Speaking in Madison, Wisconsin, with rhetoric typical of all too many in his party, Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean offered a litany of insults about the GOP, few having any basis in reality. At a crowd “thin on students,” the former Vermont governor said that voters under 30 had an affinity for his party because they were a “multicultural generation.”
Meanwhile, the Democrat claimed “that the Republican Party has scapegoated every ethnic group and therefore can’t create a multicultural identity and reach younger voters.” Has it? Can he provide evidence to buttress his claim?
Or has he forgotten that it was leaders of his party who fought the Civil Rights Act and that a former “kleagle” of the Ku Klux Klan served as Democratic Leader in the Senate for twelve years. That man, West Virginia’s Robert Byrd, still serves in the Senate–as a Democrat.
Still, Dean wondered “Who in their right mind, if they were African American or Hispanic or Asian American, if they were gay or lesbian, would join the Republican Party?â€
While firing of this mean-spirited tirade, Mr. Dean himself faces a lawsuit brought by dismissed former DNC gay and lesbian outreach director Donald Hitchcock, claiming anti-gay discrimination. Seems Howard stands accused of scapegoating this gay man. (For the record, yours truly used to run with Donald when I lived in DC and found him to be a most decent man.)Â And this isn’t the only example of this Democrat’s anti-gay animus.
Well, Howard, maybe some people don’t see their ethic (or sexual) identity as the defining factor in their lives and join the GOP for a great variety of other reasons, including their support of lower taxes, a less intrusive federal government and a strong national defense. And for gays and lesbians, favoring an aggressive stance in the War on Terror so as to defeat those Islamofascist forces which would (and have) persecuted and executed our fellows in lands under their sway.
It’s amazing that the Democrats have as their leader a man with a mind so narrow that he can’t see past people’s ethic (or sexual) identities. We’re Americans first, Howard. And there are many reasons for us to support the GOP, even if we do not always agree with our party’s policies.
So, don’t tell us there’s no place in the GOP for us. Understand that that individuals of a great variety of backgrounds can support the broad principles of our party.
ADDENDUM: Great minds think alike. I had no clue Bruce was working on a similar post as I whipped this one out.
UPDATE (from Dan in SF):  Log Cabin weighs into on Governor Dean’s remarks, with President Patrick Sammon calling the speech “bizarre“ and finding his comment on minorities not having a place in the GOP “insulting.”  Check it out!Â
There are many reasons why a black, hispanic, Asian, or gay person would join the GOP. They tend to be the same reasons whites and heterosexuals join.
What I want to know is why a rich person would be a Democrat?
The world according to the DNC Chairman seems that people should be categorized; each in a certain slot and ‘used’ for certain reasons. How historical – is you indulge in the Antedeluvian.
Given the hostility of many Democrats to the protection of Israel, one may ask the same question about American Jews being Democrats.
Again, this is the pitfall of the Divisive Identity Politics So Heightened in The nation (DIPSHIT) the Democrats have perfected.
Someone asked me the other day how any gay person can be a Republican, since all Republican leaders believe that gays can be "healed". I was speechless, and this from a nice Jewish Democrat who supports Israel. Had I heard this story I would have told it to him, but I only heard it latter.
My son was telling me about a friend at Stanford – Black, Gay, Republican. I asked him how does such a kid become Republican? He is from the East Bay, so you can imagine what kind of political environment he grew up in. So in order to rebel, he started calling himself a Republican, then started reading up on what Republicans actually stand for, and decided that this was the party for him – rebellion or not.
This also answers Dans’Â previous question. Why do the Libs shout down and shut up any dissenting point of view. Because if people are exposed to other world views, they might change their minds. Can’t have that happen can we?
voters under 30 have an affinity for his party because they are long on hormones and short on experience, or as Churchill said, "If you’re not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at forty you have no brain".
                 Is there such a place for gays in the DNC? Not if Donna Brazill and Lea Daughtry have their say which they did and won.Â
                He does think there is place for the DNC lawyers at the Washington Blade trying to coerce them into being silent and towing the party line or else.
Gee, I wonder why teenagers and college students would have an affinity for a party that promises them free this, free that, and panders to their every ludicrous want and desire, without ever demanding anything from them.
It mirrors their boomer parents.
We should be calling for Dean’s Resignation and removal of Brazill removal of super delagate status.
Now, the picture is much more clear, as to why Al Gore posted a video (out of the blue)Â several weeks back, about gay marriage rights. He must of know this was going to happen.
The gay comminuty stand for this. It’s time we show the DNC how much power we have!
And as I’m always fond of pointing out:Â Republicans like you for WHO you are.
Democrats like you for WHAT you are.
That is why I’m a Republican. And damn proud of it, too.
Regards,Peter H.
Dean is correct. (I almost said "right.") If your crotch rules your brain, your only home is with the Democrats. If you can think beyond your next orgasm, the Republicans offer a lot of substance. I fully expect for the Dems to start mailing out sex toys for votes. There is a huge difference between pandering and respect.
I think it is like the wife who keeps getting beaten by the husband. He says that he is sorry and nary a day later, he beats her once again. That is the Democrat party and the way they treat gays and lesbians. They like to get their vote, but when it comes to pushing the envelope, like you know, when are you going to pursue legalizing same-sex marriage, then there is the claptrap and thus the, well not now from said Democrat. At least the Republican party does not favor same-sex marriage, it does not look at people as a special interest group. There is more to life for most gay and lesbian people than whether or not there will be same-sex marriage or not. There is that funny little thing called the War Against Islamofacist Terror. As I have written many a time before, it really won’t matter if the Islamofacists were to win. For it will be the gays and lesbians the first to lose their heads. And is it not more important to have individual freedom that group thought? And to be used and spit out like cheap chaw when said voter wants results? Same people should be tired of this and be some of the first to get out of the groupthought and leave the wife beaters.
What I want to know is why a rich person would be a Democrat?
Guilt.
Or someone who has realized that Democrat voters hate the rich, but as long as you repeat their hate, they won’t actually ask you to do anything.
Hence how Barack Obama can rail against substandard housing and poverty while raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Chicago slumlords and getting sweetheart real estate deals for his mansion.
Apparently, Dean, from his recent remakes doesn’t want homo’s in the DNC party either! Donna Brazile damn sure does not want gays in the DNC.
1: Â Because you, like most conservatives who attack Democrats, want people to falsely believe that all Democrats are communists who hate America.
Well, Kevin, given that they and their "spiritual mentors" are all screaming "God damn America", it should be fairly obvious that they do.
1: Because you, like most conservatives who attack Democrats, want people to falsely believe that all Democrats are communists who hate America.
Comment by Kevin
I’m sure there’s 1% who don’t.
Aw, c’mon, many dems just want full state socialism and are really annoyed at the thick-headed, cold hearted imbeciles who value independence, responsibility and the chance to keep increasing their standard of living. Hate and communism are not probably not up in the 90% levels. Let’s cut them a bit more slack.
The rich who are Democrats are usually ones who inherit the wealth (Kennedys), or came about it by nefarious means (currency manipulation, bootleg liquor, etc). Â Seldom is it the rich who started with nothing or very little, then put in 120 hour weeks for years. Â There are exceptions to the rule certainly, but this has been my observation.
I find it hard to imagine how either side of this debate is a useful exercise. All I see is many passionate people rationalizing why that passion is directed toward a meaningless allegiance to political parties that do not represent them. I see the term Islamofascism thrown around a lot and fail to see why I should prioritize fighting an already rejected ideology over fighting my compatriot religious fascists that dictate public policy at home. In my eyes, nationalism has never served the purposes of a minority other than the rich establishment. Posting witty sophistry attributed to Churchill (as seen above, not in the article) does little in the way of argumentation. If anything, a mature individual should be a cynic and able to recognize that conformism is more like a lobotomy and less a precious acquisition of wisdom over the course of time negatively correlated to the level of hormones circulating through ones blood vessels. I can only pray for a world where the solution to stupidity is simply to wait a few years and the champions of virtue and progress are the conservative elders. Presenting the war on terror as an act of solidarity toward gays and lesbians abroad is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard, and the assertion that gay rights activism can even remotely benefit from it, in my mind, more readily requires substantiantion than Howard Dean’s claims.