From the inbox I was alerted to Maya Keyes’ girlfriend complaining about the coverage and the blogs that broke the story in particular. While credit to the find goes to Modern Vertebrate and then Chillinois, I certainly don’t deny my choice in being a relatively early poster on the story and I’d still do that.
But what I find in comments at Chillinois adds to the story:
Of course, there are still many religious-based colleges where antigay policies are still very much in effect. One such school, Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., was founded by the evangelical Brethren in Christ. Bria Grace, 19, an out lesbian sophomore at Messiah, says the school makes no secret of its antigay stance. ?If you are found to be in a gay or lesbian relationship, you must seek counseling,? she says. ?You have to recognize that what you did was wrong.?
Now, does that absolve me of any decisions? What if Bria Grace hadn’t been out? As a note, I wouldn’t mention her name other than it is in a news article. Thinking back, I may well have blurred a picture if I had put it up myself, but that is in retrospect.
Given the situation, I think appearing in an article in the Advocate takes away any claim to privacy on that specific issue. That doesn’t answer the abstract issue of what about those who have no real role in the story other than being, for a better phrase, collateral damage.
It would be truly unfortunate. But I think that is the case in many stories that are pursued. Gary Hart’s wife was certainly an innocent bystander, but when Gary Hart challenged the press, it was a legitimate story. Jack Ryan’s son faces some embarrasment as he grows older. But ultimately, the responsibility for those misfortunes rest on those taking the actions. Jack Ryan covered up his life, lied to the public and the party. The big deal was the lying, with conduct that was strange—Jack tried to hide public documents. Bria Grace is a victim of her mother, but ultimately, that may or may not have occurred in the context of the information being highlighted in discussing the views of a man who seems to suggest that Grace’s mother is correct in her behavior and upbraids others for their tolerance of gay and lesbian children and wants to be the next US Senator from Illinois.
As we know now, Alan Keyes is a joke, but unfortunately, Alan Keyes is only a joke because he is so bizarre in his behavior. Patrick O’Malley wants to be the next Governor of Illinois and is just as reactionary as Keyes, but slightly more palatable because of his demeanor.
I won’t out people on this blog and I’ll try and avoid ‘incidentally’ outing people in circumstances like this. But the second category is impossible to avoid in some circumstances.
Now, let me chide the Illinois press for one moment. Alan Keyes has all of a sudden found his family off limits when he didn’t find Dick Cheney’s family off limits. But let’s not forget, Alan Keyes thought John McCain’s and George Bush’s daughters were not off limits in 2000
In this election cycle, candidates who oppose abortion are being asked how they would respond if their teen-age daughters got pregnant. McCain’s initial answer was that his 15-year-old would make the “final decision.” But upon more thought, he said it would be a “family decision.” But this response reveals, as Keyes observed, that even someone with a 20-year pro-life voting record may not really embrace the position he propounds.
A truly pro-life candidate would respond as follows: “If, G-d forbid, my daughter were to become pregnant, we would let her know that we were disappointed in her (unless, of course, the pregnancy were the result of rape). We would also tell her that we will protect, love and support her throughout her pregnancy, and would expect that when the child is born, we will, as a family, make an adoption plan for the baby.”
I admit there’s deep, deep irony in the above, but he felt the personal situations of the McCain and Bush families were relevant. Why isn’t the Keyes’ family relevant?
I feel bad that Maya Keyes is undergoing a lot of stress and that her friends may as well. But I’ll be damned if I’ll sit by and let that hypocritical bastard Alan Keyes exploit the politics of personal destruction and then whine about it when the same treatment is given to him.
He’s toxic to politics and he was brought in to be toxic to Barack Obama. But when that toxicity hits him, he wants to run away. Tough shit.
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