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'McCarthyism' By Liberal Gay Bloggers?

That's the accusation leveled by Republican strategist Mike Murphy yesterday on "Meet The Press" in reaction to the resignation of Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, because of a scandal involving alleged solicitation of another man in a public restroom.

Raw Story called attention to Murphy's comments. Here are quotes from the segment:

I think Craig is an unsympathetic figure. But there has been this case of bloggers on the far left trying to expose closeted politicians if they don't fall completely into lockstep with a certain liberal gay agenda. And I think that's unfair. It’s a form of McCarthyism, really. ...

[T]here is a tendency to apply an identity politics test now, which, which has a real chilling effect on politics, that somebody’s private life has -- or their, their race or their gender or their orientation -- has to dictate where they stand politically. If you're a woman, you have to be a pro-choice Democrat. I mean, that calculation cheapens politics, and it's unfair to people in public life who do have private lives.

A day after Murphy's appearance, liberal gay blogger John Aravosis asked this question in an inflammatory post at Americablog: "Is Senator Lindsey Graham Violating Don't Ask, Don't Tell?"

The entry resurrected what Aravosis admitted is "longtime unconfirmed speculation" about Graham's sexual preferences and said Graham "sounds like a flaming gay" who should be investigated by the Air Force before being allowed to serve as part of the reserve in Iraq.

UPDATE: The Washington Post profiled Mike Rogers, the blogger at the center of the controversy over "outing" allegedly gay lawmakers.

Posted by Danny | 06:07 PM

Comments

Well,Lindsay did say "We are going to tell the bigots to shut up". He ought to pick his class of "bigots" a bit better.

SIV | 09.03.07 10:31 PM

Not only is Aravosis being a jerk about this, he is also mis-stating "don't ask, don't tell". He apparently prefers the "Ask, then kick out" policy.

buzz | 09.04.07 10:42 AM

The easy way to disarm these supposedly McCarthyite liberal bloggers "outing" closeted gay Republicans would be for Republicans to stand by their gay party members and elected officials. They will not. If Republicans insist on handing Democrats a club with which to beat them they have nobody to blame but themselves.

Though I fail to see how publicizing the fact a sitting Senator has pleaded guilty to lewd conduct charges can possibly be construed as McCarthyism. Republicans who believe this should campaign to have the law changed to accommodate men wishing to have sex with other men in public washrooms.

Flea | 09.04.07 11:29 AM

Joe McCarthy was right.

RA | 09.04.07 05:23 PM

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