October 4, 2004

9:16 PM

DeMint: Gays should not teachUS Congressional candidate opposes gays teaching in schools. He's dancing with them whut brung him, as they say in certain circles. Yet another reason I'm proud of my home state of South Carolina. (Not.)
posted by alumshubby (28 comments total)

And thus the neocon agenda begins to unfold.
posted by fleener at 9:21 PM on October 4, 2004

DaFunk: Pleasurable in an inappropriate way.
posted by quonsar at 9:55 PM on October 4, 2004

Well, at least the neocons are dropping that "compassionate conservatism" bullshit and outing themselves as bigots. That's always something.
posted by clevershark at 9:57 PM on October 4, 2004

People living in the liberal oasis that is America should quit complaining. Over in Australia, our candidates think lesbians should be burnt as witches.
posted by Jimbob at 9:58 PM on October 4, 2004

Over in Australia, our candidates think lesbians should be burnt as witches.

It must have something to do with prolonged exposure to the sun and that 50-degree weather you guys have over there...
posted by clevershark at 10:18 PM on October 4, 2004

My favorite part was when the chairwoman of the local Christian Coalition said that he was wrong because you can't take away people's civil rights. When you're too anti-gay for the Christian Coalition, you should take that as a subtle hint.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:23 PM on October 4, 2004

Why stop at gays? All men want to ravage and rape all children. Why won't someone think of them for a change?
posted by scarabic at 11:07 PM on October 4, 2004

For all their foreign-policy stupidity, neoconservatives tend to be more progressive on issues like gay rights. This is pure paleo.
posted by Tlogmer at 11:48 PM on October 4, 2004

I think all fathers should be prohibited from unsupervised contact with their daughters and mothers from their sons. Male teachers should only have male students and female teachers should only have female students too. After all, it's obvious that otherwise they're just out to satiate their perverse needs.
posted by substrate at 4:55 AM on October 5, 2004

DeMint is a gay adultering pedophile sadist who hates the baby Jesus.

Spread the word.
posted by nofundy at 5:06 AM on October 5, 2004

As I recall, Ronald Reagan would have had something to say about this.
posted by thomas j wise at 5:59 AM on October 5, 2004

Someone desperately needs to get Lindsay Graham's comment on this. If he repudiated DeMint's remarks, the Tenenbaum campaign could beat DeMint with that for weeks. If Graham endorsed DeMint's remarks, then his endorsement could be kept on file for the day when Graham gets caught with his own pants down.

(Which is why Graham won't touch any of this with a stick.)
posted by octobersurprise at 6:08 AM on October 5, 2004

neoconservatives tend to be more progressive on issues like gay rights

More to the point, neocons are completely indifferent. Neocons are more concerned with stuff like world domination than to be bothered with trifle like civil rights for gays, abortion, school prayer, etc. This is an religious right issue.

I know, I know, what's in a word after all? But understanding the uneasy alliance between the neocons (Wolfowitz, Cheney) and the religious right (Ashcroft) is critical to understanding the competing factions within the Bush administration.
posted by psmealey at 7:17 AM on October 5, 2004

Who would have thought that Don't Ask, Don't Tell would bleed into the public schools. Unfortunately fleener is exactly correct. These people are trying to sanitize the world from what they consider dirty.
posted by archimago at 7:17 AM on October 5, 2004

Boy! If I woke up tomorrow and found out I was Queen of the Universe there would be a few changes. I would demand that all teachers enforce My values. Namely:

1. It's fall. Stop raking up those leaves and throwing them away. Sheesh. Haven't you learned to compost yet?

2. Watching your weight is a good thing, but the Atkins diet is a horrible waste of the planet's resources.

3. Enough with the car advertisements already! They all look the same anyway. So stop trying to mesmerize the public into thinking your boring little sedan (SUV, Truck, Etc.) is special.

4. If you are going to own a dog, you cannot keep him chained up all day.

That's all for now. When I remember some more of my values, I'll alert the media.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:24 AM on October 5, 2004

I don't really get the "neoconservative agenda" comments either. Fleener, clevershark, et al, can you explain what Neo-Conservatism has to do with this story? For a second, I thought maybe you just dim-wittedly tossed that in to sound cool or quasi-informed, but surely you must have a more detailed criticism.

There are many personal issues but effectively the paleoconservatives view the neoconservatives as interlopers who deviate from the traditional conservative agenda on issues as diverse as 'states Rights,' 'free trade,' immigration, isolationism, 'the welfare state,' and even abortion and homosexuality. All of this leads to their "conservative" label being questioned.
posted by dhoyt at 7:25 AM on October 5, 2004

After 20 years of living in or near South Carolina, all I can say is that this is one fucked-up state. The level of ignorance among the general populace here is unbelievable until one has experienced it first-hand.

I am convinced that Lincoln's biggest mistake was fighting to keep Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina in the Union.
posted by mischief at 8:45 AM on October 5, 2004

More on DeMint and gays.
posted by TedW at 9:29 AM on October 5, 2004

DeMint: Gays Should Not Teach Us

Because God forbid we should open our minds and learn anything.

There is so much that is deeply depressing about this article.
posted by orange swan at 9:37 AM on October 5, 2004

As a fellow South Carolina resident, I have to agree with mischief here. South Carolinian's are, as a whole, pretty stoooopid.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:37 AM on October 5, 2004

Is it OK for gays to write Exxon-Mobil K-12 science curricula ?
posted by troutfishing at 9:38 AM on October 5, 2004

Just to clarify that...
posted by troutfishing at 9:39 AM on October 5, 2004

I have also had the occasion to meet Mr. DeMint. He used to frequent my place of work, and his daughter donna also worked with me for a while. He's the part of the neocon movement that scares me, because he manages to hold such ignorant beliefs and be an outwardly nice guy at the same time.

FWIW, his daughter is really cool. And she doesn't have a problem with gay people.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:40 AM on October 5, 2004

South Carolina: It's not the heat; it's the stupidity.
posted by alumshubby at 9:51 AM on October 5, 2004

Wonder if DeMint would support tax credits for gay homeschooling?
posted by eatitlive at 10:27 AM on October 5, 2004

Hmm, five times the word "neocon" has appeared in this thread, yet judging by his record, DeMint seems like your typical "America-first" paleoconservative. Did he declare himself a "neoconservative" at some point? Has he allied himself with AEI or PNAC or the Heritage Foundation? Further, how are his homophobic views related to the larger neo-conservative worldview?

I'm still hoping some of the folks using the label to describe DeMint could clear up the confusion.
posted by dhoyt at 10:32 AM on October 5, 2004

DeMint has called for a national 23% sales tax. That, at least, appears to have knocked some of the wind out of his campaign.
posted by gimonca at 11:20 AM on October 5, 2004

Did he declare himself a "neoconservative" at some point?

Obviously, dhoyt, people here are using "neo-con" synecdochically. Strictly speaking, that's an abuse of the term, as you point out, but then, trade name generalization is one of the perils of success. Just ask Kleenex.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:37 AM on October 5, 2004