Joseph Palermo has an interesting and informative article on The Huffington Post today in which he wonders if "our institutions are so corrupt, our political discourse so banal and polluted, that they are incapable of lifting us up from our national malaise." He points first to the "dramatic soliloquy" given by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on the Senate floor last Friday wherein Graham denounced President Barack Obama for being "A.W.O.L." on providing leadership for his economic stimulus bill. "This bill stinks," Graham said. "The process that's led to this bill stinks. If this is a new way of doing business, if this is the change we can all believe in, America's best days are behind her!"
Palermo then goes on to discuss the "cynical elevation" of African-American and former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele to the chair of the Republican National Committee, how " right-wing talk radio and its television counterparts continue to trivialize the current economic crisis," and how "our political discourse insists on framing the trade debate on Republican terms."
But what I find most interesting about Palermo's article are not his thoughts on the economy, which are par for the course in our blue dog-eat-red dog corner of the world, but rather his observations on Graham's voting record with respect to GLBT issues — observations that could have easily been left out with little effect on the piece as a whole.
Graham voted for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and for a ban on gay adoptions. For those votes and many others the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest gay rights organization in the country, gives him a zero rating. Conversely, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and the Christian Coalition give Graham's voting record a 100 percent rating. All said, in addition to his horrible record on civil rights, the environment, and the separation of church and state, Lindsey Graham has one of the most atrocious voting records on issues that affect the lives of gay and lesbian citizens as does any member of Congress. It's a curious voting record for a 53-year-old bachelor who is rarely seen in the company of women.
Sure is. And I can't help but chuckle, because Graham has always set my gaydar aflutter.
Needless to say to followers of the gay and lesbian press, I and my suspicions are in good company. Some of you reading this might remember that after former Senator Larry Craig was arrested for his foot-tapping gay-play in 2007 by an undercover cop in a Minnesota airport restroom, gay writer Michelangelo Signorile called for an investigation into other Senators long thought to be gay. "Let's have a real investigation of the rumors about South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who … has been rumored to be gay for years," Signorile said. "Like Larry Craig, Graham has voted antigay — including for the federal marriage amendment — while people in South Carolina and Washington have discussed what some say is an open secret for a long, long time."
The truth, along with Graham, will likely come out one day, because it's also likely that Graham discovered long ago that being gay with someone else is more pleasing than being gay alone. Someone he's had sex with will come forward and provide the details that will force him to admit what many of us already presume. But until that time, I applaud writers like Palermo, who work their own suspicions into articles, even if their hunches only serve as reminders or to raise a few new eyebrows.
© 2009 Kim Ficera
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