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You are here: Home / Vote for Dan

Vote for Dan

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Dan Savage is up for a Moore Award because he wrote a something scathing and true about Michele Bachmann, and that hurt poor Andrew Sullivan’s delicate fee-fees. He wants your vote, so vote for him to send a tiny little fuck you to Sully and his pompous, stupid awards.

For some reason, this image seems relevant:

It’s somewhat sarcastic, doesn’t involve gay rights, and comments on a social issue where Sully believes he knows better than everyone else. In other words, it’s perfect for a Moore award.

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  1. 1.

    Cermet

    Since it is a ‘Moore Award’, then it is an honor – sullivan is far too stupid to realize this fact.

  5. 5.

    Trentrunner

    Does Sir Milky Loads have a position on abortion?

    My guess: He finds it personally distasteful because all God-created life is precious (except, one assumes, for HIV–viruses can suck it!), but believes that it should be restricted, regulated, relegated, and poorly remunerated.

  6. 6.

    Jewish Steel

    @SiubhanDuinne: Which I don’t see him relinquishing. Sully may be a big wheel in blogistan, but you’re not going to out-internet the architect of Mr Santorum’s leetle google prob.

  8. 8.

    Currants

    @Trentrunner: You bet he does. It’s probably the biggest reason I quit reading him. He’s just one more man who thinks he knows what’s best as far as women’s lives are concerned. [swears…types…deletes…swears again…]

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    I just spot-checked a couple of the nominees, and I have to say at I’m torn between voting for Savage or for Debbie Wasserman-Schulz’s entry: “This [Ryan] plan would literally be a death trap for seniors,”

    The Moore Award is an honor for “most accurate description of right wing garbage”, isn’t it?

  12. 12.

    freelancer

    @Trentrunner:

    You really had to go there?

    Sullivan does moronic things just so that he can say that he’s living up to his self-described motto of “Of no party or clique”, and he should be called out on those things (Moore awards, changing the color on his blog to show solidarity with Iranian populism, Paul Ryan is serious, Ron Paul endorsements, etc.) and it will always be fun for us to watch as reality creeps into his prejudices and premature statements of where the world is at.

    But you don’t have to be an asshole about it. Seriously, the HIV thing and his self-admitted personal recklessness are a total non sequitur here.

  13. 13.

    Cermet

    @Currants: But isn’t sullivan the ‘bitch’ in his marriage? Then that makes him an expert on all things relating to being a bitch … and, uh, I guess that only means he’s an expert on santorum as his monthly discharge … .

    I’d say what an ass but that carries far too many other meanings … .

  15. 15.

    Cap'n Magic

    Of course, we also need to make sure he loses the Von Hoffman award by a huge margin as its still way too early to forestall a Trump/Palin third party run.

  16. 16.

    Kola Noscopy

    Vote away, but make no mistake: Like many of the one percenters, Andy Bareback Milky Loads Sullivan and Savage may pretend to be fiercely opposed philosophical partisans at time, but they are BFFs behind the scenes, sharing quality family and friend time together at various Gay One Percent Mafia enclaves here and there.

    This is all a show for us rubes.

  17. 17.

    Mark S.

    This probably won’t make me popular here, but Savage’s rhetoric was way over the top. Religious conservatives don’t want women to die, and to accuse them of that is simply absurd and counterproductive.

    They just want sluts to die.

  18. 18.

    srv

    @Satanicpanic:

    What, no Balloonjuicers on the list? You’ll have to try harder next year FPers

    I ask all the FP’ers to start referring to him solely as “Megan’s Patient Zero” and see how long it takes to get an award.

  19. 19.

    kindness

    How could I say no to Dan?

    Well, OK, there are several things I could say no to Dan regarding but he has the class & good sense not to ask such of me.

  20. 20.

    dedc79

    Forget sarcasm, isn’t it kind of true? The Bachmanns of the world claim to think extramarital sex is a sin that you can/should be punished by god for. Why can’t Savage point that out?

  22. 22.

    Kola Noscopy

    @Cermet:

    But isn’t sullivan the ‘bitch’ in his marriage? Then that makes him an expert on all things relating to being a bitch … and, uh, I guess that only means he’s an expert on santorum as his standard discharge.

    Hmmm…this seems pretty far over the line into homophobia/hate speech with some misogyny thrown in for fun here. What say the BJ hall monitors? Will Cermet be reported to Cole or ABL and banned for a time? Seems only fair…

    …of course I would never stoop to such tactics…

  26. 26.

    Dee Loralei

    Ok, I freeped it ten times or so for Dan. But now I’m feeling sorry for Debbie-Wasserman Schultz. And yea, I participated in the goggle bomb for Santorum too.

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    @TooManyJens: Facts are irelevant; only the narrative matters. Rick Perry gave a good demonstration of this a while back; some reporter asked him about some data showing that Texas’s abstinence education was a miserable failure, and the only answer he could give was “it works”. Even after being told that the data showed it didn’t work in any useful sense, he kept repeating that.

  28. 28.

    hildebrand

    @Mark S.:

    They just want sluts to die.

    For a wingnut, you have just described all women – well, except for those who are proudly ‘obedient’ to their husbands.

    Bah, all religious conservatives not-so-secretly admire and want to emulate O’Brien and The Commander.

  30. 30.

    EIGRP

    I have 5 kids – 4 boys and a girl. They are all going to get the HPV vaccine.

    I still don’t understand why religious/conservative/republicands think the vaccine == sex. Sheesh. “Dad, why am I getting this vaccine?” “It helps protect you against some forms of cancer.”

    It’s not hard to figure out.

    Eric

  31. 31.

    Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy)

    @Kola Noscopy: Got to let an ass bray before you can know it’s an ass, present company included. Sorry they banned you for anything. Hate that I missed a word of your blog-diarrhea because of Cole, et al.

    Gotta be cool joining the ranks of Brick Oven Bill, Matoko Chan, etc., though. What was it like? Did you feel different when you couldn’t post here?

  32. 32.

    FormerSwingVoter

    I think people may be reading too much into this particular wingnut conspiracy. They don’t want to believe a conspiracy because of the real-world facts on the ground; if they cared about facts, they wouldn’t believe conspiracy theories.

    It’s like people who oppose flouridizing water – it’s not because they hate the idea that people have teeth, it’s because they’re mentally diseased fuckwits.

  35. 35.

    danimal

    My 12 year old just got her immunization recently. I don’t want her to live a promiscuous lifestyle at all, but I really don’t want her to die from a preventable case of cervical cancer. Listening to conservatives, you’d think I was giving her license to let her freak flag fly by getting immunized. Luckily, all she cared about was whether the shot would hurt.

    I voted for Savage.

  36. 36.

    Kola Noscopy

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    Yeah, when I think ‘establishment media’, the first person that comes to mind is Dan Savage. Sure.

    Could you point out where I stated that Savage was a member of the “Establishment Media?”

    Thanks.

  38. 38.

    Kola Noscopy

    @Cermet:

    Nah, I think the whole process loses its kick if you turn yourself in. For full effect, better to let anya or one of the other hall monitors do it for you. With the bonus for them that their nether parts get to become engorged as they fight the good fight.

  42. 42.

    Yutsano

    @Kola Noscopy: Your comment shows great ignorance for what Dan Savage actually does, which doesn’t surprise me. He’s the editor of The Stranger which is an alternative weekly operating on a shoestring budget in Seattle. It’s a great little paper. I’m sure Dan must make up for it in his seven-figure syndication deal for his sex column then. Which is also mostly purchased by alt weeklies on shoestring budgets. Savage may not be starving to death, but labeling him a one percenter is laughable.

    BTW I’m mocking you pedo. That little nuance will sail over your head, so I’ll get it out of the way quickly.

  47. 47.

    slag

    Didn’t we do this once for TBogg? Did we win? (Not that I have a big issue with losing per se–I am a liberal, after all–I just don’t remember.)

  48. 48.

    JPL

    Since Cole’s name wasn’t on the list, I voted for Savage because I believe his analysis of Bachmann was correct.
    Sullivan is the biggest hypocrite for criticizing Savage. He wants rights for himself but to hell with everyone else.

  49. 49.

    Craig

    @freelancer: Considering that he’s a closeted gay man working for a Republican field operation, I would bet that he’s done some seriously freaky-deaky sex shit that can only be legally carried out in international waters.

  50. 50.

    MikeJ

    @danimal:

    My 12 year old just got her immunization recently. I don’t want her to live a promiscuous lifestyle at all, but I really don’t want her to die from a preventable case of cervical cancer

    Even if she remains celibate until her wedding night, if her husband ever had sex with even one other woman (and how would she know? Can’t examine his hymen), she could die from cervical cancer without the immunization.

    Seems like common sense to do it, but sadly there are many people who aren’t as sensible as you are.

  51. 51.

    Trentrunner

    It’s not just that Sully was personally sexually reckless (though he was),

    or that he intentionally endangered others by risking spreading HIV to others (though he did),

    It’s that he did both things WHILE TELLING GAYS THEY SHOULDN’T BE HAVING SO MUCH RISKY UNPROTECTED GAY SEX.

    In other words, it’s self-serving hypocrisy, EXACTLY the same as Sully’s stand on abortion and on almost every other “hippie” issue.

    And THAT is why Sir Milky Loads’ history on this specific topic should be brought up every time his hypocrisy rears its head.

  52. 52.

    Maus

    God damn Sully is a selfish, douchey, craven turd. @danimal:

    I don’t want her to live a promiscuous lifestyle at all

    Considering how many good churchgoing grammas and aunties have died of cervical cancer, “promiscuous” is a fairly subjective term.

  54. 54.

    danimal

    @MikeJ: @Maus: Oh, I agree with you both. Just making the point that the conservative conflation of HPV and teen promiscuity is a ridiculous association.

    IOW, this is a health issue, not a personal morality issue.

  55. 55.

    Mike G

    They just want sluts to die.

    Nothing thrills an authoritarian-follower like a chance to bully someone powerless with low risk that they’ll fight back. Especially if the targets seem to be having more enjoyment in life than their miserable, repressed selves. Slut-shaming is joy for these people.

    IOW, this is a health issue, not a personal morality issue.

    Everything must be made into a morality issue with rightards. They have such feeble grasp of ‘facts’, ‘evidence’ and ‘reason’ that they must condemn these very concepts as evil, since their ideology almost universally fails on these grounds.

  56. 56.

    MikeJ

    @danimal:

    IOW, this is a health issue, not a personal morality issue.

    My point is that even if it were a personal morality issue, they want women to die for somebody else’s sin.

  57. 57.

    Maus

    @danimal: Oh, I understand fully. But even making apologies for “teen promiscuity” is unnecessary, and shows how far we have to go. We think of it as bad because of pregnancy and disease, with responsible use of prophylactics and vaccines, we can reduce the need for this disgust and what’s left is generally conservative morality.

    Sure, there’s still risk of herpes, but the “morality” still has a much higher prominence than is deserved.

  58. 58.

    Tuffy

    I think it’s best to leave reproduction politics to men who have actually seen a vagina. (Women are far too emotional).

  62. 62.

    Maus

    @kindness: Yeah, seriously. And why tar Savage at the same time? Savage is a good dude.

    And while we’re at it, @Cermet:

    But isn’t sullivan the ‘bitch’ in his marriage? Then that makes him an expert on all things relating to being a bitch …

    Fuck off, we don’t need you to mansplain things.

  63. 63.

    kindness

    We made sure our daughter had the HPV vaccine. Cost us out of pocket but we were glad to do it. Preventable death and all. I may be one of those oddballs that wants kids to have a healthy sex life. She’s in her late 20’s now (before I get hell from any puritans here).

  66. 66.

    Lysana

    Sorry, I don’t touch either. Sully’s a right-wing feeb and Savage is a dose of haterade to anyone not of the right gender or sexual orientation, and I am neither for his purposes. The world would be improved in my estimation if both vanished to a life of indolent anonymity.

  68. 68.

    The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

    You couldn’t prove it by the newspaper dispensers around here that Dan Savage isn’t part of the “Establishment Media”. Aside from The Seattle Times and The Tacoma News-Tribune and The New York Times, the ones that are always there are The Seattle Weekly* and The Stranger.

    *Should be called The Bellevue Weekly, but that’s another discussion.

  69. 69.

    Maus

    @Lysana:

    Savage is a dose of haterade to anyone not of the right gender or sexual orientation, and I am neither for his purposes. The world would be improved in my estimation if both vanished to a life of indolent anonymity.

    Where on earth are you getting this information from? Have you actually read his columns? I can’t believe you’re conflating Dan Savage with Sullivan.

    He says some dumb things from time to time that I disagree with, but he’s on the whole positive and certainly not anti-woman. He’s not a monst’rous and quietly hateful racist fuck you I’ve got mine-r like Sullivan.

  71. 71.

    kindness

    @Maus: I agree with you Maus.

    Lysana, I call on you to produce your evidence. Dan Savage is many things but not what you say he is.

  72. 72.

    Kola Noscopy

    @Yutsano:

    if you don’t think Savage makes well into six figures from his nationally syndicated column, books, appearances, and all the rest, you really ARE a fool…oh, wait…

  73. 73.

    Kola Noscopy

    @kindness:

    Why? Those are Sullivan’s own words while advertising for anonymous bareback sex at the same time he was lecturing gay men in general for having too much anonymous, risky sex.

    He’s a hypocritical, lying pig. Using his own words to make the point seems only fair.

  74. 74.

    Maus

    @Kola Noscopy: Using his own words in a manner denigrating to gays is classless, no matter how much of a sleazeball Sullivan is.

    There are plenty of reasons to dislike him as a person without reverting into this grade schoolery.

    @kindness: I would say there are things he has said that’ve disappointed me, and he can always do better. In general, he’s on the right side of many subjects. He’s hardly as dismissive of trans peoples and women as some unfairly claim.

  75. 75.

    Kola Noscopy

    @Maus:

    Using his own words in a manner denigrating to gays is classless, no matter how much of a sleazeball Sullivan is.

    Oh please. MOST gay men do NOT advertise on bareback sex web sites for anonymous, rubberless sex. A tiny minority do that, and an even TINIER, even microscopic minority do that while lecturing other gay men in the national press and books about safe sex and relationships.

    YOU are the one extrapolating his inexcusable behavior to all gay men, bigot.

  77. 77.

    Linda Featheringill

    I have known women who were virgins when they married and never strayed outside of their marriage, and came down with cervical cancer anyway. They got HPV from their husbands.

    We seriously need to be inoculating the boys as well.

  79. 79.

    Intercalation

    @Yutsano: Actually I’d say that the comment is a reference to something that Dan said either in his weekly column or on SLOG about taking a holiday together at least once with Sullivan. It was quite some time ago, so either a little bit of Google-fu is on display, or Kola is a regular reader of Savage Love/The Stranger.

  80. 80.

    darkmatter

    @LT: Attack what is essentially his bread-and-butter for the sake of his bullshit “awards”? Sully maybe many things and a complete idiot, but the one thing he knows is which side his bread is buttered and would be foolish to go after those that pay him.

  82. 82.

    Observerinvancouver

    I checked out Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s nomination:

    “‘This [Ryan] plan would literally be a death trap for seniors,’ – incoming DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

    So the response to the ‘death panels’ is a ‘death trap’. Makes you see what Matt Miller was talking about.”

    All I can say is that this confirms my slowly developing lack of admiration for Sullivan. Wasserman-Schultz is totally correct that the Ryan plan could be a death trap. A laughable pittance from the government to apply to health insurance and a diet of cat fud to pay the balance. Exactly morally equivalent to Sarah Palin’s “death panels”.

    According to Wikipedia, Sullivan went to Oxford and was a member of the Oxford Union debating society.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Union

    I.e., he knows better than to make an argument like that.

  83. 83.

    Observerinvancouver

    @dmsilev: Hah! A kindred spirit. I left a comment about Wasserman-Schultz’s nomination way down thread, before I saw your comment.

  85. 85.

    Emma

    @Observerinvancouver: Sullivan doesn’t think his readers are anything but moronic rubes that can be bamboozled by a few references to famous intellectuals. Why the heck would he bother with good arguments?

  86. 86.

    Tom Levenson

    Just voted, with pleasure, for Mr. Dan.

    But I have to say: I’ve been lusting for a Moore award all year, and I thought calling Mitch Daniels a murderer for his anti Pap smear stand (hyperbole — but not by much) would get me in with a chance.

    F**king East German judge gave me a 3.2 though, and that was that.

  87. 87.

    David in NY

    This voting thing was the most fun when David Horowitz ran a competition for the 100 most dangerous college professors in the country. Michael Bérubé campaigned for the top spot and won in a landslide. I, incidentally, knew the husband (also a professor) of #97 or #98, of roughly her political ilk, who was deeply disappointed not to have beaten her out on the list.

  88. 88.

    maus

    @Gwangung: Exactly, thanks. It’s not what you say so much as how you say it. I loathe Sullivan with the fury of a thousand suns, but I keep my criticism clean, the way that was phrased comes off like the sleazy homophobic trolls oft-banned from Savage’s site.

    Kola may not be, but he needs to not use that sort of insult if he wants to be taken seriously.

  89. 89.

    Jamey

    @Cermet: A commenter over at Dan’s got it right: Moore was right about Iraq and Sully was wrong. Health care: Same thing — in both cases, Sully came over to Moore’s points of view. For this, “moderates” call Sully brave. And that hypocritical little shitbag Andrew STILL bestows Moore’s name on the Dish’s annual award for over-the-top “liberal” rhetoric.

    Fuck Sully. I wish the US Park Rangers had beaten a little sense into him when he was busted with a joint in CCNS!

  90. 90.

    4jkb4ia

    It is good that Balloon Juice has adopted a position on this important matter now that Sully took Thoreau out of the running. That was all I checked and I didn’t really look at the others.

    Also too, I am ashamed to record it, but I was actually looking forward to Kevin’s column this year, although not enough to check on Sunday if he had written it. He came up with one of his better ones. (For anyone who doesn’t know, Kevin is Maureen Dowd’s wingnut brother)

  92. 92.

    MIchael

    Hmm. You know what? I likes me some Dan Savage. But this was a particularly awful piece of writing … regardless how anyone may feel about Sully or his awards.

  93. 93.

    David in NY

    @Southern Beale: Ahem. I believe that’s “shoo-in,” not “shoe-in.” “Shoo” is a word used to drive away an animal or pest; “to shoo” means to do that. “Shoo-in” is a horse-racing term (originally the horse fixed to win would be shooed-in by, and ahead of, the others in on the fix) that now means a “sure thing” in any contest.

  94. 94.

    Maus

    @MIchael:

    Hmm. You know what? I likes me some Dan Savage. But this was a particularly awful piece of writing … regardless how anyone may feel about Sully or his awards.

    It’s not polite, but it’s absolutely true.

  97. 97.

    neil

    If the only things you can come up with to insult Andy about have to do with being gay, you just might be a homo phobe.

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