Right-wing gay prostitute Jeff Gannon just appeared in a "man on the street" segment of a local Washington, D.C. news broadcast. One of AmericaBlog's readers sent the photo to John. (See below.)
In case you haven't read John's exposé, see here. (Warning: It's not safe for work.) Until Jeff was exposed, he'd been spending a lot of time at the White House as a bogus reporter, lobbing softball questions during press conferences, and whatever.
(Reworded, below.) (I often go back and change things in my attempts to "get it right" and correct errors. I'm not infallible like the Pope or George Bush.)
I find the concept of "MSM" odd (to me it connotes an almost casual choice). It's as if "homosexuals" and "bisexuals" don't really exist, in this case in the African-American culture. * (Just as they don't exist in Iran.) From The Body:
African-American men who have sex with men (MSM) are a particularly high-risk group for HIV and other STDs in the United States. The researchers conducted the current study "to offer an empirical understanding of characteristics associated with the fit and feel of condoms" among this population.
Data were collected from 178 adult African-American MSM attending a community event in Atlanta. Most participants reported that condoms generally fit properly and felt comfortable. However, a substantial number reported problems, including: condoms felt too tight (21 percent); condoms felt too short (18 percent); condoms felt too loose (10 percent); condoms felt too long (7 percent).
Significant associations were found between men's reports of condom slippage and breakage and their perceptions of condoms' fit and feel. These perceptions were also related to the men's reports of seeking condoms for size-specific properties.
"The fit and feel issues that men in this sample identified may be among those that contribute to their likelihood of using, or not using, condoms consistently and correctly," the authors concluded. "A better understanding of these factors will be beneficial to both condom manufacturers and sexual health professionals who share a common goal of increasing consistent and correct condom use and reducing the incidence of HIV and other [STDs] among this and other communities."
(Photo not from The Body. Click to enlarge.)
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* But believe me, they do.
I caught this at Hullabaloo:
It's become clear in the last few years that right wingers are psychologically unfit to lead the nation. Vast numbers of them are "conservative" not due to philosophy but to cover up for serious personal issues with sexuality, masculinity, oedipal complexes and worse. In fact, it's so pervasive that one must now assume that conservative political leaders are driven by a complicated desire to compensate for psychological problems rather than the usual political mix of ambition, ego and drive to power. There are just too many examples of disturbed, neurotic, secretive GOP hypocrites out there. It's a feature not a bug.
The context was a discussion of whether or not Condi Rice is gay. As Digby says, who cares?
The tooth socket seems to be healing normally--knock on wood! Got a lot of rest today and also managed to cook lunch for B. (hamburger steaks, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables--not very creative) and clean up the kitchen. I made an entire box of Hungry Jack potatoes (my favorite) with evaporated low-fat milk and spiked with onion powder, dried chives, sour cream, white pepper and maybe a little garlic powder. I used four cups of that to make two salmon loaves for me to eat. They came out great, as they usually do. I'm not supposed to eat anything that requires chewing.
Wesley Clark has come out and endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. Got an email to that effect today: "Today [9/15], I am proud to announce my endorsement of Senator Hillary Clinton as President of the United States."
Recent gay-sex scandals involving evangelical pastors have prompted much soul-searching among conservative Christian leaders.
No one has proposed rethinking the theology that homosexuality is a sin. Instead, there's a growing consensus that the church must do a better job of helping pastors resist all immoral desires, such as a lust for pornography, an addiction to drugs or a lifelong same-sex attraction.
Seminary professors, Christian counselors and veteran clergy say the best way to help pastors fight temptation is to get them talking -- even about their most shameful secrets. They don't want a sordid tell-all from the pulpit each Sunday. But they would like pastors to bare their weaknesses and admit their lapses before a small group of "accountability partners" -- friends committed to listen with empathy, then rebuke or advise as needed.
J. Edgar Hoover liked to keep tabs on all the gays too. And then he owned them.
The thing I don't get about this is that these people are absolutely sure that homosexuality is a choice. But evangelical pastors are obviously not "choosing" to have a hidden gay life. They believe it's sinful and they hate themselves for it. They, of all people, would not "choose" such a thing. It must be such a strong, fundamental question of identity that they are unable to resist it. (Either that or they're just fast-talking religion hustlers who are completely full of shit. There are probably some of both.)
But there is actually some good news in this, I think. Under these peoples' belief system, being gay is one of the worst sins around. Yet they are carving out a moral exception for gay preachers -- the men who are supposed to set the standards and lead the people. Would they allow murderers to keep preaching? Thieves?
It seems to me that they are slowly but surely coming to realize that homosexuality knows no bounds, even among evangelical preachers, Catholic priests and other religious leaders who can't practice what they preach. If so, it's a good step in the right direction, no matter how small. Maybe if some of these people actually have to hear the stories of torment among their own small, elite group they'll get some empathy --- something Jesus Christ thought very highly of, if I'm not mistaken.
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I don't know. Evangelicals think God made everyone in His own, heterosexual image. With everyone being straight from the get-go (conception?), one would have to "choose" to live life as a homosexual or to engage in homosexual acts, and it's the Devil that makes people choose it. I don't see that the hard-line evangelicals would ever find homosexuality acceptable unless Christ Himself were to return to Earth and tell them to leave the homos alone (and, before He left Earth, Christ Himself never uttered a word about homosexuality that was actually recorded in the Bible--I guess Christ didn't consider it a problem). But these "Christians" don't look to the teachings of Christ in their relentless crusade against homosexuals.
They'll cut their wayward pastors some slack by putting the blame on the prevailing permissive American culture, which, they insist, has so woefully deviated from that of our Founding Fathers (who, they will always deny, explicitly separated religion from the governance of the country).
If these people believe dinosaurs lived 6,000 years ago (vs. 200 million), I doubt you could convince them there's anything like a gay gene. Science doesn't matter to these geeks. The Bible is all they need. You'll never convince them they need anything more, or that God gave people minds with which to think. To think is to doubt the Biblical word of God. Ignorance is bliss.
I'm still a bit shell-shocked, but now that the stinking haze of battle has lifted, the view from the foxhole looks hopeful.Then, as if things could not get worse, there was the disgrace of [religious right leader Rev. Louis] Sheldon’s own friend and colleague, Rev. Ted Haggard, the Colorado mega-church leader and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an even bigger pillar of Republican support on the Christian right. Sheldon disclosed that he and “a lot” of others knew about Haggard’s homosexuality “for awhile ... but we weren’t sure just how to deal with it.”
Months before a male prostitute publicly revealed Haggard’s secret relationship with him, and the reverend’s drug use as well, “Ted and I had a discussion,” explained Sheldon, who said Haggard gave him a telltale signal then: “He said homosexuality is genetic. I said, no it isn’t. But I just knew he was covering up. They need to say that.”Yeah, if it were ever to come out that homosexuality has nothing to do with Satan, these guys would be out of a job. (But wait. Isn't that what genetic researchers have been saying of late????)
"I see success approximately 50 percent of the time," said H.B. London, vice president for church and clergy at Focus on the Family, the conservative Christian ministry in Colorado Springs. "Guys just wear out and they can no longer subject themselves to the process."
Those who fail "end up selling cars or shoes or something, and being miserable and angry the rest of their lives," London said.
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"I'm sure there will be those who lay their hands on Pastor Haggard as an act of faith, calling on the act of God to restore and heal," he said. "The prayer can be therapeutic, the laying on of hands can be ceremonial."
Harrumph. The process Haggard has subjected himself to can take five years. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
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So it appears America has regained its senses. I must say I never lost mine. Then again, I tend to watch the Republicans closely, since so much of what they say and do (or, in some cases, don't say and don't do) can affect the lives (or bring about the deaths) of gays. And mostly they're against us. I have to forgive my fellow Americans for not being quite so vigilant, but maybe they should have seen it coming. The current Republican administration rises to power under a cloud, against the will of the voters. Rather than humble himself, George Bush believes that he, like Moses, has been sent by God to lead the people. And it only goes downhill from there. Need I go on...
At last we have some checks against this self-styled divine rule of kings.
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On an entirely different note, made a great batch of lasagne today. Started last nite, making the sauce.
