Thursday, April 3, 2008

Hillary plays beanbag with gay press- again

The she-Clinton has delivered herself of another cheeseparing interview about gay rights, this time with Philadelphia Gay News.

It's all of a piece with her February 11 Washington Blade interview: softball questions, answers bunted. Citizen Crain, who used to work in the trade, comments: "Hillary Clinton has once again granted an interview with the GLBT press, and the Philadelphia Gay News has done everything it could to reward her for the effort -- from a redesigned website that features the interview before the rest of the site, to a front page print edition that includes a segment of blank white space to reflect Barack Obama's failure to face questioning.

"Unfortunately, like the Blade and Gay People's Chron before it, PGN did not come to the table with completely clean hands. The interview -- and all the website and print trimmings -- were the handiwork of PGN publisher Mark Segal, who has already donated $1,000 to the Clinton campaign. Has the gay press joined Fox et al in completely abandoning the idea of neutrality? At least the Blade editor's endorsement was public record; Segal doesn't disclose his Clinton ties to readers."

Of the big glbt blogs, only Towleroad has noted the interview so far, and it only excerpts bits before jumping to a full version.

Some examples of the love-fest:

"PGN: I assume that you and President Clinton have gay friends. Can you give me your impression of one of those couples that you socialize with, without giving any names?
Hillary Clinton: Oh my gosh. There are so many of them. I know that Mark [Walsh, Clinton’s national director of LGBT outreach] is on the phone. Let me say this, we don’t get to socialize a lot. But when we do, it’s usually at a big event where we get to see people and spend time with them. This is something I want to do more of as soon as I finish this presidential campaign. It’s sort of hard to pick out people. We go to some events in Washington and New York. I’ve got friends, literally, around the country that I’m close to. It’s part of my life."

Why yes, some of our best friends are...gay. As a reader of The Daily Dish noted in mid-March,

"It is important to note, and try to comprehend why, Bill Clinton would totally de-gay his 950-plus page name-dropping autobiography, "My Life" (Knopf, 2004).

The index of "My Life" is one giant gay redact. Why would Clinton not mention at least one of the positive gay stories from his Presidency? Why wouldn't he at least mention his appointment of the first openly gay U.S. Ambassador James Hormel? Not a word in the book about Ambassador Hormel. Why wouldn't he include his naming the first openly gay person to be confirmed for a sub-cabinet post by the Senate, that "damn lesbian" (Jesse Helms), Roberta Achtenberg?

You would think standing up to Jesse Helms' bigotry might have been considered an interesting and positive anecdote. Not there. But Clinton does have time and space to mention that Helms held up the nomination of Bill Weld to be ambassador to Mexico. Why couldn't Clinton summon up the grace to mention his longtime gay friend and supporter-- when it counted---David Mixner. Nothing in the book about Mixner. He is not listed in the index. The first-ever openly gay or lesbian Assistant to the President, Virgina Apuzzo, is not mentioned; nor is Daniel Montoya, an openly gay man who was named Executive Director of the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV/AIDS. Fred Hochberg, the first openly gay person to be appointed Deputy in a cabinet level agency (Small Business Administration), was not mentioned. Richard Socarides was not mentioned; he was the openly gay liaison to the gay and lesbian community. Bob Hattoy, a well known supporter and part of the Administration, is not mentioned in the index. Vic Basile, a gay leader, and Peace Corps Liaison is not mentioned. White House Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan is not mentioned. Keith Boykin, whom Clinton sent to Zimbabwe, not mentioned.

All of these people were openly gay and supporters of President Clinton; and many of them were involved in situations that were significant challenges, even triumphs, for President Clinton.

Bob Hattoy once summed up the Clintons' approach to gays in their time in the White House in one phrase: "It's the economy, faggot." The other phrase that springs to mind is: "How much money can they raise"?'

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"PGN: In 1948, President Truman issued an executive order banning discrimination based on race. Would you issue an executive order or a signing order with a military appropriations bill to temporarily — until Congress had a chance to deal with it — end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?”
HC: If I were legally able to do it. I don’t know what the legal framework would be because you remember that, in the face of what Bill [Clinton] was trying to do in ’93, the act, by veto, proved majorities made prohibitions on doing that. So whether the president has authority to do it by executive order or not, I’m not sure. But I have been committed for more than nine years to eliminating “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

PGN: Could you do so via a signing order connected to a military appropriations bill?
HC: No. I don’t think so. I will have that examined, but I don’t think so. What a signing order can do, a signing statement, what Bush has done, is to say you’re not going to enforce certain aspects of a law that’s been passed. This is different. There’s a law already on the books, which says the president cannot waive “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But nobody has ever asked it of me quite like that. I don’t think the president would have the authority. I think we’d have to get it changed by legislation, but I will look into that."

Ready on Day 1?

"PGN: In states like New Jersey and Massachusetts and others that have passed domestic-partner bills or civil-union bills, one of the major roadblocks they find is the federal tax codes or joint filings for IRS returns. What could we do about that?
HC: That’s one of the laws we have to change. I will have a comprehensive review, and I think a lot of that work has already been done, to look at everything that is discriminatory in the tax code or in any other aspect of federal law. And we will try to eliminate all of that discrimination. I think we will have a good argument, ironically, because I think we can say, look, the states are making determinations about extending rights to same-sex couples in various forms and the federal government should recognize that and should extend the same access to federal benefits across the board. I will very much work to achieve that."

Never mind that most states that have passed civil unions legislation are finding it doesn't work and event reinforces discrimination. She'll lead by following their lead.

"PGN: Should the Department of Education give local school districts and teachers direction on presenting GLBT-positive lesson plans?
HC: That’s an area that you can get direction from the federal government but the federal government doesn’t have any real authority. I think there was some guidance given during the Clinton administration and I will look into that and see if there is some additional guidance that could be given."

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"PGN: As first lady and as senator, you’ve lent your presence and support to various gay organizations by being present at gay Pride celebrations and so forth. When elected president, would you continue to do such?
HC: To the extent that security would permit. That’s one of the challenges of being president. I don’t think the Secret Service let Bill walk in a parade when he became president. I had a lot more flexibility as first lady. I have more flexibility as a senator. I’ll see how much they try to trim my sails as president."






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