Log Cabin Republicans Get Scraps Off Religious Right Table
AS REPORTED APRIL 16 BY Lynn Bartels on the front page(!) of The Denver Post, the Western Conservative Summit, a gathering of religious right movers and shakers sponsored by the Colorado Christian University in Lakewood and its think tank, the Centennial Institute, disinvited the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), a conservative LGBT nonprofit.
Rick Kitzman
LCR were dissed, all right. Summit chairman and Institute director John Andrews acted as he did because LCR “advocate contrary to our agenda and our core beliefs.” OMG! The Religious Right has an agenda! I thought it was just us gays. Rats!
Andrews must know little about LCR. According to their website, it supports conservative causes dear to most Republicans. The 15- member leadership panel of a dozen men and three women, all appearing to be Caucasian, accurately reflects the predominantly white male party. (I may be wrong about the board’s ethnicity, but neither pictures nor bios depict a minority representative.) The Spirit of Lincoln 2014 convention banner links to the “historic” (oh brother!) keynote address by Mary Cheney, lesbian daughter of the anti-Christ Dick (great rock-band name), former V.P., current demagogue, and future American traitor should anyone write an accurate account of the Iraq War.
On April 17, Bartels reported (in a sidebar on page 4) that the Colorado GOP will share space at its booth with LCR. Andrews was “fine” with this agreement, but “not fine with the shaming and bullying pressure tactics,” and quoted about fairness from both sides. Well, whoop-de-doo! Pretty nervy of him to whine about shame and bullying and unfairness when that’s all Republicans offer anyone who doesn’t fit their straight, white, Religious Right, misogynist mold.
Unfortunately, Andrews got a megaphone. On April 18, he wrote an opinion piece for The Denver Post, opening with this paragraph:
“Did you hear about the Jewish festival selling an exhibit table to the Holocaust deniers? Or the Catholic conference where opponents, after pitching a fit, were allowed a poster saying the Pope is the anti-Christ?”
All I could hear was Henny Youngman — “Take my wife. Please!” — throwing out one-liners at the Comedy Works. Andrews’ second paragraph continues in the same vein using Planned Parenthood, gruesome photos of abortions, LCR, and Fred Phelps as his punch lines.
The man equated the presence of a conservative gay advocacy group at its hallowed summit with anti-Semites, pro-Nazi psychos, vicious atheists, anti-abortion zealots, and one of the most hateful churches in American history. This leader of “Christian” organizations defies logic, but then, logic was lobotomized from the Republican and Religious Right mind long ago.
Andrews preached patriotically about the American way and suggested to LCR supporters, “Get a ‘Coexist’ bumper sticker.” He also didn’t appreciate being compared to the Taliban. The shoe fits. Either wear it with pride, stop bitching, or change.
Bartels reported on April 21 in The Denver Post (front page banner headline!) that the National LCR fought back on Facebook. According to executive director Gregory Angelo, responses numbered in the hundreds from both Democrats and Republicans, and shares numbered more than 1000. I’d expect those numbers from an Ann Coulter naked- selfie posting, probably fewer. But Angelo was “stunned” with the reaction, adding “it really feels that at long last we have the wind at our backs.”
LCR, you did have something at your back: a boot. Why do you affiliate with a party where you’re not wanted now, have never been wanted, and never will be wanted? At best, you’re the black sheep in the family who must be tolerated, third-class members who get scraps off the banquet table, watching the fat cats gorge themselves.
This shared-table compromise may have been reached via The Indiana Factor. I playfully imagine Steve House, state GOP chairman calling Andrews:
“Hey Johnny, how’s it hangin’? Also: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKINIG MIND!? Are you ignorant of what happened in Indiana last month? Do you want the same hail/fire storm, lightning strike, flood, avalanche — pick any disastrous weather metaphor you like — to dump on Colorado?!”
Here’s an oxymoron: Christian Republicans. Tempting as it is to call them simply “morons,” they’re not. However, they are blind to their own hypocrisy, insulting the religions and traditions they purportedly believe, as well as the individuals who truthfully live those beliefs. Right or wrong, Andrews and his ilk spray a stink on the group as a whole.
The summit begins June 26. I imagine billionaires like the Koch brothers shopping around to buy their party’s boot-licking cronies and candidates. The summit’s Facebook page says, “Come one, come all.”
Let’s buy tickets and attend. Call it PrideFest Part 2!
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