Holly, I think that’s what makes it so bad. No, it wouldn’t be better if he made himself look less hypocritical by not hiring gay people - because if he is still the same person he is still the same person, and the lie would just be better executed.

The problem is that it shows his character. It shows him to be a man who doesn’t care that he stomps on good people to get where he’s going. If he honestly believed that gay people were less than - well, he’d be a slimy arsehole, but he’d at least have some integrity. The fact that he votes to harm people who he *doesn’t* believe to be less than? That just makes my blood run cold. That’s a man you can’t reason with - you can’t show him that gay people are humans, with real feelings and real lives, because he already knows it. And he stomps on us anyway.

(Also, he’s the Chief of Staff, har har har…)

This caught my eye also. Here the word HYPOCRITE refers to “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue” (Merriam-Webster), which is exactly what McCain is doing. Those like him who live this hypocrisy remind me of a “Christian” acquaintance who brags how she always “killed them with kindness” when facing a dispute or conflict. She erroneously thinks she is the better person, despite how her INTENTION is pure condescension and arrogance…hardly “Christ-like”. I mention this only because there are MANY Republican “Christian” types who wanna ease their own guilt of their perpetuation of social slavery and unfair taxation by befriending the LGBT community with one hand while holding civil rights outside of our reach with the other hand. Nice.

I choose to NOT be around Republicans, not because I’m pouting and cannot hear different opinions, but because I cannot be in the same room with someone I do not trust. I cannot be in the same room with someone who feigns friendship one day and votes away my civil rights the next. They call ME intolerant?! What a fortunate place to be in….THEY have all of the rights!

I think that “Gay people shouldn’t be allowed to marry but I’m perfectly happy to work and socialise with them” is a valid position. I disagree with it, but I don’t think it’s inherently hypocritical.”

Fair enough. So let me ask you this: Do you think that “Gay people shouldn’t be allowed to marry — AND they shouldn’t even be allowed to enter in domestic partnerships — AND they shouldn’t be allowed to serve in the military — AND employers should be able to fire them simply because they’re gay — AND, in fact, I’m going to vote against every single gay rights bill that crosses my desk… but I’m perfectly happy to work and socialize with them”… do you think that is a valid, non hypocritical position as well?

It doesn’t amaze me that “Log Cabin Republicans” are tolerated in the Jesus Party, they have money. What amazes me is that they tolerate the Republican party. Mark Buse may be a Republican because of his economic views, but his refusal to stand up to McCain on social issues such as DOMA is the part that bothers me the most. The gay power brokers who are Republican need to grab these family values politicians by the short hairs and say “Stop it!”

I have a friend here in Minneapolis whose manhunt.com page had been rather quiet over the last few years because he was going steady with someone. He ha nearly forgotten about it until the RNC came to St. Paul and its activity suddenly picked up and he was getting hundreds of messages per day through the convention. Some offered him quite a bit of money, and many were from guys who said they were married and wanted to have a good time while away from their wives.

If I had known they were willing to spend that much money, I would have been able to be gay for a week. My point is that the closeting of gays as a matter of party platform is making liars and hypocrites of thousands of people. If they would only stand up to the party, they could solve many of the problems of civil rights regarding gays. But they won’t. Mark Buse, I puke on your shoes.

I mostly agree with what you’ve said here… But I still really dread the howling sandstorm of hate that this will inevitably generate. The worst part is a lot of it will probably come from the Democratic side, just out of political expediency. Too many politicians who otherwise support equal rights rights- most days of the week- can’t be bothered with the nuances of attacking the hypocrisy when something like this comes up, they just go for the straight for the bigotry.