Tea Party Homophobia Surfaces

Whenever Tea Party people are accused of being racists and homophobic, their answer is always that they're not, uh, racist. Gosh, how they were offended by the accusation that some used the N-word on black leaders walking to the Capitol for the health care bill vote, and yet nobody from the TP even cared enough to deny they used the F-word in the same incident.

Either way, they want to insist that the Tea Party movement is solely focused on America's financial circumstances and governmental spending. But their hatred for the gay creeps in every so often, as in this email I got today.

Dustin Stockman, the chair of the Western Representation PAC, a major Tea Party funding source, blasted an email today titled, "Breaking News: Barney Frank Can Be Defeated!" and linking to a Facebook group called "The Campaign To Defeat Barney Frank." While I'm finding it hard to imagine that Frank, well-liked in his liberal Massachusetts district, is vulnerable -- and even the internal, undoubtedly skewed poll Stockman is touting shows Frank up 10 points -- I was intrigued what their beef was. And here's the best sentence:

Barney is the most despicable person in government, but the main reason we began targeting Frank more than a year ago was his disturbing association with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Hmm. So sure, many have it in for Barney over mortgage regulations and all that jazz, and that's their right even though it's been pretty well debunked that Frank did in the housing market. Steve Wynn, for instance, talked my ear off not long ago about Frank's involvement with the Fannie/Freddie debacle, and he's no gay hater.

Yet I love the first part of this sentence for all that it says about why they would hate Frank even if they didn't think he'd wrecked the housing market. He's "the most despicable person in government" -- BUT! They're two separate thoughts! His involvement in the housing bust, such as it may be, isn't what makes him "the most despicable" person in government, see. Then what? Because 20-something years ago, he had a sex scandal? Other than that, why the personal attack? I mean, Tea Party people don't care about sex scandals when their team's in on them in, say, the cases of Newt Gingrich, John Ensign or David Vitter. So that can't be it.

Oh, that's right. Barney's a gay. In fact, he's the most powerful elected gay in the history of America. Well, unless you're an Abe Lincoln conspiracy theorist, anyhow.

An Extraordinary RI Statehouse Experience

Usually, these state capitol posts begin with an image like this:

...but the best photo taken at the statehouse in Providence yesterday was this one:


That's me up here...


...at the the spot where that chandelier is attached to the ceiling.

This time, I went to the Rhode Island statehouse as both a tourist and a journalist. The day before, I learned about a racino in Lincoln, R.I., called Twin River that is going bankrupt for a list of reasons that I'll get into in a later post. But I pitched a piece on it -- it was the nation's first racino and now they're trying to get rid of the racing part -- to the New York Times and the piece runs in Sunday's papers.

So when I went to the statehouse, I did so in part to check it out as is my thing but also to meet with the state officials and politicians. And when the governor's spokeswoman, Amy Kempe, agreed to take me on a private walk up a spiral staircase to the top of the dome, I could not possibly refuse.

This is what it looks like looking down:



Here's that staircase...


...and here's the first thing you see when you enter the secret door:


On the way up we were able to go outside and see the city:


That's the top of the dome of one of the two houses of the General Assembly. For some reason, I didn't take many photos of the Senate or House, but I did like these chairs in the Senate:


All in all, the Rhode Island capitol was among the most beautiful and impressive I've ever seen and I'm not just saying that because I got some nifty special access. Everything is sensational marble and design. Here's the entry landing and, yes, there was a tour group of Buddhist monks this time around. (At the Massachusetts statehouse, we ran into a gaggle of Chinese tourists!)



There was plenty of quirk. This was a nice sentiment... (click on image to enlarge)



...but why was it in the men's room?



This piece of artwork was from the people of Liberia...

...who thank Rhode Islanders in that little tag for their assistance during a civil war there. What did the Ocean Staters do, one wonders!

There were statues all over honoring the military, but this one honoring the Navy was one of the gayest looking things I've ever seen...


...and this one for the Air Force looks female even though it was gifted to the state years before women could be in the branch.


In one of the old meeting rooms, this sign was found:


One wonders if Dana gets a lot of calls from people unsure how to get out without opening the door!?!?!

And finally, I would agree with this book title, "Rhode Island: A Genial History,"...


...especially given that this is a state on the forefront of religious liberty and was the first place for Jews to live free in America as you can see...


...except that then I noticed that the Legislature is about to put a referendum on the state ballot to ask voters whether they ought to -- get this -- change the state's NAME. You see, the full official name of Rhode Island is...


"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." Why? Because apparently Rhode Island is made up fo two former British colonies. One was called Providence Plantations because, uh, it was sort of a clearinghouse for the slavery trade.

Who knew, huh?