Contest Winner! (Loser, Actually)

Not the picture contest, but the race to be the first politician to gay-bash Patricia Todd.

And who is that winner? It wasn’t Gerald Allen or Hank Erwin, but it really ought not be a surprise that it is  .  .  .  Republican Party Boss Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh! 

With a hat tip to Danny at Doc’s Political Parlor, I bring you this story from the Anniston Star:  

The Republican Party says Rep. Lea Fite, D-Jacksonville, supports gay candidates.

The reasoning? He’s a Democrat.

An automated message left on answering machines of area residents features the voice of Alabama GOP chairwoman Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, accusing the freshman representative of supporting gay candidates, because party by-laws require Democratic candidates to support Democratic nominees.

Such requirements also can be found on the Republican side of the aisle. Cavanaugh sent a memo to GOP candidates in September, warning them that not voting for Republican leadership positions in the House and Senate would be grounds for expelling candidates from the party.

Cavanaugh’s recorded message attempts to link Fite to Patricia Todd, director of development for AIDS Alabama, who is expected to win House District 54 in Birmingham in November. Todd, who is gay, survived a Democratic primary and a challenge to her candidacy within the party. . . .

“Patricia Todd will work to legalize same-sex marriage and gay adoption,” Cavanaugh says in the message. “Lea Fite even told The Anniston Star, I quote, ‘I’ve always been a liberal,’ and his support of an openly lesbian candidate proves it. Let’s vote ‘no’ on the gay-rights agenda by voting ‘no’ on liberal Lea Fite.”

Ohhhh Nooooo! A gay person in the legislature! You can get the AIDS that way! And because the gay person is a Democrat, that means they all have the AIDS too!

O.K., that’s a little extreme, but it’s essentially what she’s doing. Twinkle has judged Todd on nothing other than Todd’s sexual orientation. It isn’t opposition to Todd’s actual votes on actual issues, because at this point there haven’t been any. This is opposition to Todd herself. And she attacks Fite because Fite belongs to the same party as the “openly lesbian candidate.” For Twinkle, Todd’s sexual orientation is enough to disqualify Todd and anyone who even belongs to the same party. 

Gay people: Did you know you were this powerful? 

Of course, as the story goes on to say, most of what Twinkle says is either completely wrong, totally unfounded, or extremely misleading. For instance, her quote from Fite – that he said “I’ve always been a liberal” – left out the second half of his statement: “but when it comes to money I’m a fiscal conservative.” That sort of changes the meaning, huh?

Not that the truth matters to Twinkle.

I’m going to design a new toy called Tickle Me Twinkle. It’s a knockoff of Tickle Me Elmo. When you pull Elmo’s string, he starts talking and won’t stop until he’s finished. You can’t talk back to him, either; the conversation goes one way. He only talks, he can’t hear.  And he always says the same two or three things. Twinkle is a lot like that. Pull the string and it’s “Gay people are gross,” or “Liberals hate America,” or “Activist courts want to raise your taxes.” Try to reason with her and you’ll get no response; as today she proves yet again, Twinkle isn’t programmed to listen or to think, just to reflexively spew ignorance.

Explore posts in the same categories: Alabama Legislature, Goobers