Burnt Orange Report

Bush should know that those in glass houses ought not throw stones-

Well, if the Bushies were really worried about offending gay Republicans, they never would have backed an anti-gay amendment to the U.S. constitution.

The Bush-Cheney-Rove crowd are reminiscent of the zealots who were working to re-elect Nixon. They will do or say anything to achieve their goal.
Watergate conspirator and noted Evangelical Christian, Charles Colson, declared 32 years ago,
"I would run over my own grandmother to reelect Nixon."

We'll be seeing a lot of dead grandmothers on the GOP interstate this year.

White House Republican Thinking: If the guy threatens you politically...follow these steps...

1. Ignore him
2. Simply say he's lying when you have no idea about the truth
3. Assissinate Character and raise unrelated issues
4. Call him a fag, in so many words

I'm wondering if 'convenient disappearance' is next on the list.

Andrew,

Two issues:

1. It seems to me that you and other liberal-leaning bloggers are inadvertantly doing more to spread the "Richard Clarke is gay" rumor than the Bushies are. The "Rick Perry is gay" rumor didn't gain much traction until it started flying around the internet, via this blog and others. From what I can tell, the mainstream media have avoided reporting Bush administration smears, with the exception of Wolf Blitzer. His quote was the one thing that turned up in a Google news search of mainstream media sources. I don't deny that the Bushies are engaging in a unfair smear campaign, especially if what Blitzer said is true. But even if you buy into the idea that "weird aspects" is necessarily code for being gay (which I don't), a lot of the blame here lies with Blitzer. If Blitzer believed the Bush official was trying to anonymously smear Clarke, he shouldn't have agreed to play the game. Passing on nebulous, anonymous remarks like Blitzer did is just sloppy journalism.

2. I believe that the majority of gays in America are well-aware of Republicans' hypocrisy on gay issues. Gays are smart. Give them credit. They know what's up, and vote accordingly.
Republican efforts to "out" people in order to score political points are deplorable. However, most gay in this country would be wholly opposed to playing Bush's character assasination game, especially if it means outing closeted homosexuals.
Andrew, the Democratic party has long held itself up to be the party that does not care about what you do in the privacy of your own bedroom. Even if you're a Republican.
Let's let the Republicans keep the hypocrisy all to themselves.

I think the point is not what gays think but what does "mainstream" America think. However, I do agree that it is the media and internet speculation that is driving this rumor. I think if you have to give Rove any credit for anything, he knows how to manipulate the media. One little mention of something "odd", and off it goes. They would never be so stupid as to actually make such an accusation, they don't have to.