Right wing, and anti-gay provocateur Bryan Fischer, Director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy at the American Family Association, wrote in early 2011 that Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee were just carrying too much baggage to win the GOP nomination and run for the presidency in 2012.
So, he said a second tier of candidates would probably break through -- listing "Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour, John Thune, John Bolton, Mike Pence, and a possible "dark horse" (his term, not mine), Herman Cain."
Ultimately, Fischer said that in the end it would be a hard choice between Herman Cain and Mike Pence. He never gave a thought to Rick Santorum. And as we now know, Mitt Romney is the presumptive nominee -- though Newt Gingrich hasn't tucked it in yet.
About John Bolton, Fischer wrote in January 2011:
John Bolton belongs in the next conservative administration, but not as president. He will be needed in the areas of national security and intelligence, and is a pretty smart fella when it comes to all that. But most of the American people have no idea who he is, and nobody knows where he stands on almost the entire range of domestic issues.
Perhaps Fischer just wasn't tuned in when John Bolton made clear in September 2010 that he "could live with" gay marriage -- and said this on Don't Ask Don't Tell:
"I don't think there is any good answer to the question why shouldn't gays and lesbians who want to serve their country be allowed to do it."
I have significant differences with John Bolton's international affairs views but I give him great credit for not being the kind of bizarre cookie cutter hard right zealot that Bryan Fischer is. Bolton has not only supported the rights agenda of gay and lesbian Americans, he has been a great boss and mentor to a number of gay people -- including the very capable and doggedly results-focused Richard "Ric" Grenell who served Bolton as spokesman during Bolton's tenure as a recess-appointed Ambassador at the United Nations; his long-time aide in many incarnations Mark Groombridge; and others.
Bolton gets my respect for this -- and I have little patience for those who disparage the competency or qualifications of anyone based on any other issue than merit.
Romney picks out & loud gay as a spokesman. If personnel is policy, his message to the pro-family community: drop dead
Fischer didn't say the same about John Bolton who was already quite "out" about his support of gay Americans -- and if Fischer scooted through his roster of Republican possibilities, he'd see that nearly all of them had high level, plugged-in, highly competent gay and lesbian staff.
It's Fischer who is the odd man out in American politics; probably irritated that Mitt Romney punched through Fischer's incorrect political analysis of last year. One hopes that Romney stands strong -- and stand by the competence and capacity of people like Grenell -- and that we spend our time battling each other over issues that really matter to the nation.
I have many differences with Romney, as well as Obama -- but today, Romney gets a salute from me for hiring Grenell.
Steve Clemons is Washington Editor at Large at The Atlantic. Clemons can be followed on Twitter at @SCClemons
Follow Steve Clemons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SCClemons
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 |
|
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
It's not a victory for LGBT acceptance. It merely reflects changing times. And that isn't bad, but not worthy of celebration.
This is so typical of "conservative" thinking and ideology. Don't look at the whole person just look at the part of them that we can use to try to convince some group we have maligned and mistreated for years that we really really like them.
This is how you end up with Clarence Thomas, Allen West, Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio, and now this guy.
Hint this does not work and if it has not for long.
Now in all that time, in all that space, where has gay marriage been part of that culture?
OK, you want gay marriage, I'm not saying you should give up. But recognize the uphill battle. The religious right, Romney, Obama, or anybody, is not "radical" or "evil" for thinking men marrying men or women marrying men is just wierd. If you want same sex marriage, fine, but realize YOU are the fringe, you are the radical, and approach the rest of the world with that perspective.
You speak of 10,000 years of history. You should try reading some of it once in a while. Or maybe you should just sue your school board for its abject failure.
The people who believe you need 3 wives to go to heaven.
Duh - wonder what he's got going on the side - girls or boys?
No. The right needs its proverbial boogeyman to scare enough people so as to win elections. For decades it was "godless communism". Now it is social minorities (however you want to define them). The only problem for the right is how to disguise this blatant bigotry (usually done by code words or catch phrases) so as to win over the naive and the unthinking muddle-headed political middle.
Hmmmm. Africa? No. Perhaps Asia. No. The Mideast? Absolutely not.
I guess that trip has to be to New York or Holland. But let's pretend that the whole world is evil and insane, and only American gay activists have any sense and morality. All others are bigots, naive, or unthinking.
Gee, being so superior probably feels better than being married.
Ever wonder why we had a dark ages of zero social nd economic progress for a thousand years?
BTW the catholic church burned books on the human body during the middle ages. What greater way to keep their power then to pray away the illness .
BTW they also had a banned book list until 1954 (vatican II)
But re the issue if you've seen it of the vatican going after the nuns for supporting ending poverty and helping the ill, the vatican is now turning on the nuns, and has banned a book by a sr nun from all catholic schools etc.
Beware of the second murderous INquisition - trial by torture, punishment by burnings.
Time that RATZI's empiere in Rome be renamed FRANKENSTEIN S CASTLE.
The liberals also assume that we conservatives are anti-black / anti-hispanic / anti-women / heck the truth be told they probably think we are anti-walking upright [ that word does have ' right ' in it ]
Conservatives are just as diverse as any other group of people - the left thinks that we must all live or want to live in one corner of this country with one giant wall wrapped around us -
It is no wonder the far left comes-off as really being in left field, clueless and blind.
We [ on the right ] do not all agree about everything at the same time - we are not a lock-step block of people -
It would be better for all citizens of this country to realize the divide and conquer policies of the far left - that are willing to say and accuse anyone of/or anything just to divert from the problems that really face this country - and these problems are massive.
If the only way to get people to follow your policies is to lie and refuse to be tolerate of other peoples beliefs / positions concerning their own lives - then I suggest that the ideas that you purpose to be hiding an unacceptable agenda.
On that issue, we find agreement. But, I believe that your other comments are one-sided. In my opinion, there are people on both the left and right who "wear blinders" and/or people who try to use every issue to manipulate political opinions and outcomes and actually exacerbate the divisions between us that already exist. I feel certain that I could present as many examples on the right as you could on my end of the spectrum. The important thing that we all have to realize before it becomes too late is that if we continue our current brand of divisive and destructive politics, no lasting solutions can be found for the problems faced by the country. In that case, neither side will ultimately win anything -- and neither will our country.
Really, move on. You pick a select group of people who don't support gay marriage (which includes a liberal president) - and assume an entire group shares identical beliefs.