The zealousness with which Rove and Mehlman pursue an anti-gay agenda for political utility suggests more than just an ambition to win elections.  Students of Freud might be able to artfully deconstruct their behavior but even lay analysts can see a bit of repression and self-loathing at work.  Maybe Rove has a desire to get back at his father for leaving his mother when he "chose" to be gay.  Or perhaps he is fighting his own homo-erotic impulses.  His description of George Bush the first time they met goes a bit beyond a geek's admiration of the cool guy quarterback:

"I can literally remember what he was wearing: an Air National Guard flight jacket, cowboy boots, complete with the - in Texas you see it a lot - one of the back pockets will have a circle worn in the pocket from where you carry your tin of snuff, your tin of tobacco.  He was exuding more charisma than any one individual should be allowed to have."


Pardon me if I see this as nothing more than Rove kissing his boss's ass.

My feelings on this subject may be different than a lot of progressive activists I know.  Count me second to none in my loathing of Karl Rove, and by extension, Ken Mehlman.  Both men, Rove especially, have done incredible damage to our country.  They are Machiavells of the worst order, and we can only hope that history deals them the blow they deserve—not just in the books to be written, but in the elections to come (see 2006 and 2008).

But the tasteless gay-baiting that Moore and many others have written about various Republican men, in my opinion, goes against what I believe a progressive should stand for.  Insinuating that your political opponents must be gay when you disagree with them politically is a tactic of the Right.  It should never become a tactic of the Left.  It is no different than spreading rumors of illegitimate black children in a closely-fought Southern race, or questioning an Arab-American's potential ties to terrorists because of his name and religion.  For those of you who disagree, consider this:  How many of you have heard the rumors from right-wing sources that Hillary Clinton is a closet lesbian?  And how many of your stomachs turn when you read this drivel, and condemn it as right-wing bigotry and smear tactics of the first order? 

The fallback argument for progressives always comes next, and is compelling.  "We're on the side of the angels.  We're the ones fighting for gay rights, and for minority rights, and for women's rights.  And they're on the other side—the wrong side.  When they gay-bait, it's to motivate their core supporters.  When we gay-bait a Rove or a Mehlman, it is only to point out the hypocrisy of the Republican position."

No, it's not.  It's an attempt to harness the same bigotry that turns out the Christian Right in an election year against their party leadership instead.  It doesn't really work, though, except to further undermine our own integrity.

Bottom line: we're better than them.  Act like it.