Letter writers got it right
Kudos to Paul Kraft, Frank Butterfield and Chris Craig ("No more Log Cabin coverage, please," "Schlein’s historical ‘facts’ are off," "Thanks for the laugh, Rob Schlein," Letters to the Editor, Dallas Voice, March 7).
Never have I heard a better informed and more knowledgeable point by point response to right wing BS that is fed to us daily, especially by Frank Butterfield with his well researched "fact check" of Republican lies, and Chris Craig ,who pinpointed details covering the truth of the Reagan years versus the Carter years.
These are "clip and keep" letters for my bulletin board. It’s nice to hear Democrats truly respond to and correct the lies of right wing talk show fanatics and our own misguided Log Cabin Republicans.
Thank you Mr. Butterfield and Mr. Craig. Keep up the good work. How about running for office?
Dallas
Thanks for letters rebutting Schlein
I want to thank the Dallas Voice for printing the letters from Paul Kraft, Frank Butterfield, and Chris Craig on March 7. Each of these letters was well written and truly outstanding.
While I know that the Voice prints Log Cabin coverage in order to be "balanced," the responses of these three men were cogent and factually accurate, and their views represent the vast majority of us in the GLBT community. I view members of the Log Cabin Republicans as people who are in many ways rather masochistic and who love beating their head against a brick wall.
While their efforts may be noble, their long-term efficacy leaves a lot to be desired. While there are "liberal" Republicans in New England, it’s no secret that here in Texas the Republican Party is dominated by the socially conservative religious right. Furthermore, for those who may consider themselves Republicans for fiscal reasons, the last seven years of fiscal irresponsibility by Bush and Republicans in Congress speaks for itself.
Obviously, "borrowing and spending" is much more palatable for Republicans than paying the taxes that they should be paying in the first place. Republicans want the good life — and they want someone else to pay for it. The next generation of Americans will really appreciate the staggering debt that the Republicans have foisted on our citizenry.
Another fact I find disconcerting is the number of "straight" people who make up the LCR leadership, at least locally, which makes me wonder if this organization actually represents the GLBT community’s interests at all.
Finally, I would like to extend an open invitation to these gentlemen to join our organization, which endeavors to make certain that Republicans aren’t elected in the first place.
Stonewall Democrats of Dallas
Enabling hate
I just finished reading the letters to the editor about the recent Log Cabin Republicans’ statements about what they stand for and all their reasons for being Republicans. These Dallas Voice readers discovered blatantly false information and statistics the Log Cabin representative used to justify his poitical choice. I was so touched by those letters, especially the one by the owner of Zen salon. I, too, wonder why your paper gives so much space to the Log Cabin Republicans when they represent such a small part of our community.
I have talked to many Log Cabin Republicans and have discovered that they are very defensive and talk very little about helping the gay community within the Republican Party. Most quote the same mantra of all Republicans: Sept. 11, 2001, and an agenda of hate and fear. Quite frankly, they are intolerant and racist.
I know my sampling of Log Cabin Republicans does not represent all of them. I am sure there are a few who honestly are working for gay rights within the Republican Party. But unfortunately, just as the African-Americans learned, the Republican party has no use for gay Americans. Their platform actually calls for making our "lifestyle" illegal.
No matter what the Republicans say, we are not welcome at the table, and the majority of Republicans perceive us as the enemy. We need to abandon a party that will never be on our side, and put all our energy and effort behind the party that actually embraces people of all kinds — the Democratic Party.
I am appalled by former gay activists that have joined the Republican Party. They are literally betraying all the work they did in the past. We are in a fight for our very lives right now and there is no excuse, especially greed, to justify helping the people who hate us and want to hurt us. What will it take for LGBT people to realize that Republicans are not our friends and it is time to move on?
Shame on all you Log Cabin Republicans, who rationalize your destructive behavior in the name of greed as more of our community suffer and even die.
And shame on you, the newspaper that represents our community for giving way too much coverage to people who are not our friends, who are not the majority of our community, to people who cause actual harm to us all. You should champion our true heroes and leaders and leave these destructive Republicans on the sideline where they belong.
Dallas
Shocked!
I was shocked The Voice would publish editorials from these so called "gay" Republicans. Are they really gay, or have they been sent to infiltrate and corrupt the minds of our young people? How long will it be before young gay people believe that being Republican is an acceptable lifestyle choice? This would be intolerable.
Log Cabin has spat in the face of our most righteous gay political belief: "Democrat Holy, Republican Evil." I say let’s round up these heretics and expel them from our community before their poisonous theology destroys all we know as politically sacred.
We must form an alliance with like-minded groups that oppose outside ideas. Perhaps it’s time to align ourselves with the evangelical community and learn to apply their methods of repressing any uncomfortable new reality.
We must act now before Republicans actually begin listening to these kooks!
All kidding aside, isn’t it absurd for the gay community to ask for tolerance while demonstrating intolerance? Can we simply recognize the value of our community being involved in the political process regardless of party affiliation?
Desoto
Fawning over Clinton
It was disappointing to see the Dallas Voice continue its fawning over Hillary Clinton. In the March 7 issue, the headline "We helped pull it off: Gay supporters in Dallas rally around Clinton as she wins state, stays in race for nomination" shows a paper that abandoned fair and balanced reporting and instead reflected a paper with a obvious bias towards Clinton.
Obama did well in Texas; the overall margin of Clinton’s win was not a blowout, even in the gay community. It looks as if Obama may win the Texas caucus, but that escaped the pages of the Voice. Last time I checked, Obama is also ahead in the delegate count. My guess is that one or two GLBT folks helped bring that about!
Not
every GLBT person in Dallas thinks that Hillary Clinton is the answer to our country’s woes. As a voice for the entire gay community, the Dallas Voice needs to provide a more balanced view of all political candidates, not just what the Stonewall Democrats endorses. There are a lot of GLBT folks who believe that Obama is what we need: He is a smart, politically savvy visionary who does not need to resort to mudslinging and vicious attacks in order to win. The GLBT community should not buy into the politics of fear and fear-mongering.
I am ready for someone with fresh thinking, fresh ideas, someone who can make the right decision when the phone rings at 3 a.m. That someone is Barack Obama.
Dallas
‘Put one over’ instead of ‘Pulled it off’
Dallas Voice headlines for two weeks in a row have been cheering on and celebrating Hillary Clinton to the LGBT community. The March 7 headline read: "Gay Democrats say: We helped pull it off." What was pulled was any attempt by the Dallas Voice to be objective and fair toward the candidates and the Voice was untruthful in reporting the results of the Texas Primary/ Caucus Two Step.
The Texas Two Step has a primary and a caucus. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and lost the caucuses and it is turning out that Sen. Obama will walk away with more delegates from the Texas Two Step then Sen. Clinton. This means that Sen. Obama won the Texas Two Step Primary/Caucus and it is inaccurate to report that Sen. Clinton won Texas. It is not an either-or situation, it is one process and Sen. Obama won.
I believe the Dallas Voice owes the citizens of Dallas and the LGBT community a retraction for erroneous election returns reporting. I know the caucus results are not complete which is even more example of the rush to declare Sen. Clinton the winner in Texas.
Barack Obama is winning Texas and will end up with more delegates in Texas when the counting is completed in June — yes June. After the state convention meets is when you know how many actual delegates each candidate will send to the national convention. Not before.
So what was "pulled off" by Stonewall Democrats and the Dallas Voice is a deception. The Clinton campaign cannot get enough delegates to win the election outright before the convention. The only way she has a chance at winning is to go against rules she signed on to and have a new primary or caucus in Michigan and Florida or in some way to manipulate the super delegates to contradict the will of the people. Both are appalling and will be met with a defection of Democrats unlike anything anyone in this country has ever seen. She can only win it if she cheats.
Sen. Obama has an LGBT platform vastly superior to Sen. Clinton’s. Sen. Obama wants to repeal all of DOMA; Sen. Clinton only wants to repeal one article of it. Sen. Obama has an LGBT staff of leaders who are second to none and are not yes men and women. Sen. Obama, while not supporting gay marriage at this time, said he wants LGBT staff on his campaign who do support gay marriage so they can fight for what they want and have his ear. Sen. Clinton just does not talk about it.
You don’t pull shenanigans like this on a movement and get away with it. What you get is a revolution.
Dallas
PSSA board should resign
The situation surrounding Jaymee Johnson has brought to light a number of problems in the Pegasus Slowpitch Softball Association, including the mismanagement of the organization by the board and Commissioner John Russell.
If you are in charge of a nonprofit organization that is entrusted with thousands of dollars paid in fees by players and sponsors, you should be open and answer any question that comes up — unless you have something to hide. PSSA has a lot of great members who just want to have fun and play ball. But the constant drama of players getting protested and others cheating by playing below their skill level, and questions about how money is being spent are undermining the league. It is time for the board and the commissioner to step down so the league can start 2008 with a clean slate. The players deserve competent leadership.
Russell has said an "outside audit" of the league’s finances is being conducted. This is great; such an audit can show how much was spent on equipment and tournament fees. But it won’t show who ended up getting the equipment or benefited from the tournament fees.
Former softball player
—————-
| We welcome letters from readers. Shorter letters are more likely to be printed, as are those that address only a single topic. On some weeks we receive more letters than we can print. In that case, we print a representative sample. Letters are subject to editing for length and clarity, but we attempt to maintain the writer’s substance and tone. Include your home address and a daytime phone number for verification. Send letters to the senior editor, preferably by e-mail (editor@dallasvoice.com). Letters also may be faxed (214-969-7271) or mailed (Dallas Voice, 4145 Travis St., Third Floor, Dallas, TX 72504). |
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 14, 2008