Fogle on Fags

Recently Adam Fogle, the boy who produces The Palmetto Scoop in between licking envelopes for some Republican consultancy, tackled Waldo for being mean to straight boys like he- which amounted to objecting to being called out on his own rampant homophobia.

You can see the Scoop's rant here. And here. And here.

Then consider this comment by Snead 101:

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Stupid Is As South Carolina Does: TPS Gets Very Gay

I have a vague idea for four distinct blog posts. Ironically, Not Very Bright totally and completely conveyed in a single post what I'm about to unload over the course of the next four days: South Carolinians are not very bright...

Instead of tuning into FOX News for my daily dose of masochism, I've recently been paying more attention to local and state news coverage. I never realized how much fun it could be to get angry at thing going on in your own backyard! Instead of just bitching and moaning to my friends, I thought it would be a good idea to vent here. So here's Part 1 of Stupid Is As South Carolina Does. (To my two friends: no, you're not off the hook)

As far as SC bloggers go, The Palmetto Scoops' "editor" and chief turd burglar, Adam Fogle, has always seemed a little creepy. Other than the fact that his head looks like it's about to explode, he has a habit of posting completely false items, tooting his own fiddle a little too hard (that could make you go blind, ya know), trying to create controversy with non-starters, crying like a bitch over the dumbest issues he can uncover and generally being a complete bag of douche. I blame his parents. He obviously wasn't beaten enough.

This link is particularly telling of Fogle's credibility or complete lack thereof. Care to guess if there was a follow-up to that "story"? I'll give you two chances.

But TPS finally went and outdid itself last week when it outed the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism for participating in an ad campaign targeting gay tourists in London. From TPS:

The Palmetto Scoop has learned that the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism — a state agency overseen by the Gov. Mark Sanford’s office — is spending an undisclosed amount of its nearly $14 million advertising budget to take part in the “So Gay” campaign, an effort launched in London, England, by the gay marketing agency “Out Now” to lure homosexual tourists to South Carolina and five U.S. cities.

You can read all about the campaign here and see video of the offending ads here. What seems to be the crux of the controversy is the campaign's "____ is so gay" slogan. But for some reason what's not controversial in Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, New Orleans or Washington, D.C. is completely unacceptable in South Carolina. Now I only majored in Public Relations long enough to realize that there was no way I'd actually learn anything by majoring in Public Relations, but this seems like a catchy, fun, innovative campaign. Here's what the host company says about it:

Gays and lesbians have only in recent years begun to enjoy improved social status and acceptance. As part of that ongoing process certain terms are ‘reclaimed’ by gays and lesbians as a means of removing previous negative connotations. One term that has been used negatively in recent times is the expression: “That is so gay” -- as a form of put down, not of gay and lesbian people directly, but rather as a general way to suggest that for something to be “gay” is negative or bad.

This causes hurt to many gay people, who resent the concept that a general negative is connoted by their sexuality. The Out Now campaign for Amro is designed to state clearly and unambiguously that Amro, a gay travel specialist company, is selling travel that is “so gay” - and that this expression is by no means a term that should be recoiled from, nor considered negative. In effect, this campaign will “reclaim” the term “so gay” - as a term that is rendered strongly positive for lesbian and gay people.

Not so fast, my little queens. Enter South Carolina Senator David "Not Even Remotely Gay Ever" Thomas:

“South Carolinians will be irate when they learn their hard earned tax dollars are being spent to advertise our state as ’so gay,’” Sen. David Thomas (R-Greenville) told The Palmetto Scoop. “South Carolina is a wonderful, family friendly destination not a Southern version of San Francisco. This campaign goes against our core values.” Thomas said he would be calling for a comprehensive audit of PRT, an agency in the governor’s cabinet.

And South Carolina Representative Greg "Queer As Fuck" Delleny Jr. saw a golden opportunity to spread warnings against the GAY AGENDA!

State Rep. Greg Delleney (R-Chester), echoed Thomas’ concerns, citing questions over “whether or not the governor or anyone in charge at PRT authorized this expenditure."

"It’s simply unbelievable that PRT would be using our tax money to promote the homosexual lifestyle,” said Delleney.

Now you have to suspend disbelief for a moment and assume Delleny and Thomas have no connection whatsoever to Fogle's leash holders at Mail Marketing Strategies and ignore the conflicts of interest and complete lack of independence Fogle has shown in the past. And you should also note that an issue like this is right in the wheelhouse for Delleney, who recently co-sponsored a bill to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, separation of church and state be damned! (I could bitch for days about this non-issue. We either accept that a "marriage" is a socially-recognized and approved union between two consenting partners or we try to define it by some innovative 20th-century interpretation of the Bible to mean 'one man + one woman'... but I digress)

Also keep in mind Fogle's love for John McCain, a candidate who isn't exactly a champion of equality with regards to the homosexual lifestyle. Would it be giving TPS too much credit to think this is a small part of pumping up conservative SC support for McAngry? Message to voters: "You hate gay people, John McCain barely tolerates them, why not have a "civil union" in the voting booth this November?" Yeah, that's probably a stretch...

Well it didn't take long before The State brain trust noticed the story and ran with it. So then it landed in print and it seemed like blogs from all over had one thing or another to say about it.

Nice work, inbreds. Seriously, you in particular, Sen. Thomas, should get a medal for how far apart your eyes are from each other. Of course, it’s not like South Carolina lawmakers wanting our state’s citizens to lose money was any big secret. -FITSNews

Close the ports & barricade the highways! -Shots from The Battery

All this fuss over the threat of some gay Londoners coming here and spending money. As Churchill might have said, "We will fight them on the beaches; we will fight them on the landing grounds; we will fight them in the better shopping streets, and in the upscale restaurants; we will fight them in the gyms and health clubs; the museums and night clubs; at the currency exchange bureaus; and the taxi cab ranks, we shall never surrender..."-Waldo Lydecker's Journal

Thomas and Delleny have allegedly pledged to kill one Negro family for every thousand spent on the San Francisco-style gay advertisements. -Wonkette

TPS has converted his original scoop into fodder for six subsequent posts, including one which takes aim at South Carolina Pride 2008. Why all the hate and discontent? Because there are not enough cops on the streets in Columbia. Riiiiiiight.

With violent crime, homelessness, gang activity, domestic abuse,corruption and various other things running rampant in Columbia the city council has decided to allocate $10,000 taxpayer dollars to the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement which said it will use that money on their September festival, the Free Times reports. Much of that funding will come from a hospitality tax and go toward paying drag entertainer RuPaul. -Adam Fogle

The spiral continued of course. Try to follow along: South Carolina pulled out of the contract (a method that is never safe for preventing STDs, as a form of birth control or to encourage future business with ad agencies), the PRT employee who approved the ad resigned and South Carolina was thrust into the national spotlight for it's Southern hostility. Finally, South Carolina Pride stepped in and announced they would solicit private donations in order to fully fund the original contract (which had already been displayed when South Carolina backed out). $700 has been raised so far, you can donate HERE.

Why does any of this really matter? Because it says something about an individuals' character, it says something about the mindset of people bound by geographical borders and it says something about the credibility of a nation which tells the world, "Do what I say, not what I do." Most importantly to me, it suggests that I will soon have to decide if I want to spend the rest of my life in my native state and fight against the ignorance surrounding me or just move on and leave fools like this to their own devices.

TPS loaded this video of a local news report on the controversy. Listen to what people say. Listen to their voices. It's like you just showed them an ad for pedophilia. Glen McConnell almost makes a good point, you can't tell gay dollars apart from straight dollars and that SHOULD BE the bottom line, but he loses me when he insists this ad campaign is aimed at pushing some sort of political agenda. Our governor cites the gay agenda as a reason to cancel the campaign as well. This is fear tactics at its best. Look at the following comment from a TPS post:

“The City Council loves to give out all sorts of our money to promote their political agenda,” said one prominent city resident who asked not to be identified. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they handed NAMBLA a blank check. But just imagine if a conservative heritage group asked for even a quarter of what they’re getting.”

There's more where that came from...

You mean to tell me that my tax dollars are trying to get more of "them" to come here? I better quit paying taxes.

Who cares? Stay away.

I see them in different stores (I was in retail) and they don't spend any more than the next person. But they do seem to like attention. I agree with you smrtup [another commenter], if we get the naacp, gays and lesbans to boycott, this will be a great place to live and visit. Let's pray for this.

I do not want gays to feel good about coming to SC. I believe in rights but I believe more in what the Bible says. They are an abomination. I sure would not want my family being in the same place as they are although I know we are among them all the time.

NOW, . . IF WE CAN GET THE GAYS, LESBIANS AND THE BLACK NAACP TO ALL BOYCOTT SOUTH CAROLINA ALL AT THE SAME TIME, . . . MAYBE WE CAN GET SOME DESIRABLE FOLKS TO VISIT THE STATE AND MAYBE SOME WILL EVEN DECIDE TO MOVE HERE PERMANENTLY ! ! !

Somethings are more important than money. We dont need those who have CHOSEN the gay lifestyle. To try and encourage gays to come here is like encouraging drug adicts or alcoholics to vacation here. Encourage family friendly tourism not a bunch of perverts.

Greenville Online Article Comments

But those are just anonymous comments posted on the Internet. No real harm could come from that, right?

During the assault, the teen’s 49-year-old father yelled, cursed, swung a bat, prayed and tried to “cast the demon of homosexuality out of him,” according to the teen’s version of events to Deputy S.C. Weymouth, the incident report states.

Anderson man beats gay son at home

Mission accomplished, Fogle?

(UPDATE: As Anon. points out below, the above-referenced story has taken a twist. Apparently not even I can be right all the time...)

Many South Carolinians remember the days when the value of currency depended on the color of one's skin. I can only assume TPS would have supported that agenda as well.

Here are some other items you might think are so gay:

• Acceptance of Gay People in Military Grows Dramatically
• McCain assailed for opposing adoption by gays
• Boston: So Gay?
• 'So Gay' flap might damage South Carolina tourism
• Experts question SC reaction to 'So Gay' ads
• Charleston: not as gay as its ads
• No one looks good in ad campaign foul-up