I often talk about the DC "culture of fear" -- Democrats afraid of doing or saying anything even midly controversial, lest they get bitten by the big, bad, Mighty Wurlitzer.
Dean started changing things, unafraid to take on the idiots on the Right. The blogs are doing their part. And, for a while, it seemed as though the party was starting to grow a spine. But alas, all it took was some lame Whoopi jokes to get them to revert to form.
(Click image to enlarge.)
From press release:
Margaret Cho has been "uninvited" to perform at the Unity 2004 event which is taking place at Avalon, this coming Monday, July 26, around the Democratic National Convention. The Human Rights Campaign is one of 10 GLBT groups coming together July 26 at the nightclub to "celebrate GLBT strength and unity." Asked to headline the event, Cho was preparing to preview material from her new State of Emergency tour as part of an unpaid benefit performance. She has since been "uninvited" by a spokesman for the HRC, who cited "a potential media firestorm" and referenced the recent criticism of Whoopi Goldberg's routine at a Kerry fundraiser. Unity 2004 is not officially a part of the Democratic National Convention or the Kerry campaign. Many of the groups involved in Unity 2004 did not agree with the decision to rescind the invitation.
"I am not surprised at the reversal in light of how the Kerry campaign distanced itself from Whoopi's routine in response to the unrelenting media hype and Republican criticism," said Margaret's manager, Karen Taussig. "It's Whoopi's job as a comedian to say things that are sometimes shocking. I wish they could have backed her up. Dennis Miller can make gay jokes about Senators Kerry and Edwards at a recent Bush rally in Wisconsin to a complete absence of media scrutiny. No one demanded a tape of that event or alleged that his comments as a comedian might reflect poorly on Bush."
Spineless asses. They were spinless when Democrats refused to laugh off wingnut indignation at Whoopi's jokes (the way Republicans effectively laughed off indignation over the "girly men" incident), and they're spineless for letting the Right Wing dictate who can speak at our events.
I had great respect for HRC until today, even if they do blame the cancellation on pressure from the Kerry campaign and the DNC. This time, the Republicans won.