Strange bedfellows!

October 6, 2006 Weekly Gang-up

THE GAY BASHING DEMOCRATS

Guest host: Susan Page, USA Today

Panel Guests Tony Blankley, editorial page editor of "The Washington Times." He is author of "The West's Last Chance." David Corn, Washington editor of "The Nation" and a Fox News Channel contributor. He's the author of several books, most recently, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War." Frank Sesno, special correspondent, CNN.

Well another classical weekly gang-up of 3 liberals vs. 1 conservative.

It is well established that Mr. Corn has it for the Bush team including, of course, the very man on top. But Mr. Corn is condemned before history's future readers of his writings to be an example of someone always ready not to let the facts get in the way of a reasoned argument. He could be more persuasive if he were able to match his "facts" in a way that can prove intentionality but since he can't, all he has left is conclusions like "they don't care," "they don't want to listen."

No matter how the record shows that not only Republicans but also Democrats, and not only U.S. intelligence but major intelligence agencies of other countries and the U.N. were all full of real concerns about Saddam Hussein's intentions and capabilities of developing WMDs in a post-9/11 world, all that Mr. Corn can say is that the UN was only concerned about Saddam not reporting for unaccounted WMD material.

Then let's go to the latest brouhaha. Now, I'm really confused. I thought that there was nothing wrong with being gay. But from Nancy Pelosi to Harry Reid Democrats, including Mr. Corn, have become the best spokespersons for the Boys Scouts of America position prohibiting active gay men from being Scout Masters. All of a sudden Rep. Foley is not most likely a victim of gay taunting by insensitve and homophobic teenage pranksters but in the words of Sen. Reid a "predator". Go figure. Oh, I forgot, he is a Republican.

As understandable as it may be in the still recent wake of clergy abuse scandal, Mr. Blankley and the Washington Times may have, nevertheless, jumped the gun in asking for Mr. Hastert's resignation. But Republicans and conservatives are so lacking in street smarts that they remind me of a scene in The Untouchables. The old crusty cop played by Sean Connery advises the inexperienced Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner), "If you want to get Capone this is how you get Capone. If he brings a knife you bring a gun. If he hurts one of your men you send one his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way."

The Republicans missed the boat. The democrats come out with a small weapon, really a small and not untypical Washington scandal more typical of Democrats than of Republicans and the Republicans go running in every direction. Instead, they should come back with the bigger gun of gay bashing which is what this whole "scandal" has become. At least that is what the Democrats have turned it into.

Instead, of using the gay issue as Mr. Corn does, as a black mail tool, Republicans should come out swinging to demonstrate at every turn not only the double-standard applied to Democrats scandals but mostly applied to the issue of being gay. Looking at how this "scandal" is being unraveled, this is not an issue of child molestation since the "victim" is of legal age in D.C. (It is curious to note that since D.C. falls under the jurisdiction of Congress it is so convenient to have so low a bar for age of consent). If Republicans loose on this they have only themselves to blame. Like in another scene in The Untouchables, they "bring a knife to a gun fight." That's the Republican way.