First, pick your coverage:
Joe(fascinating comments)
Michaelangelo Signorile
blogactive
Daily Kos
Bilerico
Then, decide: should he be outed or not?
The interesting aspect of this situation is that it is more about Mark Buse than it is about McCain. Buse is the one we are after when we talk about hypocrisy. We know what McCain believes. What is unacceptable is the fact that a gay man would carry his train.
It is quite clear to me that we who are OK with outing this guy would feel the same way even if he were the Chief of Staff for Obama.
I know something about the thrill of being highly placed and closeted in a powerful organization that considers some people to be second class, and, that is homophobic. You really have no choice if you want to regain your integrity. You have to leave it.
"Perge modo et qua te ducit via dirige gressum," said Venus to Aeneas.
14 comments:
I emailed Mike this afternoon:
I understand the hypocrisy of Mark Buse working for McCain for all these years, but I fail to see how this is in any way an indictment of McCain. The only person here who showed questionable actions would be Buse, for working for a Republican congressman/senator for all this time.
I'm by no means a fan or supporter of Sen. McCain, but the fact that his chief of staff is gay has no bearing on him, his platform, or his choice of a running mate. There's just no logical connection to be drawn there.
What do you want to bet that McCain spins this as showing how inclusive his campaign is?
And BTW - if this would have been Obama's chief of staff, he would have already been out and proud, with the full support of his boss.
I don't understand how gay men who work for Republican politicians can feel good about themselves. They must love the money and the diva-esque proximity to the high and mighty. And they must think the money will buy them safety if something bad happens.
While I understand you had the ability, integrity and stamina to walk away. Many in the GLBT community don't have those strong character traits and often the economic necessities of life ( food, shelter, clothing) force people to work in less than ultimate situations. I find the outing to be filled with schadenfreude by many in our community, and Mark Buse the person is tossed away like rubbish. That is not cool, and not tolerant
Dear Nowholdon,
I am suspecting that Mark Buse has the "ability and stamina" to walk away, but he does not (yet) have the integrity. I am quite convinced that he is hoping for a fine job in a McCain administration.
You make no distinction between working for a homophobic group/man and working in a "less than ultimate" situation. Mr. Buse now has a solid resume. He can get another job.
Also, what makes you think I had the "economic necessities of life" when I jumped ship? I was quite poor. I took an entry level position that paid $12K a year. I owned a lot of nothing.
I am sorry to have to disagree with you so strenuously, given that you seem to be a newly announced reader and one that I'd like to welcome. I'm open to more on this.
Also, do you think your status with the police might have something to do with your willingness to do mental contortions in order to justify Mark Buse's position?
I haven't, yet, seen this picked up outside of some gay sites, so I'm not sure how big a deal this will become. I understand, and share, the desire to see the McCain campaign disadvantaged, but I'm not sure this will make much of a ripple. It could hurt him some with his base if it gets widely reported, but I think the base has already decided that they have no choice but to support him.
Mark Buse Has the means and ability to walk away at any time. He comes from a very well heeled family in Arizona, and has never in his life had to worry about where his next mortgage payment was coming from. He comes from wealth, and loves being seated at the table with all the other piggies, soaking up the proximity of power. He is a KAPO, and deserves whatever humiliation is bestowed upon him.
This unfortunate outing of Mr. Buse, which I fully support, illustrates how rare indeed it is to meet a man of integrity. It has made me reflect on my own commitment to managing my life in a virtuous (or at least consistent) way, so if this mess causes a little self-reflection among our tribe, at least some small measure of good may come of it.
I can't sympathize much with Mr. Buse, though. He knew what he was working to support, and as a reasonably intelligent man he must have understood the hypocrisy that his continued employment required. I wonder if spending so much of his professional life working against his own (and society's) best interests damaged him in any way? Does an impoverishment of the spirit require complicity, or can it happen more innocently as a sin of omission?
"It is quite clear to me that we who are OK with outing this guy would feel the same way even if he were the Chief of Staff for Obama".
I highly doubt this. Especially because the justification for the outing is the person's political position. I don't believe in outing and I don't believe in self-righteous rationales for same.
If he were Obama's chief of staff, he would have been able to serve openly. The only accusation of hypocrisy would have been related to Obama's position on marriage equality. He would deserve every bit of that criticism, but the depth of the hypocrisy between the two situations would simply not be comparable.
The funny thing here is, Mark Buse wasn't really closeted. He was out to those around him and McCain knows about him.
The only thing the "outing" did was expose some more of McCain's hypocracy.
My big thing is-- who the fuck cares that Mark Buse is gay and republican. there are lots of 'em (as stupid as that appears to many of us).
Sure he is supporting a campaign that has come out as anti-gay. Fine. Perhaps he is greedy, or cares more for other republican views than he does about gay rights. Not all gay people make gay rights their number one priority in life.
That's his choice. Whatever.
That's why the rest of us are working to NOT elect McCain, isn't it?
Oh, and please tell me why it is "unacceptable" that a gay man carry McCain's train?
Unacceptable to whom?
I can only assume by this statement that you are telling me how I should be feeling about the whole thing.
Dear CB,
I never tell anybody how they should feel.
I state an opinion. Mine.
Some folks are tolerant of others' opinions. Some are not.
I think Tater has an interesting point when he says, "Mark Buse Has the means and ability to walk away at any time. He comes from a very well heeled family in Arizona, and has never in his life had to worry about where his next mortgage payment was coming from."
That's the crux of why he probably feels no shame for working for a man and a party that holds anti-gay marriage/rights as part of its platform. Gay Republicans don't care about marriage because they can hire lawyers to handle legal arrangements. People who were not so well-off can't, and suffer financially when they break up, or when a partner dies.
So basically they really don't care, and probably have a hard time even being empathic about the topic of gay rights. Their money protects them from a lot of discrimination.
Your responses to people who disagree with or challenge you make me chortle....
Post a Comment