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Romney aide quits because he's gay
This whole thing is so gross. I couldn't find the Daily Caller piece referred to by NPR (the link took me to a piece about Chris Christie and judicial nominations), but here is the original National Review piece (the link in the NPR story takes you to the author's follow-up).
Basically, the long and short of it is that because this foreign policy aide - who opposes Obama's foreign policies - is also a gay rights activist, a bunch of bigots have their knickers in a twist.
Facing Critcisim, Gay Romney Aide Resigns
Richard Grenell, a long time Republican hired by Mitt Romney's campaign as a foreign policy spokesman, resigned today. Grenell's hiring made news less than two weeks ago, because Grenell is openly gay.The New York Times reports Grenell's abrupt resignation comes after he came "under attack by antigay activists in the party."
The Romney campaign cofirmed his resignation saying they were "disappointed" Grenell had resigned for "personal reasons."
"We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill," Romney's campaign manager Matt Rhoades said in a statement.
The Washington Post obtained this statement from Grenell:
"I have decided to resign from the Romney campaign as the Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman. 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."
The Post adds:
"Pieces in two conservative publications, the National Review and Daily Caller, reflected the uproar by some social conservatives over the appointment.
"In the National Review, Matthew J. Franck wrote late last week: 'Suppose Barack Obama comes out ? as Grenell wishes he would ? in favor of same-sex marriage in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. How fast and how publicly will Richard Grenell decamp from Romney to Obama?'"
Grenelll was also in the news because he had posted and then deleted tweets that expressed some pointed opinions about Hilary Clinton and Michelle Obama among others.
A highlight from Matthew Franck's NRO piece:
I agree that Grenell?s being openly gay is, in itself, of no consequence for his service in the Romney campaign. Nor is the fact that he supports same-sex marriage ? if, that is, we were assured that this view would have no influence on American foreign policy. But Grenell has made a particular crusade of the marriage issue, with a kind of unhinged devotion that suggests a man with questionable judgment.
So it's OK to be gay, but actually advocating for gay rights makes one "unhinged"?
Gross gross gross.
Re: Romney aide quits because he's gay
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
The same world in which marriage is a foreign policy issue is the world where small government tells women what to do with their bodies and controls interaction between women and their doctors.
He might think gays are also entitled to human rights somewhere in the world.
As for this: But Grenell has made a particular crusade of the marriage issue, with a kind of unhinged devotion that suggests a man with questionable judgment.
lol-- that is exactly what the anti-gay rights Christian Right has done. Rick Santorum et. al.
Yet cries "ZOMG socialism!!!111!!!!" when anyone attempts to ensure that all Americans have access to basic health care.
That too. It really is bizarro world sometimes.
This disappoints me greatly. But I am happy to hear this:
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.
Not that I needed a reminder of why he's my candidate, but the reinforcement is nice.
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Well, to be fair, KA gets angry when Republicans are called racist. Not homophobic.
I know.
But he hired him, and I have no doubt he knew about his activism. I'll take the little victories, and hope for bigger ones down the line.
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::backs slowly out of post::
Duh, because clearly you can't be gay and have clear and unbiased judgment on anything. YWIA.
This story is so disheartening to me.
Don't worry. It's my May resolution to not take anything Dylanite says seriously.
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This is a great example of what has been going on with the GOP in the last few years - the far right has such a strong influence on the party that it forces moderate candidates to pander to the right even if they don't want to.
I honestly believe Romney is truly a moderate. But because the extreme right has such power in the GOP, he's being forced to swing to the right and do things like force out a gay staffer, even though I bet he personally doesn't want to.
Romney isn't forcing him out. The stupid publications that promote this drivel are.
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Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
Huh? An aide chooses to leave and now Romney isn't in charge of his people?
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Huh? An aide chooses to leave and now Romney isn't in charge of his people?
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Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
It's win-win for Romney. He isn't forcing the guy out, so he can't be held over the barrel for being anti-gay. But the guy is out, so he can't be held against Romney by the uber conservatives.
I'm just not naive enough to believe this is totally a coincidence and Romney was begging the guy to stay.
If I'm an uber conservative I would say that Romney still wanted him in and allowed him in and didn't force him out. I could definitely hold it against him.
I would be proud to have an "unhinged" devotion to the cause of gay marriage.
I am so sick of this country getting caught up in debates about sexuality, uteri, fetuses, and other things that don't f*cking matter.*
*don't f*cking matter = the country is going to collapse/not survive for our children and the politicians/talking heads are just riling us up to keep us dumb to the fact that they are all laughing all the way to the bank why the rest of us fools argue about things they will do virtually nothing about.
The election isn't for another 6 months. They'll have forgotten about it by then, KWIM? It would only still be an issue if he was still in.
Ah, yes. Americans have the attention span of a mosquito. Good point.
This guy's entire professional life deals with foreign policy, and he does not think President Obama is headed in the right direction. I don't think it's so out of the realm to think that would trump gay marriage, especially if you think (like I do) that gay marriage will be part of our future, regardless of who is President.
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