Just like Erik Erickson (find the link yourself), James Joyner (who’s now writing for The New Republic, whocoodanode), says:
I’m not sure I’m buying this narrative. Yes, Grenell is gay. Yes, some right wingers were angry that a gay man was named Romney’s foreign policy spokesman. On the other hand, this man was openly gay when he served as John Bolton’s spokesman. While I’m no fan of Bolton, he’s a veritable superhero on the right.
Joyner then quotes a Romney spokesman who trotted out the party line: Grenell wasn’t really on the payroll yet, he hadn’t appeared as a spokesman, and the Romney campaign asked him to stay.
That’s all probably true, but here’s what Grenell said in his resignation statement:
While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.
And here’s a few more points from noted pinko Jennifer Rubin:
During the two weeks after Grenell’s hiring was announced the Romney campaign did not put Grenell out to comment on national security matters and did not use him on a press foreign policy conference call. Despite the controversy in new media and in conservative circles, there was no public statement of support for Grenell by the campaign and no supportive social conservatives were enlisted to calm the waters.
The thing that Joyner can’t seem to wrap his head around is that the Republican Party has gotten worse on gay rights in the last couple of years. And Joyner’s man Romney goes right along with that, because going along is what he does best.
gaz
* reaches for popcorn *
Grenell is a misogynistic prick. Frankly, I have no sympathy for him. They’re all tools, IMO.
ETA: And fuck that racist zionist Jennifer Rubin with a blunt object, also too.
Steve
Rubin is now trying to play the “both sides” card but her heart really doesn’t seem to be in it. But I appreciate the Romney campaign’s pushback. By all means, keep this story alive for another day.
Yevgraf
Things that people can’t wrap their minds around:
1. Too many gay men are excusemakers/ratfuckers, doing the bidding of glibertarians and conservatards in their bid to make the world the safe playground for white guys with money.
2. The likelihood that Grenell was the voluntary sacrificial victim for Lord Romney’s pretense of moderation. This way, Willard can play act as if he wouldn’t cave to the nuts.
ant
Rebublican voters don’t want any gay people speaking for them.
It aint hard to figure out.
What’s weird, is that people like EE act like they are embarrassed about it now.
wus all that about?
beergoggles
Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving kapo.
Andy Hall
The Texas GOP platform for the last two cycles (2008 and 2010) called for Congress to invalidate Lawrence v. Texas, for the state to recriminalize same-sex conduct, and to remove from the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction any cases involving claims under the Bill of Rights. (They did not explain *how* any of this was supposed to happen, BTW.) I fully expect these same provisions to be in the party platform this year, too. Romney has (wisely, I think) already sent his regrets that he won’t be able to appear.
Culture of Truth
He was fired for politicizing foreign policy!
Forum Transmitted Disease
Yeah. None of that actually happened.
LABiker
Grenell: “While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage…”
It’s too bad for Mitt that he’s lost someone so dialed into the Romney campaign bullshit channel.
General Stuck
ot
Good news, unless you talk to Kthug..
Ash Can
@mistermix: Actually, that’s Doug Mataconis saying that, not James Joyner. (I was wondering what Predator drones had to do with it…)
ETA: My mistake; you’re absolutely right. I didn’t read all the way through to the end, and didn’t realize it was an appendage to the article, written by Joyner. I need moar coffee.
JGabriel
__
__
mistermix @ Top:
To be fair to Joyner, the GOP has been so bad on gay rights, that it really is kind of hard to imagine them getting worse. One can understand how Joyner might have difficulty processing that.
.
mistermix
@Ash Can: Joyner added it as a remark at the end of one of Doug’s posts. Doug believes that Grenell was fired because of anti-gay backlash, surprisingly enough.
Ben Cisco
The lesson here is the same: yearn to be a kapo or overseer for the NeoConfederates, suffer a kapo’s or overseer’s fate sooner or later. You’d think they’d catch on after a while.
RalfW
Because there are none. The GOP tent is so small now the entirety of it fits on the 15th green at Augusta.
curiousleo
The GOP continues to double down on supporting the social conservatives hate against lgbt folk. Elections matter and if the GOP win they will continue to try and write their fear into laws.
In North Carolina, the GOP won the state leg. for the first time since reconstruction. They then put an anti- on the primary ballot b/c too many people might vote in Nov.
May 8 is election day. YOU can help defeat it even if you don’t live in NC. Please phone bank to help us GOTV. Please sign up to make calls.
NC CAN defeat this amendment. There’s a great coalition doing great work. But we need your help.
Ash Can
@mistermix: Yes, I edited my remark above when I saw that.
And good grief, seeing someone that deluded is really kind of pathetic. He’s so deeply in denial about the GOP that I almost feel embarrassed for the guy. Almost.
JGabriel
Deleted by author for redundancy.
.
Legalize
This isn’t difficult. The Teabilly base hates gays and doesn’t want any of those people speaking about anything important to them, i.e. the rage boner they have over issues of war and peace. And the Romney campaign cannot, or will no ever stand up to that. They let their man get savaged and didn’t support him.
Mitt Romney is weak, and he should be savaged by team Obama for that fact – ever day.
Mark S.
Like anyone knew who the hell Grenell was back then.
And if you believe the campaign’s story, Grenell has been so busy moving in the last two weeks he couldn’t make any appearances or do anything while foreign policy was in the spotlight.
Cacti
I maintain that Romney completely stepped on his dick with this one.
He showed the Christ-ers that he was willing to hire “teh gay” in the first place, validating their fears of him being a RINO.
Then he showed moderates and indies that he’ll roll over for the God squad at the first sign of a fight.
Legalize
This isn’t difficult. The Teabilly base hates gays and doesn’t want any of those people speaking about anything important to them, i.e. the rage boner they have over issues of war and peace. And the Romney campaign cannot, or will no ever stand up to that. They let their man get savaged and didn’t support him.
Mitt Romney is weak, and he should be savaged by team Obama for that fact – ever day.
Cacti
I maintain that Romney completely stepped on his dick with this one.
He showed the Christ-ers that he was willing to hire “teh gay” in the first place, validating their fears of him being a RINO.
Then he showed moderates and indies that he’ll roll over for the God squad at the first sign of a fight.
Legalize
This isn’t difficult. The Teabilly base hates gays and doesn’t want any of those people speaking about anything important to them, i.e. the rage boner they have over issues of war and peace. And the Romney campaign cannot, or will no ever stand up to that. They let their man get savaged and didn’t support him.
Mitt Romney is weak, and he should be savaged by team Obama for that fact – ever day.
Brachiator
I suppose we could talk about the war against gays. Would the GOP deny it, as they have the war against women, and declare their love for gay people?
That would be quite a pivot.
Does the Mormon Church have a position on gay rights?
Also, has Romney made any comment on this at all, or is he silent so he won’t have to deny anything later?
Villago Delenda Est
This is the equivalent of a Jew thanking Heinrich Himmler for putting him in the Zyklon-B shower.
Steeplejack
@General Stuck:
Interesting story. The headline is “Krugman: Obama May Lose Re-Election.” Except nowhere in the story does Krugman say that.
What he does say:
I’m not saying I agree completely with Krugman, but what he actually says is a far cry from the TPM headline.
Steve
@Villago Delenda Est: Whoa, it’s kinda not.
Villago Delenda Est
@Brachiator:
Prime movers behind Prop 8 in California.
They hate on the ghey, too.
Villago Delenda Est
@Steve:
Sure it is. Being gay and being Republican is the equivalent of being Jewish and being a Nazi.
At the same time, it’s a dis on Rmoney, that he’s accepting of gays, which further undermines Rmoney’s position with the raving fucktards of the right.
But the fact of the matter is, you can’t be openly gay and work for Rmoney, because it causes the vile hyenas of the wingtard base to go batshit insane. Rmoney is going to spend most of the campaign shoring up the distrustful base.
MattF
OK, Mitt puts toe in water, toe gets bitten off, Mitt retreats. Surprising? No. And, as noted, Grenell is not much of a human being. But it is important to note a complete lack of courage here on the part of the Soulless One, plus a complete lack of ability to stand up to the wackos. Make a note, folks, it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last.
Cacti
@Brachiator:
Staunchly anti-gay.
Encouraged individual members to contribute generously to “Yes on 8” in California and raised $22 million for it.
Also fined by CA for failing to disclose institutional donations to “Yes on 8”.
Professor
Have you all forgotten about the GOProud?
Nina
The firing just looks weak.
They were willing to stick up for him when it came out that he was a misogynistic asshole, but they’re not willing to stick up for him when some god-botherers get their panties in a wad.
If moderate voters still existed, this whole thing would be seen as weak, weak, weak. While right now Obama is cruising from strength to strength.
We’re going to go through some rough patches over the summer, I suspect, but right now I’m very hopeful about the eventual outcome of the presidential contest. And this action by the Romney campaign shows why.
Romney is not capable of standing up to the wingnuts in his own party. He just doesn’t care enough. If he has core beliefs, he’s not willing to state them and act on them.
People want a leader who will lead, not bend with the wind.
General Stuck
@Steeplejack:
What? you are saying the headline is not accurate to what Krugman said, if not stated as such. Of course Obama could lose the election. Headlines don’t have to be quoted by the subject of the story, they do need to reflect an accurate theme on what was said. Kthug is pessimistic, he has a right to be. We have a right to not be pessimistic, when confronted with evidence that is positive. That is all I am saying.
Cacti
@Nina:
I’m honestly surprised at how flat-footed and amateurish the Romney campaign has looked since locking up the primary.
Surely they can’t be this bad for the whole campaign.
gbear
@Yevgraf:
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the percentage of gay men in the position you describe isn’t any higher than the percentage of straight men doing the same. Except for our orientation, we really aren’t that different from the general population. Please stop thinking that we’re some ‘other’ who aren’t measuring up to your percieved set of standards.
and FYI, I vote every election and I vote straight Democratic ticked (except for when Arne Carlson ran for governor). I’m not working in any way to deny the rights of others.
handsmile
As penace for my sins, each morning begins with flitfully watching the BBC and the Republican Party morning press briefing, aka CNN’s “Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien.”
Today, regular panelist and mouth-breather Will Cain insisted that Grenell was not fired simply for the Teabilly crime of being gay. You see he had also been scrubbing his Twitter account of past misogynistic remarks, and hairy-legged feminist leftists had been baying for his dismissal. So both sides do it! So stop picking on that gay rights champion, Mormon bishop Willard Rmoney!
Mark S.
@Cacti:
They were pretty lousy before they locked it up, but they had ten times more money and were running against a bunch of clowns.
Cris (without an H)
You know, I’m seeing a pattern here. In 2008, Amanda Marcotte was drummed out of John Edwards’ campaign due to a hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues. And in both cases, it was rabid right-wingers doing the drumming.
chopper
lol, his foreign policy failures and weak leadership. i love how these guys always throw in the shitheel insult even when they’re quitting the job.
Steeplejack
@General Stuck:
That’s good; it would be awful if someone misinterpreted your apposition of that poll and the Krugman interview, especially as he said not one goddamn thing about employment in it.
And, Justin H. Bieber on a slide rule, that Gallup poll is awfully weak sauce.
“Workers saying”? WTF.
Martin
This is why I said yesterday that it portends a bigger problem for Mitt. Bolton could get away with a gay spokesman because the right trusted Bolton. They trusted him to uphold conservative orthodoxy, and the presence of a gay spokesman wasn’t enough to shake that trust.
They don’t trust MItt to do the same. So every little innocuous thing that might be interpreted as a shift to the left is going to get smacked hard by the base. Mitt is going to have to stay right – at least he’s going to have to stay there for quite a long time.
JCT
@handsmile:
Riiight. Of course! The Republicans ALWAYS do what the liberals want them to do.
So sorry, time for the GOP to suck it up and admit that they nominated an out-and-out coward to be their nominee for President. Does the family crest have a chicken on it?
Someone should put up a website to chronicle Mitt’s brave stands and then we can cast bets as to whether he ever breaks double-digits. And no, drinking water from the tap in Paris doesn’t count.
General Stuck
@Steeplejack:
Wow, I guess the employment picture and speaking about the overall economic conditions, are like two totally different subjects. And all I said was that Krugman is pessimistic, so I guess that is off limits now when referring to the writings of this person.
And the link to the Gallup survey is a comparative one from 2008. There are any number of other stats and polls out there that point to more job growth and hiring. That is related to Obama’s message and getting reelected. You need to get a grip on yourself, dude. If you choose to consume Krugman’s pessimistic concern trolling, that is your choice, others may not want to.
beergoggles
@gbear: Ignore that troll. It has a secret itch for all things gay and conservative and ends up projecting it. Given that gays support democrats to a greater degree and percentage than men, women and latinos, the troll selectively picks on gays because picking on the other demographics doesn’t excite it in the pants.
Evolving Deep Southerner
It just hit me what’s off-key to me in Grenell’s statment, the phrase “personal issues.”
If the guy’s openly gay and comfortable with himself, he has no “personal issues,” at least on that front. The “personal issues” reside with others, clearly. Unless he’s got some Roy Cohn complex, which is very possible. The GOP’s thick with those kinds.
Steeplejack
@General Stuck:
That’s the point. Krugman is not concern-trolling. He supports his opinions with facts and logic–something that very few pundits do. To that extent I am a Krugman apologist.
And you deserve to be tweaked when you (over)indulge your Krugman derangement syndrome. This poll is “good news, unless you talk to Kthug.” Puh-leeze.
lacp
The tea partiers would have been fine with all this if Willard hadn’t tried to ram Grenell down their throats. If you know what I mean, and I think that you do.
General Stuck
@Steeplejack:
LOL, you didn’t tweak me. You made as ass out of yourself going nukular over a link with a benign comment, for people to decide for themselves what it means, if anything. I did not slam Krugman, even though he deserved it for giving political advice he knows nothing about. So, do you think Krugman is not pessimistic? really?
Steeplejack
@General Stuck:
It’s getting hard to see you through the cloud of ink you’re squirting as you back away from your original post.
General Stuck
@Steeplejack:
Well, at least you admit to being a Krugman apologist. That’s honesty. at least. You may have the last word, as I am trying to kick that habit for myself.
“Don’t tweak me, Bro”!!
Patricia Kayden
I guess no matter how extremely rightwing you are, if you are gay, you just won’t fly in the Repub party. Wonder why Romneybot didn’t know that before he picked Grenell.
Mike in NC
@Patricia Kayden:
Going forward, we can expect that every spokesperson, adviser, and errand boy working for Willard’s campaign will be vetted as a straight white male whose resume includes having spent time with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
RalfW
@gbear:
Thank you.
RalfW
@Martin:
I’m with the folks who say that if Mitt wins (eghad), he will not, he cannot, move to the center at all. Grover and Tony and all the right wingers will own his ass like the weakest punk in Leavenworth.
Seth Owen
Krugman is a better economist than Obama and he’s worth heeding on economic policy BUT Obama is a better politician than Krugman and shouldn’t necessarily listen to him on how to frame issues for the electorate.
JasonF
Might there not be a slightly higher profile in being a spokesman for a presidential candidate than in being a spokesman for the ambassador to the U.N.? Come on, Joyner — you’re smarter than this.
JoJo
Sullivan is shocked! shocked! that the republicans are antigay.