me. And I don't give a damn whether he's gay. The issue is not Karl Rove and whether he himself is or is not gay. It's that LOTS OF PEOPLE who work on Republican policy are gay, but they work to promote and perpetuate policies that are unfair and discriminatory toward gay people. It's like how Strom Thurmond secretly had a black daughter after knocking up his family's underage black housekeeper, but spent his career trying to make life harder for black people. There were rumors for decades that Thurmond had this child, but anyone who spoke of it was accused of spreading vicious gossip.

And for the record, I have never AND WILL NEVER claim to "know everything" about raising a family. ANyone who says that clearly hasn't read anything I've ever written.

Sheesh