Good advice SiS, and you're one of the fun people.
Posted on 01/14/2005 7:57:27 AM PST by madprof98
Woo hoo! I've made the big time. Last month, the website Free Republic featured a thread about my Nov. 18 column, "Queers Who Don't Act Right." You probably don't know much about Free Republic unless you are a right-wing lunatic. Free Republic is so far right that wing-nut gay muckraker Matt Drudge and Lucianne Goldberg, one of the architects of the Clinton-Monica Lewinsky brouhaha, both left the site in 1999 because it was too extreme, even for them.
In the years since, the site has become the contemporary version of a marathon meeting of the old John Birch Society and the KKK. Most recently, Free Republic was in the news when John Corsi, one of the Swift Boat Veterans who authored a book attacking John Kerry, turned out to post embarrassingly racist messages there. (Of course, he argued his racist insults were all "a joke." Talk about your Clintonian rhetoric.) The site also was in the news recently because someone correctly posted that Dan Rather had relied on phony documents to impute President Bush's National Guard service.
Free Republic is so extreme that it's a blast to read. Don't bother to explore the site with the idea of posting an alternative perspective or to correct facts. Your post will simply be deleted, despite its owner's celebration of freedom of speech. The site has no hesitation in reprinting copyrighted material, like my column, even though the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times both successfully sued to stop such theft. In other words, as is generally true of the lunatic far right, the truth, free speech and the law only matter when they support their point of view.
Of course, Freepers, as the creepy wing-nuts on the site are called, were not alone in being outraged by my column. I received quite a lot of mail, mainly from other gay people, questioning my argument that LA Fitness at Ansley Mall overreacted when it closed its sauna because of some occasional sex and reopened it with a new picture window overlooking the locker room. As an update, I might add that the window has effectively eliminated unseen sexual interactions inside the sauna and made room for another, more open form of sex between people on either side of the window: exhibitionism and voyeurism.
Most of my correspondents argued that the occasional discovery of sex in the sauna merited involvement by the police and the health department, reconstruction of the sauna and a report by one of the local TV stations. And, as usual, they concluded that because I called that overreacting, I must favor sex in public spaces. No matter that I said I find the behavior annoying. To be righteous, I must find it -- what? -- criminally actionable.
I wasn't surprised by the reaction. Sex troubles people more than anything. That's why Clinton was impeached for lying about a blowjob, while Bush was re-elected despite lying about a war that has killed thousands. Gay people's oppression is the result of their sex lives, so it's not surprising that they are hypersensitive to anything that might add to the picture of deviance. But it has become obvious that the very effort to make all deviance disappear and to assimilate -- to marry, for example -- increases prejudice.
The Freepers, of course, took outrage over my column to dizzy heights, fabricating arguments I did not make. This began with the man who posted it, "madpro98." He said that I dismissed "all sexual conventions, including common decency, as so much homophobia." Actually, I wrote no such thing. Then, of course, the Freepers concluded that the case of LA Fitness means every gay man is a sauna whore. For example, "Sender" writes: "Does anyone else think it's strange that gay men often have sex in a public toilet stall? ... Even if we had unisex public restrooms, somehow I can't imagine a man and a woman eyeing one another while washing their hands, then just jumping in the stall for a go."
The writer obviously has never been to Buckhead on a Saturday night. But what cracks me up is that the Freepers are so anxious to bash someone like me that they don't even realize when they are supporting a contrary argument. For example, "buffyt" quoted my statement that I don't like "stumbling upon any sex scene to which I have not been invited." Then she riffed obsessively about heterosexual couples at Mardi Gras "coupling all over the place" while the police ignore them. Exactly. Heterosexuals spoil the view with public sexual interactions every bit as much as homosexuals, arguably more, when they can find a place to do it. Nobody followed up on that post, of course.
I'm not going to quote the mind-boggling illogics and endless sophomoric fag-bashing (despite arguing they aren't homophobic). But I will thank "Jack Black," who wrote: "I think this was very well written. He is writing for the audience of radical homosexuals as one, so I have trouble twisting my thoughts enough to get to his point of view, but I still think the writing is good." Kiss me, dude!
Cliff Bostock holds a Ph.D. in depth psychology. Write him at cliff.bostock@ creativeloafing.com.
Good advice SiS, and you're one of the fun people.
So I started my own organization. I'm now the Grand El Camino King Of the BArking MoonBat Idiot Eradication Society (Gecko Bambies). No hoods, and the Batman sheets are perfectly acceptable.
So, in other words, we're biologically hardwired to believe certain myths?
See, here is what the homo-gays do.
They PUT THERE PRIVATE PARTS INTO EACH OTHERS' FECAL MATTER AND THEN PUT THE PRIVATE PARTS INTO THEIR MOUTHS.
End of story. It's all you need to know.
I don't know exactly where this guy is coming from, but I'm a pretty liberal guy in general and I've never had a post deleted or had anyone yelling at me just because of who I am on freerepublic.com. Maybe that's because I respect the fact that freerepublic, by and large, is not a site made to discuss my liberal opinions.
I think the problem is that this guy expects freerepulic.com, a conservative forum, to be a general political discussion forum, which it's not, anymore than dailykos or democraticunderground is. It's a conservative forum. If you come on here and start arguing liberal opinions, of course you're going to get blasted, and if your intent is obviously troll-worthy, you're going to get deleted. The same thing would (and should) happen at left-wing forums if you go on and start posting conservative opinions.
I'm a generally liberal guy, but I don't post my liberal opinions here. I like this place, I like the people and the conversations and the jokes. But the only time I post is if I have factual information to contribute, or if the post topic is ideologically neutral. I haven't had any problems to date while pursuing this philosophy.
And there are SMART people who enjoy buggery?
He's probably correct here. It is a little odd when promiscuous heterosexuals put down homosexuals for living immoral lifestyles.
So where's the DU bashing?
Here is some tripe from this guy's web-site; which I will not link...and give him undeserved attention. Quite a bit about workshops with others looking for inward illumination....e.g. anything but religion. Looking for their "dark" selves kind of crap. Buy mentioning FR, this guy is trying to gain attention for his homo-anti-religion agenda.
That boy needs some therapy."
I agree, I have never seen anything nice written about the KKK or anything that condones their behavior, here at FR!
Uh... yep.
I wasn't surprised by the reaction. Sex troubles people more than anything.
Umm NO we're troubled by people forcing what should be left in the bedroom onto the public stage. We're troubled by PERVERSION and by people making light of the consequences of irresponsible sexual activity. Or making OTHER PEOPLE pay for those consequences.
That's why Clinton was impeached for lying about a blowjob,
No, he was impeached for lying about many things - doing things a few Republicans were politically destroyed for by the same people that would defend Clinton's duplicate behavior. We figured when those Repubs were destroyed and crucified that that was the standard for proper behavior in office and by those standards applied to Republicans, Clinton was guiltier than sin. And having a blowjob performed while discussing national security issues on the phone is not what I'd call "faithfully executing the office of President of the United States."
Once again, Mr Cliff Boffstock, the double standard is showing.
anyone finding it odd that this guy has a degree in depth psychology?
The pederast author has a Ph.D in something or other and has an idiot's understanding of the concept of free speech!
Since becoming an adult, I've always found sex to be great fun, but never in my life have I felt the urge to go to a public place, seek out a willing anonymous stranger and then engage in a rapid exchange of bodily fluids. Aside from forgetting to breathe, nothing seems much dumber than that.
Depth Psychology is the ANALysis of the effects of anal penetration on the recipient's emootional state.
LOL!
I'm from St Louis area also, but used to have to travel to Toledo frequently. Just remembered the news about the Dept. of Health shutting down the homosexual bath houses back in the 80's sometime.
What kind of PhD would use the word "impute" instead of "impugn"?
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