Rightwing in Gay Panic Mode Over Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Social conservatives are in gay panic mode over the prospect that Congress will eventually repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The National Research Council released a bogus report warning that "gay rape" will surge in the military if Congress repeals the policy. I guess NRC is only worried about "gay" as opposed to "heterosexual" rape. Besides, rape is really about violence and domination, not sexual identity.

In addition, Think Progress reports that the socially conservative group America's Survival has produced a video proclaiming its opposition to allowing the threat of "disease-tainted gay blood" in the military. The group believes that gays will spread HIV in the military, even though the virus has no sexual boundaries. Furthermore, the military already conducts HIV screenings and excludes HIV-positive individuals from service.

In an effort to attract social conservatives, Senator John McCain is having a nervous breakdown over the prospect that Congress will lift the ban. As someone who was captured and tortured during war, McCain should realize that gayness is not the enemy of the nation's troops. Instead, he is shamelessly seeking votes by any means necessary.

Of course, the Democrats are making themselves vulnerable to some Republican criticism, including from McCain. Because Obama has moved painfully slow on this issue, he has faced condemnation from his liberal base. Representative Patrick Murphy and Senator Joe Lieberman tried to speed up the process by proposing legislation repealing the ban. Obama, however, announced a year-long study of the policy and asked Murphy and Lieberman to alter the bill to delay any repeal until the review is complete and the military has decided that the repeal should actually occur. Now, the legislation is in tension with itself. Still, the rightwing deceit and homophobia are reprehensible.

Truth or Dare: McCain Says He Was Misled Regarding the Bailout

Senator John McCain, who faces a tough reelection battle, says that he was misled regarding the details of the bailout. McCain says that he believed that the bailout would focus on the housing crisis, but that the money went to Wall Street companies, like AIG, and to the auto industry.

But Wall Street firms, including AIG, helped to create and were negatively impacted by the housing crisis. Also, the bailout legislation is drafted broadly and allows the government to purchase bad assets from "financial institutions" and other companies, regardless of whether the assets are mortgage-related.

5 1/2 Minutes of Fame: Joe the Plumber Says McCain Tried to Use Him

I was shocked, annoyed and amazed that characters like Joe the Plumber and Obama Girl became media sensations during the 2008 presidential campaigns. Now, I am shocked, annoyed and amazed that Joe continues to make the headlines. Well, at least this story is interesting enough to give a blurb.

Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher became the face of the "beleaguered white middle-class male" whom John McCain's campaign needed to excite. McCain referred to Joe during a presidential debate, and he became a temporary celebrity -- i.e., the face of the victims of Democratic-led Nazism, socialism, oppression, brutality, etc.

Today, however, Joe has harsh words for McCain. During a radio interview held in connection with a Republican campaign event in Pennsylvania, Joe said: "I don't owe [McCain] s---. . . He really screwed my life up is how I look at it."

And while Joe eagerly projected himself into national politics, he says McCain used him: "McCain was trying to use me . . . I happened to be the face of middle Americans. It was a ploy." Really, Joe, you thought you were a colleague or buddy of McCain?

Joe also disapproves of Sarah Palin because she is campaigning for McCain. But Joe says he appreciates Obama, describing him as "honest." Yet, Joe says Obama's policies are "un-American." I see a possible role as a Tea Party delegate in Joe's future.