Monday, June 28, 2010

Richard Socarides, you ain't slick.

Richard Socarides wrote an article about Obama and gay rights last week. And as expected, many folks cheered over his attack on the Obama's administration.

Then yesterday, Richard talked about his article on MSNBC:

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Okay, he's not the biggest fan, I get it. But Rich's back yard ain't that clean. If you don't know, Rich was the man Clinton sent into the LGBT community to smooth over DOMA & DADT. Michael Petrelis presents a couple of articles defining that moment back in the 90s.

Here's a taste:
But if you want to read something online about that disastrous tour for Socarides, check out this excerpt from the SF Weekly's report:
Bill Clinton's lesbian and gay liaison, Richard Socarides, quietly made the rounds in S.F. last week, unsuccessfully trying to tamp down gay anger over his boss' signing of the Defense of Marriage Act, and generally taking the community's temperature.

Or, as Supervisor Leal told her fellow queer supe Tom Ammiano, who couldn't make the meeting with Socarides Sept. 26, "He sure kissed a lot of ass." The meetings -- with gay journalists and elected officials -- were coordinated direct from Clinton/Gore campaign headquarters. So, harbor no doubt about their import.

Bob Ross, publisher of the Bay Area Reporter, said he raked Socarides over the coals for 45 minutes. "He didn't really have any answers for us," Ross says.

If you're still hungry for additional info about Socarides' fierce advocacy - for Clinton back in 1996 - read some of what the Advocate had to say:

Activists also complained that Socarides turned down a chance to link America Online's gay and lesbian area directly to the White House. [...]

And Socarides said he views the trip as a complete success. "The reception I received was extremely warm," he said. "I accomplished what I set out to do."

Liar, liar, pants on fire! He was the only person who thought those things about his visit here. Where did his loyalties lie? Not with the wider gay community; but with the Clintonistas.
I find it very interesting how Rich taking this stance against Obama. Can he really call him out, when his actions are apart of the reason we are in this mess?

So in my opinion, Rich really can't get all high and mighty here. If he claims Obama is going to be on the wrong side of history, I guess Rich will be there too. Acting as Clinton's safegay doesn't make you a super gay rights champion.

1 comment:

  1. hi,

    thanks so much for calling socarides out on his stuff. i am hoping that he eventually tells the gay community what he did, either publicly or behind the scenes, to stop clinton from enacting DOMA and DADT.

    the fierceness of socarides' attacks on obama would have been appreciated back in the 1990s when he worked at clinton's WH.

    michael

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