Cliff LyonChris Cannon has “Gaydar”? Buh Bye.
In reference to the recent public revelations of Rep Foley’s molestation of a minor, Utah Congressman Chris Cannon is quoted in today’s Deseret Morning News, “You don’t need ‘gaydar’ to understand he has certain dispositions,” Cannon said.
Well, you don’t need “bigot-dar†to recognize a bigot either. You just need to wait. Eventually, the bigot comes out. Apparently as with George Allen, no amount of on-your-feet acumen can filter the Freudian slips (see note below).
No matter how you read Cannon’s comments, implicit in them is the assumption that gay men are child molesters. In Cannon’s little mind, gay = pervert. It’s unlikely that Cannon was holding the simultaneous thought in his head that most child molesters are heterosexual men. And if there were any doubt Cannon’s bigotry, his comment about Foley’s “irritating†mannerisms should be sufficient.
Here’s the full quote:
“It’s not a coincidence, it’s a cover-up,” said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, of Foley’s involvement with the bill. Cannon knew Foley “quite well” but found the six-term Florida congressman “irritating,” particularly in some of his mannerisms. “You don’t need ‘gaydar’ to understand he has certain dispositions,” Cannon said.
I guess Cannon thinks wearing his homophobia on his sleeve is good politics in Utah. Lord I hope not.
I think this recent pictures says it all. Congressman Jim Matheson will be sad to see him go. But look at the bright side! We get Christian!
Note: In a prepared response during a debate on the question of Senator Allen’s Jewish heritage, Allen lost it in the end and said, “…and one of those values is religious freedom and not making dispersions about someone’s political beliefs.†See video
Problem is, no one was making dispersions about Allen Jewish heritage. Oops. Let’s be honest. In George Allen’s little world having Jewish heritage is something you hide.
October 3rd, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Let’s frogmarch this asshole around the Temple and then waterboard him in the reflecting pond.
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Unbeleivable.
Unfortunately, Cliff, I don’t think that Cannon is the product of a political environment where there will be any consequences for this statement. And that’s sad, really.
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:04 pm
Tom, I’ll go a step further. Cannon is the product of a political/social environment where many of his constituents will AGREE WITH AND APPROVE OF this statement.
- Derek
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:16 pm
OTOH, Senator Hatch was completely unaware of Rep. Foley’s proclivities until last week. “This was shattering news,” Hatch said. “It’s really unsettling to me that someone who worked so hard to pass what everyone is saying is a landmark child protection law could do something like this. I just don’t understand it.”
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Yeah, this whole Foley thing is pretty sad and Cannon can’t help but to stick his foot in his mouth. Kind a funny though, I found this buried in a local candidate’s website:
http://www.carrieforclerk.com/links/
To see the really bizarre, go to Sherrie News and read the ones under sexual harasment. It doesn’t look like some of this stuff could have been legally released.
I don’t know who this Nick guy is but he definintely has some office behavior issues.
Get out there while you can. Once they realize what they’ve posted, it will probably come down.
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:43 pm
What is more astonishing to me is that Rep. Foley admits he is an alcoholic and needs treatment. Treatment? Is that what he and his cadre of conservatives offer to alcoholics and addicts who commit crimes under the influence? Let me see, did Rep. Foley vote for Mandatory Minimum Sentences for non-violent drug offenders like his loyal colleagues in the Republican party? What about all the folks rotting in prison cells right now. Over 2 million of them. How many of them are alcoholics (or addicts) and just need treatment? Hmmm?
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander!
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:57 pm
I’m sure that Hatch, Cannon and the other enablers could come up with some sort of legislation that would retroactively make pedophilia moral. It worked for so many other crimes of this administration. Unfortunately, I think we’ve only scratched the surface of the tip of the iceburg on this. I think it would be safe to say that each and every member of congress has done things many times worse than rep. Foley was caught at. It is that the mothers of these victims are afraid to step up with the damning evidence because they are afraid that they or their kids will be tortured if they do. We will most likely know the extent of the depravity.
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:01 pm
Sorry, I meant, ‘we will mostly never know…’
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Caveat Emptor:
“I think it would be safe to say that each and every member of congress has done things many times worse than rep. Foley was caught at.”
Ya right.
Cannon might be a bigot. And Hatch might be a dummie. But they’re not pedophiles. No need to be excessive.
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:18 pm
Cannon used to send me messages about greased up twizers and Poopsie Tootsie Rolls.
I’m so ashamed!
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:21 pm
What Foley did was inexcusable and I am not defending him but again we see selective indignation on the part of Democrats. Do you remember Rep. Mel Reynolds Democrat Illinois? He was convicted of having sex with a 16 year old campaign volunteer. An act much worse than Foley is accused of and President Clinton commuted his sentence right before leaving office. Not a whimper from Democrats at the time. Rep Garry Studds Democrat Massachusetts was caught having sex with a page; he refused to resign and finished out his term, and again no crocodile tears from Democrats. The truth is if Foley was a Democrat you would all be circling the wagons around him and accusing Republicans of gay bashing. In fact after reading this article you are accusing Republicans of gay bashing anyway. “gaydar†is not Chris Cannon’s word, I have heard gays use the word themselves.
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:04 pm
Stay in the present Ken. When we have guys like LaVar saying that America will go down the moral drain if we elect democrats I just want to puke.
How many of your people have resigned recently? How manty are on the top 25 most corrupt list?
Two Dems, 23 Reps.
By the way, my gaydar tells me your a special little fella Ken.
October 3rd, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Hey, hey, hey…
Are my eyes deceiving me, or are we spiraling into a discussion about who is better at protecting America’s kids from sicko pedophiles?
I don’t care if you’re a member of Billy Joe’s Grandpoobah Lodge for Democracy Party… When we don’t protect America’s kids from pedophiles, it is WRONG. Please do not tally up the sides and keep score as if that somehow justifies this behavior. We should all be disgusted by what Foley did, and we should all be disgusted by *any* pedophile that *ever* was and ever will be.
This is not about politics, folks. This is about making sure America is safe for all of our children, and of all places the United States Congress should be the safest place of all, no matter what.
October 4th, 2006 at 12:05 am
Oh, and one more thing. While we’re sitting here with our petty partisan political bickering, we need to take a moment of silence for all of the young girls who were molested and killed by pedophiles in the last week alone. Is anybody gonna call a “yeah, but” for them? I don’t think so. The deaths of Emily Keyes and all of the little girls in Pennsylvania are senseless, tragic, and wrong.
October 4th, 2006 at 7:23 am
If the indignation appears selective, it is because the Republicans swept into office wrapping themselves in the robes of morality and Christianity. They cast endless aspersions on liberals as the party of immorality, licentiousness, and sleeze. In the ’90s, They became hysterical in their crusade against Clinton for his sins.
By resorting to puritanical moralizing for political gain, Republicans set for themselves a precariously high standard. This scrutiny of their inability to live up to that standard, is merely an example of the chickens coming home to roost.
Cannon’s error isn’t the use of the word “gaydar.” Cannon’s statement showed a (typical) distorted understanding of homosexuality, conflating pedophiliac tendencies with homosexual ones.
October 4th, 2006 at 7:55 am
Derek — you hit the nail on the head.
Acting on pedophilia is wrong no matter what party you belong to.
The real story here is the Republicans’ promoting themselves as more moral and Godly than Democrats when clearly that is not the case. I’m not a fan of Clinton, but to see the efforts to bring him down for mutually consented adult sex acts while the Republicans are no better (and I’m not justtalking about this case either) was outrageous.
Since the Republicans use their “moral superiority” consistently as a political weapon, it is relevant to bring up this incident and make a big deal out of it.
October 4th, 2006 at 8:43 am
It is interesting to note that when the German tribes, Goths etc. made their entries into Rome upon whipping the legions during Romes’ decline(400 AD) they often were appalled by the open child abuse with regard sexual abuse of both boys and girls.
This evidence was so unsettling to the barbarian mind that most of the adult adherents of this adult perversion were directly put to the sword by “barbarians” so as to free the corrupted adult from life, and end his living constant offense to the Gods.
No man in such a state had any chance of attaining heaven(Valhalla) so he was better off DEAD, before continuing his miserable offenses.
priest: Conan, what is good in life”?
Conan: “To meet your enemies, destroy and see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women”
Who are todays barbarians, and what will they do to the perverts if and when we FALL!!!!? What we refuse to do. We appear to love them more than our kids. What enemy wouldn’t see this clue for what it is? WEAKNESS!!Ever wonder why bush and co. are so damn afraid of ARABS?
Consider that the American populace has allowed and continues to enable an illegitimate ruler. bush and co. has America cooned, and they know it. The only thing that interferes with their total hegemony are “terrorists” who will “delegitimize” bush and his crew first chance they get. This is the why, in my view, of the all out assault on them(insurgents). They are like the American insurgents of 1776, the crown could not bargain with them, and every word that came out of a Tory mouth was a call to arms for Patriots.
* sidenote: Early in our War for Independence, britain executed American soldiers that surrendered, summarily, without trial. Sound familiar? The crown viewed them as simple criminals and not real military, so they were given no quarter.
It is pretty clear so far that bush has defeated the American citizen, and our reps are currently his lapdogs… and progressives think him stupid. One of the best ways to stay out of trouble with authority, in my experience, is to act like an idiot. It has worked for me numerous times with police officers, as it immediately swells their ego, and empties their head, for the most part.
History is a wheel, no one stays on top forever, so it behooves a people to avoid open humanitarian crimes in the empire and abroad, for when they befall you, as they seemingly ALWAYS do, as empire wanes, no one will CARE!!
October 4th, 2006 at 9:35 am
The stragegic use of Christianity by the Republicans, specifically the Bush campaign in the 2004 was the focus of my political science senior research project at USU.
I knew going in that this had happened, but after studying it closely, the systematic, deliberative, manipulative and truly insincere manner in which Christianity was used to get votes is disgusting.
It has hurt both our government and our Churches. Unfortunately, there are a large number of people in America my age who associate Christianity with George W. Bush and are very turned off by religion. Mixing church and state has negative consequences for both, but frankly, I don’t think GWB cares about that. I also don’t believe that the man is as religiously convicted as he portrays. I think he learned in Texas that fundamentalist Christians are easily manipulated, and he continued to ride the horse that got him there.
October 4th, 2006 at 10:58 am
Yo Ken.
As always, you miss the mark. No one gives a rat’s ass about Foley - he’s just a two bit Repug pervert who got caught. It is the coverup that folks care about. Hastert, Reynolds, Shimkus and others all knew about the “problem” but chose to place continued congressional power above the interests of the pages. It is this behavior - endemic at all levels of the Bush administration and Repug controlled congress - that will cause the collapse of the Repugs in Washington and, hopefully, around the country including Utah.
I admire your loyalty, Ken, as I admire the loyalty of Nazis in WWII Germany.
October 4th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Tom, the (ab)use of religion by politicians–primarily Republicans/conservatives at this point in time–is an issue which is very pressing to me as a religious person, and a primary reason why I started blogging. A couple of my posts on my personal blog directly relate to the topic, from a religious rather than academic perspective:
“Obama at Call to Renewal”
http://aliberalmormon.wordpress.com/2006/07/11/obama-at-call-to-renewal/
Christian Conservatives: Lips vs. Hearts”
http://aliberalmormon.wordpress.com/2006/05/29/christian-conservatives-lips-vs-heart/
I don’t want to sidetrack this thread here into a discussion on the topic, but I’d love to hear what you think on my own blog.
October 4th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Jon Cox, My comment was neither excessive nor partisan. If you look at the damage done to the children of Iraq, Afganistan, as well as the pages that have been abused, and any others, it is no stretch at all to suggest what I have suggested. It is not simply about pedophelia…It is much worse than that, it isabout children, wherever they may be, being bombed, burned or spoken nasty to. As our representatives suposedly spoke for us when they sent the bombs and troops and aircraft over there to do thier tasks. Many, many children suffered. The accusation of excess should be placed where it belongs, ON OUR ELECTED ‘REPRESENTATIVES’.
October 4th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
breaking news: Hastert has eaten all the evidence. More at six.
October 4th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
−
Witty Comics
−
jth1963ut
http://www.wittycomics.com/users/jth1963ut
−
Gay vs. Morman Sterotypes
10-04-2006
−
−
4
−
12
−
Forgive me Congressman Cannon but did you say gaydar?”
−
15
−
Yes, I said you don’t need gaydar to understand he has certain depositions.
−
4
−
12
So you think this is a Gay issue?
−
15
You know what I mean.
−
4
−
12
−
No I am afraid I don’t, but let’s move on to another subject. How are your 14 wives?
−
15
That is an insult not a question.
−
October 5th, 2006 at 8:49 am
With all the revelations about what Foley was doing, Cannon is talking about his irritating mannerisms? Glad to know he’s focusing on the important things. Sadly, though, I’d rather have Cannon than LaVar Christensen (which is kind of like saying I’d rather step on one nail than two).
October 5th, 2006 at 9:57 am
[...] And this beauty from my good friend Ken, The truth is if Foley was a Democrat you would all be circling the wagons around him and accusing Republicans of gay bashing. In fact after reading this article you are accusing Republicans of gay bashing anyway. “gaydar†is not Chris Cannon’s word, I have heard gays use the word themselves. [...]
November 2nd, 2006 at 1:02 pm
[...] Maybe it’s because of Cannon’s endearing pleas of leniency for his former Chief of Staff David Safavian or Cannon’s repeated bigotted comments, or maybe it’s because of Cannon’s own ethics problems that no one will endorse him. [...]