This is not a Shut Your Fucking Pie Hole Diary.
In another time, it might have been -- though I've never been comfortable advocating the right wing "shut them up" tactic as a response to anything.
But, look -- I understand, believe me, the whole hypocrisy thing. A monkey could see the angle: White House that spends its capital attacking the homosexual community has more than its share of closeted homosexuals, including the latest, a fake reporter who has homosexual websites, yadda yadda yadda.
Yeah, I GET it.
But I'm still deeply disturbed by the glee with which we on the left appear to be feasting on this story. By the overuse (in my opinion) of the homosexuality aspect of this scandal, we are contributing to the misperception in the press that this is ABOUT his homosexuality.
I really don't need to be enlightened as to the rationale. YES, it's hypocritical.
So what? I've seen scores of snarky remarks and more than a few diaries, totally focused on the salacious aspect of the Gannon story. SALIVATING over the homosexual angle. Blowjob comments, every pun in the book.
It's creepy. It's stopped looking like an attack on hypocrisy and started looking like... hypocrisy. And every time the word "gay" or "homosexual" are used around here lately, it's likely as an unnecessary modifier. When you're talking about someone named "Jeff Gannon," it's not really necessary to say, "Jeff Gannon is a gay whore." Yeah, sure, there are heterosexual whores.
But I believe the whole world is willing, at this point, to stipulate as to his homosexuality. I am too embarrassed by the feeding frenzy with the "homosexual" condimentia to alert friends or relatives to this site right now.
To be blunt: Regardless of the intent, most of the comments using Gannon's sexuality FEEL like his homosexuality is being attacked. NOT the hypocrisy.
So, no, this isn't a Shut Your Fucking Pie Hole diary.
As concerns the compulsion to make yet another sneering comment about the homosexuality of a man who has many ACTUALLY damning characteristices -- and then saying it's not REALLY about his being gay, it's about the HYPOCRISY (and yes, I do believe most of it IS about the hypocrisy, but look at what the snowball has become) -- you might think of this diary, in response to that compulsion, as:
I wish you'd shut your fucking pie hole.
Update [2005-2-15 8:11:52 by Maryscott OConnor]:
As I suspected they might, several people seem to have missed the part where I say, repeatedly, I GET it about the hypocrisy. Now it appears w've moved into that bizarre world wherein I am accused of being HOMOPHOBIC because I said the gleeful, graphic jokes were creepy. Let me see if I can be perfectly clear here:
It's not the fucking homosexuality (or the homosexual fucking). It's the GLEE over the homosexuality. It's the rapidity with which some of the denizens of this blog have sunk to making adolescent dick and butt and suck jokes.
How hard is it to understand that?