The second dinner I am scheduling for readers during my cross country drive will take place two weeks from today, Sunday, May 23 in New York (or perhaps Westchester depending on the responses).  If you live in the Big Apple and can join me, drop me an e-mail to RSVP and indicate your preference, either the city or the ‘burbs.

In addition to New York, I have scheduled dinners for Chicago (Wednesday May 19), Washington, DC (between May 26 and 29), Atlanta (Wednesday, June 2), Boston (Wednesday, June 9) and Brattleboro, Vermont (Sunday, June 13).  Let me know ASAP if you’ll be able to attend those dinners.  Since I’ll also be staying in Raleigh, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Nashville, Cincinnati and St. Louis, I’m open to setting up gatherings there as well.

Given, as I observed yesterday, that “clearly more gay men, more lesbians even, in the Tea Party movement than there are racists,” I’m surprised the homosexual Tea Party narrative has not yet taken hold.  But, now that it’s out there, I’m beginning to wonder if the movement might start breaking apart, given what our critics tell us about social conservatives and the participation of known homosexuals in the Tea Party movement.

The facts:

• At a recent Tea Party in Los Angeles, at least two openly gay men spoke, including one who has repeatedly called for allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military.
• A lesbian was spotted at a Tea Party in Boston, proudly advertising her admiration for a homosexual web-site.
• A gay man advertised his sexuality at a Philadelphia Tea Party.
• A left-leaning lesbian has been seen at Tea Parties at multiple Los Angeles-area Tea Parties.
• A gay man boasted on the web about participating in a Pleasanton, CA Tea Party.
• Gay Patriots have been welcomed at the most recent LA Tea Party.
• A libertarian-leaning liberal Lutheran lesbian has been “making many friends from the local Tea Party movement” in Phoenix

And these are just some of the stories we have received of homosexuals participating in the Tea Party movement.  We now have more examples of this gay infiltration of the movement than we do of ugly racial epithets hurled at these rallies.  As soon as the media pick up on this narrative, we’re bound to see a social conservative exodus from the movement.

Because I’ve been busy finishing up (what is turning out to be) the longest chapter of my dissertation (should have the first draft done this afternoon), I haven’t had as much time to blog this week as I would like.  I am most grateful to Glenn (Reynolds) for so thoroughly covering the events at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, CA where 5 students were sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinquo De Mayo.

Instead of sending the students home, the school Administration should have been able to explain to their charges like the girl speaking at 0:44 in the video linked here.  What is preventing her from wearing a Mexican flag on July 4?  And how would that be disrespectful?

“What seems to elude people in this incident,” Ed Morrisey observes, “is that everyone has the right to express themselves on every day of the year in the US, and that “some people may be offended” is no just cause for censorship”.  Commenting on students who took off from school to protest in favor of the school officials’ action (fascinating to ponder the meaning of students protesting in support of the Administration), the CPAC 2010 blogger of the year added:

I have no problem with political demonstrations either, but it obviously hasn’t occurred to these students that they’re protesting for the elimination of the right of free expression, a rather ironic and highly contradictory position.  As far as the “celebration of diversity” idea goes, what Live Oak High had on Wednesday was a celebration of diversity.  Its administration preferred the conformity of political correctness.

Well said, very well said.  This could have been, as Bob Owens put it (also linked by Glenn) “teachable moment of tolerance” (more…)

This morning, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill, Glenn links two posts, the first by 1970s bombshell Raquel Welch who observes:

In stark contrast, a lack of sexual inhibitions, or as some call it, “sexual freedom,” has taken the caution and discernment out of choosing a sexual partner, which used to be the equivalent of choosing a life partner. Without a commitment, the trust and loyalty between couples of childbearing age is missing, and obviously leads to incidents of infidelity. No one seems immune.

But, what really caught my attention was this in neoneocon’s (must-read) post:

Now we have to worry about rampant promiscuity among teens and even preteens, and the deep psychological and even physical damage it can cause (such as STDs). Girls who once were protected by the mores of society and their own fear of the shame of pregnancy are free to enjoy sex—but how many of them are really having all that much fun, and at what cost? How many of them have the maturity to understand what they want and with whom they might be happy? How many are giving in to the age-old pressures of popularity and the needs of teenage boys?

Emphasis added.  I would say the pill has been a mostly good thing.  It helped launched the sexual revolution which, in turn, made it easier for gay people to start being more open about our sexuality.  But, this revolution while mostly a good thing, was not entirely a good thing.  It did have some downsides.  And these two smart women get at some of the issues we all wish to brush under the table when discussing sexuality.

Past social mores, while often oppressive, did serve a certain purpose.  But, some served only to censure folk like us.  We are grateful for the lifting of the social stricture on homosexual conduct.  But, I wish to draw your attention to the part of neoneocon’s post that I emphasized.  Too many of us try to write off the psychological consequences of hooking up.  We say that the shame we feel is only a social construct and so try to wish it away.

But, it’s real and often recurring.

I just think we need to consider the psychological consequences of hooking up.   (more…)

So, what did y’all think?  I missed it.  Had made enough progress in my dissertation that I treated myself to a fun movie about training your dragon or something.  A lot of fun.  Good score.  Fun animation.

Missed Betty White on Saturday Night Live.  So, a reader suggested a do an open thread.  As per his suggestion, here it is.