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Tuesday, July 22, 2003
posted by gbarto at 1:02 AM:
What's Shorthand for Fruitcake?Stenographer records Democrat's outburst at heated committee meeting
Hmm. So Pete Stark's upset with heavyhanded tactics on the part of House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas. But it seems to me the tactics are no different from what the Democrats used when they controlled the House. Indeed, the removal of committee members from a committee meeting they seemed to be holding up has its precedent in the days of Wright and Foley if not Tip O'Neil (and doubtless earlier). But here's something new: Democrat Pete Stark called one committee member a "fruitcake" but declares it was not intended to be a homosexual slur. Says Stark, in effect, he thought it just meant a crazy person. Liberal gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, unsurprisingly gives him the same pass they give all Democrats. No one has cleared up, however, his usage of the term "cocksucker" to describe another committee member. Given his professed appreciation for gay and lesbian causes in the wake of this incident, perhaps he was paying a compliment.
The TurkeyBlog holds that homosexuals are people too and are due all the respect that accrues to any human being. He also holds that Pete Stark is a tactless boob but declines to see true anti-homosexual intent. But he would feel the same way if the slurs were hurled by a Republican. Would the Human Rights Campaign or the Democratic party?
As if.
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