Mickey Kaus

I run across references to him, mostly at Andrew Sullivan's blog. I haven't paid much attention, but Sullivan wrote this post recently and I decided to take a look.

If this is any evidence of the depth and rigor of Kaus' thinking, he's pretty much a mush bag.

I guess I have two arguments. First, while homosexuals certainly have a history of oppression, it seems clear that, at least in West Los Angeles, they are no longer the oppressed group. They've won, politically and, more important, economically, in a way that blacks haven't. There is something inflated, and unnecessarily defensive, in the gay politicos' righteous invocation of the elaborate and (necessarily) humorless mechanisms of racial equality.

Given the somewhat rocky course of the gay rights movement over the past couple of decades, this is pretty dumb. Or mendacious -- take your pick. We've won? Fine -- tell it to Matthew Shepherd.

Second, the Barney's sign wasn't really designed to keep out homosexuals so much as to keep out the homosexual life-style, which was taken over virtually every other bar in the area (except one called The Raincheck Room which responded to the Barney’s Crisis with a mysterious sign warning 'Farraguts Stay Out'). The difference seems important. Sexuality may not be a matter of choice for many people, but 'life-style' is.

What is this much-touted "homoseexual life-style"? Describe it to me, please, and show me how it differs from anyone else's "life-style." He's probably referring to the subset of circuit queens and following the time-honored Dobson Gang trick of conflating a subset with the totality. (These are the same people who scream when you say something negative about "Republicans" or "Christians.") (I remember many years ago a coworker telling me about her weekend -- she had woken up Sunday morning with five guys scattered around her apartment in various states of undress. She didn't remember bringing them home or what they did. Am I to take this as an example of the "straight life-style"?)

I am made to feel uncomfortable in most gay bars, if they don't stop me right at the door. So what? One of the ways the gay life-style is defined is by excluding 'breeders' like me. Should I be able to sue if I can't get in to Studio 54 because the doorman thinks I look like a nerd?

Nope, gay bars (with a very few exceptions that rapidly changed their policies under pressure -- from the gay community, mind you) don't exclude "breeders." Talk to any gay men or lesbians and you'll find out they have lots of straight friends. It's unavoidable. Gay Ghettos? Should we ban Polish neighborhoods, and look askance at the "Polish life-style"? If you look like a nerd and are uncomfortable in gay bars, it says a lot more about you than it does about gay bars.

He actually gets paid to write this tripe?

Footnote: This quote from Digby, speaking of the "legitimate" press (as if there were such a thing any more) may be germane:

I like Marcy Wheeler's observation that many of them can't be bothered to actually read and comprehend the arguments set forth so they depend entirely on authority.

They also whine a lot.