Have any of you been following the wreckage from the Perry Campaign’s “Strong” ad?
Apparently, the vulgar gay-bashing was too much for even the stooges at GOProud, who’ve shown themselves quite content over the years to take whatever gay-baiting and homophobia the Republicans have to offer because of their love for supply-side Jeebus. This time, however, it was too much, and they went ballistic:
Two gay conservative leaders have blasted Texas governor Rick Perry’s antigay presidential campaign ad while also using a gay slur to out Perry strategist Tony Fabrizio.
Following the release of Perry’s ad condemning the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and calling for more religion in schools, GOProud cofounder Jimmy LaSalvia wrote on Twitter Wednesday, “I’ve just about had it with faggots who line their pockets with checks from antigay homophobes while throwing the rest of us under the bus.” He later added that he was talking about a Perry strategist. His colleague Christopher Barron later clarified that they are taking issue with Fabrizio of Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, who has a solid history of working for top-tier Republican politicians, as reported in Back2Stonewall. LaSalvia added, “So Rick Perry thinks that the service of tens of thousands of patriotic Americans is what’s wrong. No Governor, it’s you that’s wrong.”
I have no idea what set them off about this Perry ad, because it really is pretty much exactly the same thing the Republicans have been saying for years, and they never flinched. Maybe Perry shouldn’t have recorded the ad in German. At any rate, just to give you an idea of what kind of clowns are in GOProud, the reaction of their leaders to the ad caused this to happen next:
Conservative website mogul Andrew Breitbart has quit the advisory board for GOProud, saying he has a “zero tolerance” policy for outing people.
Trouble started when GOProud’s Jimmy LaSalvia and Chris Barron reacted to an antigay Rick Perry television ad by angrily taking to Twitter, attacking pollster Tony Fabrizio.
“I’ve just about had it with faggots who line their pockets with checks from antigay homophobes while throwing the rest of us under the bus,” LaSalvia wrote.
GOProud issued a statement defending itself from the ensuing backlash, but that apparently only contributed to Breitbart’s disappointment.
“I have a zero tolerance attitude toward the intentional infliction of vocational and family harm by divulging the details of an individual’s sexual orientation as a weapon of political destruction,” Breitbart wrote on one of his websites, BigGovernment.com. Breitbart said he’d long ago told LaSalvia and Barron about his opinion on outing, which Breitbart said contributed to his “evolution from the political left to the right.”
Now why, you might ask, was Breitbart on the advisory board when he himself has a history of promoting anti-gay rhetoric? Beats me, but you’ll have to ask the clowns at GOProud. I’m too busy laughing at the carnage Perry has created.
cathyx
Any homosexual who is a republican should have their head examined.
BGinCHI
Technical question: does that make Breitbart a fag hag?
Yutsano
So much snark, so little time…
Warren Terra
I’m all for respecting people’s privacy, but when you’re making big bucks marketing homophobia you can hardly be surprised if your own gayness merits comment.
Suffern ACE
You know a word is sufficiently owned by a minority and repurposed as a term of power and affirmation when someone in that minority group can use it to demean people he doesn’t like. Oh, wait. That’s not how it’s done.
Baud
Huh? He was once on our side??? Thank god for little favors. The right can have that scumbag.
Villago Delenda Est
It is utterly hilarious that a treacherous cur like Breitbart would be so outraged that a treacherous gay person would be outed by some other treacherous gay persons.
Damn, is there such a thing as peak popcorn? Because I can’t see it right now.
Short Bus Bully
Outing People: BAAAAAD…
Supporting policy that legislates against people because of their sexual orientation: GOOOOOD…
Okay, got it.
Oh, and fuck you Breitbart you ignorant hypocritical weasel.
Brian S
I’m not even gay and I’ve had it with people like LaSalvia who support a party which openly advocates that gays should be second-class citizens. If there’s a nickel’s worth of difference between LaSalvia and Fabrizio I don’t see it.
Cat Lady
The GOP circus is like having the Three Stooges in one ring, Jackass going on in the second ring, and WWE going on in the third, with Trump as the barker and directed by whoever the guy is that dreamed up those Mayhem car insurance ads. I don’t know where to look next, but it’s all entertaining as hell.
Baud
The difference is that the Dems already did the heavy lifting in getting DADT repealed. People don’t like threats to the things that they actually have in hand.
Mike in NC
Perry knows that his last resort to garner support is to try appealing to the Religious Right, who have qualms about Newt’s serial adultery and late-in-life embrace of Papism.
Yutsano
There has been irresponsible speculation that this may indeed be more than just Andrew being the supportive conservative. I’m not saying one way or the other…just putting it out there.
Raven
Lil doggie needs help upthread.
Warren Terra
I have no idea what set them off about this Perry ad, because its homophobia is par for the course. But I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a major candidate produce an ad as overtly theocratic – even Crusading or Jihadist – as this one. And the idea that a major candidate paid actual money to produce a scripted ad in which they denounce “Obama’s War On Religion” is simply incredible. If the powers that be within the Republican Party, let alone within the chattering classes, had a vaguely measurable sense of decency, Rick Perry would have had to suspend his campaign the day after the ad featuring those words was released.
Left Coast Tom
Perry comes across as someone who has trouble remembering he needs to put on pants in the morning. Anyone who’d agree to consult for him deserves what they get. Anyone who’d agree to support him as long as he’s not too homophobic deserves what they get.
Pass the popcorn, please?
cmorenc
The scary thing is that despite the surreal self-parodying ridiculousness of the multi-ring evil clown act that campaign 2012 has been so far on the GOP side, there’s still a realistic chance that their nominee could win the Presidency. Yes, it’s a bit reassuring that the tide seems to be lately turning favorable to Obama’s reelection, but there’s still eleven months to go until the election, and you never know what might happen between now and then.
How much attention is the public at large paying to this clown act? Actually, I hope a lot, but it will be a tragically sad day if despite widespread public awareness of the GOP candidates’ behavior so far, the GOP nominee pulls it off in November after all this multifaceted asshattery.
Mustang Bobby
“I have a zero tolerance attitude toward the intentional infliction of vocational and family harm by divulging the details of an individual’s sexual orientation as a weapon of political destruction,” Breitbart wrote on one of his websites, BigGovernment.com.
Golly gee, Andrew makes it sound like there’s something wrong with being gay.
A.J.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
Of course, not. No Repiglican would ever do such a thing.
kdaug
Christ, Perry still? If they hadn’t nailed him to the perch he’d be pushing up the daisies.
Punchy
Wait…Breitbart is gay? I’m confused.
gbear
Why does the gay guy have to have the name Fabrisio?
RalfW
“he has a “zero tolerance” policy for outing people”
Fvk Breitbart with a hot poker, he’s such a liar.
He might oppose outing teh gey GOP strategist, but he’d out any NPR person for any perceived apostasy of his own choosing…or fabrication.
The pearl clutching is grotesque.
RalfW
Ayeee, moderation. FYWP.
R. Porrofatto
Breitbart claims zero tolerance for divulging private details about an individual as a weapon of political destruction. So apparently his tolerance soars to 100% when the details are completely fabricated. By him.
Lysana
@gbear:
Because Fabio is already taken by an apparent closet case.
And nope, not surprised at GOProud. It’s called denying the entitlement whores. And that’s why they’re gay Republicans; they’re otherwise entitlement whores. Damn sure they’ll be A-OK just so long as they kiss the right asses, pun intended. Not that far from the HRC-class gay who dislikes bis and trans people, either. “I’ve got mine; fuck you.” Sexual orientation is no guarantee of clear thinking, that’s for damned sure.
forked tongue
Why do I suspect that if Breitbart had inside information that a Democrat was closeted, we’d see his tolerance for outing go from zero to ninety in 60 seconds?
BGinCHI
I remember a happier, shinier day in America, when guys with names like LaSalvia and Fabrisio were stabbing each other with icepicks near landfills in New Jersey.
/Wingnut Nostalgia Channel
kdaug
@cmorenc:
Um, team Obama opens fire, all weapons? Launches the photon torpedoes? Spools up the FTL drive and releases the Vipers?
His powder’s still dry and safely stowed. Whites of their eyes, folks. This shit is all self-inflicted, and he hasn’t had to do a thing.
Yet.
But whatever pigshit-covered jackass emerges from the ring, there are some heavy cannons with a bead on his forehead waiting for him on the other side.
RalfW
Does that Breitbart chump have a zero tolerance attitude toward the intentional infliction of vocational and family harm caused by highly misleadingly edited and highly hyped bogus “sting” videos?
No?
OK then.
Raven
@BGinCHI: Did they close the light when they were done?
Jennifer
That Rick Perry commercial may now be the most disliked video on youtube. He’s got 2.5 times as many dislikes as Leave Britney Alone!
BGinCHI
@Raven: I think it was always Jimmy Two-Times who closed the light.
Brian S
@forked tongue: See, he’d justify it by claiming the Democrats were being hypocritical somehow. Don’t ask me to work out exactly how. I’ve been bleaching my brain of late.
RalfW
Also, “strong” has 618,056 dislikes, 18,612 likes on YouTube.
Or a 97% dislike rate. Huh.
bisquits
[email protected]
….and I can’t wait! It will be awesome!
Marc
Gotta love how those GOProud leaders have absolutely no problem dropping an anti-gay slur… I guess now we know why they’re Republicans. It’s a rare feat when Andrew Breitbart doesn’t come across as the biggest hypocrite douchebag in a story featuring Andrew Breitbart.
That said, gotta love watching the circular firing squads line up on their side for a change. Pass the popcorn?
MikeJ
@RalfW: If you look at the stats for the video there are 69 comments, probably left when they first put the video up before they thought to turn comments off. Wish we could see them.
Raven
Fuckin Tebow.
srv
I think you missed that last year that WND Farrah was screaming about GOProud having taken over the RNC and all those major GOP groups. I heard him on a rent car radio ranting how Coulter had sold out and appeared with them.
Teh Gay is all over the Rino party, apparently.
Arundel
I’m not saying anything either, but Breitbart has said he’s a fan of electronic dance music, like New Order. (And Drudge is a big fan of Pet Shop Boys, sometimes using their song titles as headlines.) Not that this means anything, I like this sort of music as well, as an out gay person. Just made me go hmm when I heard that.
AxelFoley
@Yutsano:
It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
[Hopes no one beat him to it already]
BGinCHI
I’d like to see Jane Lynch go three rounds with Breitbart.
MattF
So, a certain Mr. Perry puts out a homophobic, theocratic ad (which should not have surprised anyone) and… a whole house of cards starts to collapse. I say the effect here is much greater than the cause, and I wonder why.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Arundel: I like those as well and I am definitely not gay, but don’t let that take away from any speculation about Breitbart. Though I would feel sorry for gays if he is one, just as I will feel sorry for straights if he is not gay. It may be best just to think of him as a vague not-any type.
Janus Daniels
Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?
[J Abnorm Psychol. 1996] – PubMed – NCBI
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8772014
“… Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies….”
The researchers do not suggest that all Republicans are homosexual. Is it irresponsible to speculate?
Taylor
As Old Uncle Claudius said in his dotage, “Let all the poisons hatch out.”
MariedeGournay
Because, god forbid, the republican base actually know how many gay men and women work for the party. Might upset their worldview.
Jason
@Arundel: And Drudge is a big fan of Pet Shop Boys, sometimes using their song titles as headlines.
Sheesh, Matt Drudge’s closet is decorated with spangles and pink unicorns. To quote the Internet’s greatest journalist writing to David Brock:
“Laura [Ingraham] spreading stuff about you and me being fuck buddies. I should be so lucky.”
Also, creepily came on to Alec Baldwin once, according to the man himself.
Pathology isn’t even the name for the conflicted self-hatred experienced by the closeted gay Republican.
Mark S.
@Jason:
I thought Drudge was openly gay. I could be wrong; I can’t remember the last time I gave a shit about Drudge.
JCT
@Raven: +20 . Son just stomped off in anger.
patrick the pedantic literalist
@Raven:
Fuckin deep cover 2 defense in the last five minutes. You could have made the passes Tebow made.
JCT
Oh no! Now my youngest is screaming at the TV because one of the commentators said something about how “a higher power is at work here” re: Tebow.
I can’t bring myself to send him to his room for yelling “stop giving him a fucking blow job all the time”.
Parenting can be fun.
cathyx
@JCT: Your son is young enough to be sent to his room and he talks like that?
FlipYrWhig
Tebow is striking me as the football equivalent of one of those minor league pitchers with awful control. It’s like he’s just terrible when he’s being “coached” and using a “game plan,” but when the clock is running down and he just starts flinging it wildly, he can have a lot of success precisely because he does shit that’s way off and not at all according to routine.
FlipYrWhig
Tebow is striking me as the football equivalent of one of those minor league pitchers with awful control. It’s like he’s just terrible when he’s being “coached” and using a “game plan,” but when the clock is running down and he just starts flinging it wildly, he can have a lot of success precisely because he does shit that’s way off and not at all according to routine.
RSA
Here’s a funny thing: the GOProud Web site is currently running a rotating ad for a book by Andrew Breitbart. It’s probably some external advertising arrangement, but it’s still a bit funny.
So I was wondering… Whom is GOProud (for some reason, my fingers keep typing “Go Pound” instead of “GOProud”) endorsing for President? No one yet, I think, but they’ve apparently reached out to Michelle Bachman. Clown show. I can understand, barely, a Republican activist who happens to be gay–but an explicitly gay-rights-oriented organization for Republicans? That’s nuts.
cay
http://assets0.ordienetworks.com/tmbs/2af180e7aa/fullsize_11.jpg
JCT
@cathyx: He’s 17 — and he does get banished to his room from time to time. It still works because he knows he has to *really* piss me off to get shipped off.
Husband has insisted that I relax the language rules a bit, oldest is a girl and never had to deal with this. Work in progress for me.
The Republic of Stupidity
That got to me too, after I watched the ad…
Perry so so desperately wants to smear and demonize individuals who are willing to die… to defend his right to smear and demonize them…
Un-farkin’-real…
And somewhere Rick Santorum watches in mute admiration, thinking, “Damn… why didn’t I do that?”
When will the slow-motion clown car wreck that is the GOP Presidential field finally roll to a halt?
BruceFromOhio
Oooh, Andy, you talk so BIG when you string together a bunch of crap like that.
What a fucking tool.
SoINeedAName48
@Raven:
Ricky Santorum wants to know if Tebow is a “Bottom Up” kind of guy – because THAT’S what Santorum believes in.
Lojasmo
@JCT:
I don’t worry about language or bawdy humor from my (15 year old) boy.
b-psycho
@cathyx: Truth knows no age requirement.
Buffalo Rude
@cay: I will never forgive you for that.
jrg
So, the GOP uses gay bashing to rile the hicks, hurting millions of gays who just want to live and let live… No problem, there.
But one of those GOP operatives (picking the fight, mind you) gets outed as gay, and that’s a bridge too far? Breitbart’s moral universe is so fucked up, I can’t begin to comprehend it.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
A bit off-topic here, but every time I see Breitbart, I want to yell at him to comb his hair and shave his fat face. He looks like a bully. Grover Norquist has the same self-satisfied, thuggish look. Did someone tell him he looked hot sporting the Miami Vice look?
brendancalling
I never understood why Perry ran such self-loathing ads to begin with.
centerfielddj
“I have a zero tolerance attitude toward the intentional infliction of vocational and family harm by divulging the details of an individual’s sexual orientation as a weapon of political destruction,” Breitbart wrote on one of his websites, BigGovernment.com.
OK, so this asshole is on the advisory board for GOProud (!), but flatly assumes that there will be vocational and family harm to a top Republican strategist from the revelation that he is gay?
Nice judgement there, GOProud. Andy the Sociopath is really helping you change the Party from within.
AxelFoley
Oh, but this douchebag has no problems outing Anthony Weiner as a freak who likes to post pics of his junk on the internets.
Rick Taylor
That ad says that “. . .but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas. . .”? My family is in big trouble. . .
priscianusjr
@A.J.:
priscianusjr
@MattF:
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Hey wait, did Breitbart just say he is gay? Seriously, what strait guy would listing outing gays as a personal issue.