Inspired by the whole Gannon-snooping thing, I started clicking around, and you know what's funny?
Not that Men's News Daily is one of only two documented subscribers to the Talon "News" service (scare quotes mine), which, as we now know, is the sister site of GOPUSA.com, both owned by Texas Republican activist Bobby Eberle (aka "Robert R. Eberle, Ph.D.").
Not that its title, when considered in tandem with its far-right-leaning viewpoint, makes it sound like the mouthpiece for retro-thinking Archie Bunkers, who'd prefer their women barefoot in the kitchen and confined to "scourge huts" during their menstrual cycles.
No, what's funny is that Men's News Daily features run-of-the-mill homophobic vitriol like this and this and this (not to mention some confusing apocalyptocrap), while on the righthand border of every single page, there's a very prominent link to GayPatriot.org.
Now, I'm a moderate-to-slightly-leftish Democrat, and I probably always will be. (Though, truth be told, it'd be nice to have another option besides Ralph freaking Nader.) Still, I can understand some of the positions held by gay Republicans. I understand how some of them--especially the ones who live outside major metro areas and their established queer communities--dislike the urban, flamboyantly gay lifestyle. I was born and raised in a town like that, and the homogeneity is kinda stifling: at Wal-Mart, at church, everywhere you go, folks are screaming "follow the President" and "defend marriage," and after a while, you have little choice but to buy in. And hell, for folks who live in places where a lingering glance in a locker room can result in a bloody nose (or worse), the idea of a community where GLBT people walk around holding hands is more than a little foreign and scary.
Still, I find it hard to believe that even the rightest of right-wing homos could agree with some of the piffle on Men's News Daily. I mean, even the Log Cabin Republicans pulled their support of Bush in the 2004 election because he got so extreme, right? So why the link? Who put it there? Who keeps it there? Is it meant to give some kind of credence to the right-wingers' arguments, so they can say, "See, we've got some gays on our side, too"? Or is it a fluke of serendipity?
Curiously enough, the owner of GayPatriot.org, "C. M. Grantham," has the same contact phone number as Outlet Radio, which lists a "Christian Grantham" on its masthead. Mr. Grantham's articles feature a byline that states he "was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD"--not exactly the sort of credentials you'd expect from the owner of a site that claims to be "the blog home for the more than one million gay [sic] and lesbians who support President Bush" and which "ravishes the Left and has fun doing it!"
After digging a little more, it seems Grantham's positions on Outlet Radio and on his personal website are a fair bit more liberal than his posts to GayPatriot.org. (In fact, he doesn't even identify himself on the latter, but it's safe to assume that he's the poster who calls himself Gay Patriot and who has the same email addy as "C.M. Grantham," the registrar of the site.) Still, that's all fine. I mean, I was on the debate team in high school--I appreciate someone who can argue both sides of the coin.
But what's strange about all this is that when Grantham refers to Gannon's former employer, Talon News, in his GayPatriot post, he uses scare quotes, implying a highly skeptical opinion of Talon. Is he not paying attention? Does he not realize that he's advertising (the banner's a little too prominent to be just link swap) on the website of one of Talon's only subscribers?
No, I don't know what it all means. Frankly, I think I've confused myself. But something's weird.
Update: Great minds, dearie.... Lucky for you, he's far more articulate than I.
