MANHUNT Charlie Crist
It's a bad time to be a semi-closeted gay Republican in the sunshine state.
Having blown the chance to take down Mark Foley, the Florida
press is making up for it by delving into rumors—some fresh, some
stale—about attorney general Charlie Crist, the GOP's
candidate to succeed Jeb Bush as governor.
Crist, who has been single except for a seven-month marriage in 1979, has
long been dogged by speculation that he is gay. Though he has denied
it several times (unlike Foley, who never publicly commented on his
sexuality until after he resigned from Congress), the whispers have grown louder
as election day approaches.
Last week, they broke through to the national media when, in an appearance on
Tucker Carlson's MSNBC talkshow, Pat Campbell,
an Orlando-based conservative radio host, accused Democratic operatives of
floating the gay rumor to help Crist's opponent, Jim Davis, who
is behind in the polls. "What are they playing right now? Charlie Crist is
gay," Campell complained. "This is the party that supposedly deplores
the personal destruction, yet they're experts in it."
Max Linn, an independent candidate for the governorship,
pushed the story along further Wednesday in another
radio interview, claiming he knew Crist to be gay for a fact, and
challenging him to admit it. "Charlie, come out, come out from wherever you
are," Linn jabbed.
While it's undoubtedly a poor time for a Republican to be forcibly outed,
it's not clear how much a public admission of homosexuality, on its own, would
hurt Crist's prospects in a state with a large gay population. For one thing,
Crist is relatively insulated from charges of hypocrisy: While he supports the
state's Defense of Marriage Act, he also has cautiously endorsed gay civil
unions.
That may be why Crist's antagonists are resorting to a potentially more
damaging tactic: trying to make explicit the implicit link between him and
Foley. According to Bob Norman, a columnist for the New
Times of Broward-Palm Beach, and the first reporter to out Foley back in
2003, "As soon as the scandal broke there were rumors that Crist and Foley
had been roommates in Tallahassee in the early '90s when they were both state
senators."
Crist's office didn't return calls for comment, but a search of public
records turned up no evidence of a shared address during that period or any
other. Nevertheless, the claim has cropped up on
numerous
blogs
(usually in the form of anonymous comments), and is starting to draw scrutiny
from outside Florida: According to a source, the Village
Voice is among the outlets investigating it.
1 comment:
Hello Ron,
Here's some more red hot ink for your pen. Now help me vanquish the sword!
This Foley fiasco has given people the chance to change the make-up of this government, which will ultimately lead to the end of the Bush-Cheney reign. It may not be pretty, but it is a gift, nonetheless. Don't waste this advantage. Use it wisely to end the more pressing problems that face us all.
Want to better understand some of the desperation among top Christian politicos? Want to know what else they are pretending not to know about? Follow the links and read about who I am and what I have to say. Notice that my last name is Page? Think this "page" scandal and other recent events are mere coincidences? Also notice that the "Macaca" incident occurred on my birthday, August 11th. The luck of these duplicitous, arrogant hypocrites has failed and will continue to do so. The timing and ramifications are much worse than most realize yet.
If Christian political leaders are going to go around attacking others for not living up to their professed values, it's a damn good idea to be truthful and actually walk the walk. Logs and motes in the eye, camels through the eye of a needle, glass houses, kettles and pots, and what goes around comes around, et al. Karma's a bitch when She finally decides enough is enough! This wouldn't have been so bad on Republicans if they hadn't been such arrogant hypocrites in order to corner the so-called values voters! Now the "Two Candlesticks" and "Two Witnesses" (Truth and Justice) are "breathing fire" and "raining hailstones!"
Read More:
Peace...
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