I assumed Ken Mehlman was gay because my gay friends told me he was gay. I didn’t really give a shit, and I still don’t. But George W. Bush was only reelected because Karl Rove engineered it so that numerous anti-gay initiatives would appear on key ballots in 2004, including in the decisive state of Ohio. Ken Mehlman was Bush’s campaign manager in 2004, so his success was predicated on gay-bashing. Ironically, Mehlman outed himself because he now wants to openly advocate for gay marriage. Good for him. It’s never a bad time to start doing the right thing. But it’s hard to overlook just how severely Mehlman sold his soul to the devil. If the former RNC chairman totally renounces his past and becomes a Democrat, then maybe I can forgive him (although New Orleans never will).
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
You’re putting far too nice a spin on his hypocrisy.
I wasn’t really trying to put a spin on anything.
As homosexuality becomes more tolerated in general, will it become more or less tolerated in the Republican party? I can see it going either way.
And another question… Some of the most talented conservatives have been gay. Will gay Republicans be more or less likely to stay with the GOP if they don’t have to be in the closet any more?
I assumed Ken Mehlman was gay because my gay friends told me he was gay.
I assume Mehlman is far from the only GOP’er your friends told you about.
I can’t imagine how difficult it is to come out publicly when most of your professional acquaintances are homophobes. Good for him. I may not like him, but the more gay people come out, the harder it will be to continue to deny them equal rights.
Maybe he’ll come around to the side that can appreciate him for who he is instead of in spite of it.
Count me among those who will never forgive Ken Mehlman. Never! Indeed, I’m sorry he’s claiming to have found happiness and fulfillment outside the closet, having concluded that a 5′ x 8′ cell would be a more appropriate accommodation.
what rontun said.
The difference between Ken Mehlman and Lee Atwater is that Mehlman now has time to show put into action his repentance for his hypocrisy. Lee Atwater waited to confess on his death bed when what he did could not be undone.
Both cases show the extent to which GOP politics corrupts people. Both Mehlman and Atwater knew they were doing wrong. But they deceived themselves with GOP philosophy in order to make a name for themselves and get ahead financially.
According to the “Boogie Man” documentary on Atwater, some of his GOP compadres like Mary Matalin, and I think Ed Rollins (but I can’t quite remember), claim that the stories of Atwater’s repentance were made up by his former enemies. The record from that time (including Atwater’s famous LIFE article), however, indicates otherwise. But as you note, there would be no controversy at all had Atwater had time to put his repentance into action.
Mehlman has the rest of his life to be of service to those he has harmed. Let’s hope he does so.
Feh.
Mehlman is just re-imagining himself. There’s no atonement going on here – he knows he’s through politically in the modern GOP. It’s been an “open secret” for a decade (at least) that Mehlman was gay. He was tolerated because he was competent at what he did and was good at toeing the line. In the current incarnation of the GOP his competence is no longer an asset and the line is reaching the point where even he can’t toe it anymore. So he’s looking to spin himself out of his bad situation into a new job to preserve his lifestyle. ‘Outing’ himself is the first step toward a rebranding of Ken Mehlman.
Even his choice of what he’s choosing to break with the GOP over is a tell. He’s breaking with them to advocate for something that impacts him directly. It’s not like he’s looked at the damage that the GOP is doing to the poor, or to American Muslims, or to anyone who isn’t him. He’s looking at what his politics have done to his own life and decided to re-build his image around that. There’s nothing noble about that – it’s just self-interest. The money he can make by helping to demonize gays has dried up and now he has to live with the environment he has been helping to create.
Sadly he probably will worm his way into the Democratic Party. The Democratic party elites love to embrace guys like Mehlman. He can be as much a cancer there as he was in the GOP.
Maybe I’m wrong. But this quote from the article that Pam linked to suggests I’m not:
Here he piles on the Muslim demonization to the point that he sounds like a fool. The greatest anti-gay force in the US right now is fundamentalist Christianity. In Iran, it’s fundamentalist Shi’ia Islam. In Saudi Arabia it’s fundamentalist Sunni Islam. Likewise in Africa. In Europe it’s fundamentalist Roman Catholicism.
Strangely the thing that unifies all of these parts of the world isn’t “Islamic jihad” – it’s religious fundamentalism. And the GOP is completely bound up with religious fundamentalism so tightly that any gay person who votes Republican is an idiot or is benefiting financially from GOP power and is willing to bargain their rights away in exchange for money. I think it’s pretty obvious which one Ken Mehlman is.
The man’s a con artist. He might be able to find redemption, but there’s no evidence to me that he’s anything but a grifter who’s realized that his marks have dried up and has changed his con to try to find new marks.
Nailed it. I love your posts, btw.
“If the former RNC chairman totally renounces his past and becomes a Democrat, then maybe I can forgive him (although New Orleans never will).” What, so he can sell out the interests of Latinos and Muslims to appeal to the same “hard working, good Christian working class” white folks Karl Rove pandered his homophobia too?! The mind of a white liberal needs to be studied for the remarkable level of hypocrisy and all around bull shit.
We have Ken Mehlman, Liz Cheney, and a host of other minor league repukeliscum who have made entire careers out of the self-hatred of gay-bashing gay politicians.
What is it with these people?
We have Ken Mehlman, Liz Cheney, and a host of other minor league repukeliscum who have made entire careers out of the self-hatred of gay-bashing gay politicians.
What is it with these people?
Sorry about repeat post