Log Cabin Republicans ally and former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton is the latest in a series of Bush Administration alumni to support the repeal of the failed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.

In an interview with the Daily Caller about a potential 2012 Presidential run, Bolton specifically addressed the subject of allowing gay and lesbian servicemembers to serve openly:

Asked about the president’s plan to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ Bolton said he is generally in favor of allowing anyone who wants to serve their country in the military to do so.

“I don’t have any trouble with that [repealing ‘Don’t Ask, ‘Don’t Tell] assuming it is done in a way that is respectful of the people in the military who have great difficulty with it,” he said. “I don’t think there is any good answer to the question why shouldn’t gays and lesbians who want to serve their country be allowed to do it.”

Read more of Bolton’s interview in the Daily Caller.

Posted: September 1st, 2010 under From the Right, GOP Heroes, In Focus, Issues in Focus.
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Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper was featured Sunday in the New York Times discussing the GOP’s efforts to reach out to a broader base.  When asked about reconciling tension between social and fiscal conservatives, he answered:

Any tension between mainstream conservatives and social conservatives is less of an issue within Republican circles during the 2010 election cycle than previous cycles. Why? We lost and we lost big in 2008, which forced all Republicans to re-evaluate strategy, tactics and messaging with voters.

Many in party leadership came to realize that any sort of identity politics or wedge social issues had a diminishing political return and cut into our party’s broad base. Log Cabin Republicans has long advocated that the Republican National Committee focus on the core conservative principals of individual liberty and individual responsibility. From those two basic conservative principals, the L.C.R. helps the Republican leadership advance candidates and policies supportive of a free market economy, fiscal responsibility, immigration reform, strong national defense and a confident foreign policy.

Mr. Mehlman’s recent revelation that he is gay is actually good news for the party. He joins a growing chorus of elected Republican officials and well-known Republicans who support full civil rights, including former Vice President Cheney, former Solicitor General Ted Olson, former First Lady Laura Bush, as well as my former State Department colleagues Ambassador John Bolton and Ambassador Mark Wallace.

Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do – it is also smart politics. Today’s voters believe that people should be judged by the content of their character, not by their sexual orientation. This is entirely consistent with the traditional Republican respect for the individual. Promoting that value will help us win in at the ballot box. Also, openly gay Republicans running for office like L.C.R. member, Richard Tisei, candidate for Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, and former L.C.R. Board Member, Steve May, candidate for the Arizona Legislature, help personify diversity in the party.

Fortunately, the Republican National Committee and the campaign entities, the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee are making strong efforts to focus on common conservative themes. These entities have reached out to Log Cabin Republicans to help revitalize the party. Inclusion will help Republicans rebuild the party base and regain a majority in Congress that can benefit all Americans.

Posted: August 30th, 2010 under From the Right, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Log Cabin Republicans issued the following statement regarding former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman’s disclosure of his sexual orientation:

“Log Cabin Republicans is very supportive and appreciative of Ken’s coming out. Being gay and being conservative are not mutually exclusive,” said Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper.  “As a fellow Bush alumnus, I also look forward to Ken helping me and our colleagues build a stronger and more inclusive Republican Party. Nothing presents a better argument for the equality of gay and lesbian citizens than the reality of our lives as responsible members of society.  I am happy that Ken has come to a place where he can take a stand with integrity, and I welcome him as yet another conservative, common-sense voice to join with Log Cabin Republicans and all Americans in this important dialogue.”

“The process of coming out, and certainly coming out in the public eye, is never an easy one, but I am glad that Ken has decided to take this step and am glad that he is doing so on behalf of the fight for equality,” said former Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe. “As somebody who took my own journey and came out later in life, I have a great deal of respect for him doing this on his own terms. Ken joins a chorus that includes Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Ted Olson, and countless others advocating for the American value of inclusion. This is not a time for playing politics; it is a time for us all to join together–Republicans and Democrats–to repeal the failed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, to pass workplace non-discrimination, and to recognize all committed relationships. The responsibility for making this happen lies with the Democratic leadership in Congress and in the White House who set the legislative agenda.”

Posted: August 25th, 2010 under From the Right, GOP Progress, In the News.
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The Log Cabin Republicans of Utah and nearly two hundred gay and lesbian activists recently met with Governor Gary Herbert at a reception at the Governor’s Mansion. This reception continues in the tradition of former Governor John Huntsman who first invited Log Cabin Republicans to the Governor’s Mansion in 2007.

Herbert met Tuesday with leaders from not only the Utah Log Cabin Republicans — an LGBT group that has endorsed Herbert — but also Equality Utah, the Utah Pride Center and the Human Rights Campaign. “You’re all part of the fabric of Utah,” Herbert told the crowd of 150 people, most of whom were LGBT community members. “We want to make sure you are appreciated, loved and supported.”

Herbert did not discuss specific political issues that affect the LGBT community, saying the reception at the governor’s mansion was a “social event.” He also praised the support of his wife, Jeanette, and noted their 40th wedding anniversary this year.

“I’m very impressed the governor is willing to meet with the LGBT community,” Eric Ethington, founder of PrideInUtah.com, said after the event.

…

Herbert was joined at the event by several other Republican leaders, including Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, state and Salt Lake County party chairmen, West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder and Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall. Both mayors have helped to pass anti-discrimination protections in their cities for gay and transgender residents.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Wall said in an interview, noting that he supports a statewide law. “It’s a group of people who are discriminated against, and really, for no reason other than they’re different.”

James Humphreys, vice president of the Utah Log Cabin Republicans, said he views Herbert as “neutral,” but not necessarily “friendly” toward LGBT issues.

“In Utah, that is certainly a step forward in most cases,” Humphreys said. “He and [the lieutenant governor] are very willing to sit down and discuss any issue with anyone. That gives us an opportunity to have meaningful discussions.”

Read more about the reception in the Salt Lake City Tribune.

Posted: August 25th, 2010 under From the Right, In the States, Log Cabin In Focus.
Comments: 1

Log Cabin Republicans ally Ric Grenell opines in the Huffington Post about a dirty little secret, Republicans are actually paving the way in the fight for marriage equality:

Immediately after the decision that California’s 2008 ballot initiative Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, the left started their partisan claims that electing liberal judges and Democratic politicians were the only sure ways to guarantee equal rights for gays and lesbians. The partisan group Equality California quickly warned Californians that they must elect Jerry Brown and San Francisco Attorney General Candidate Kamala Harris if they wanted greater equality. One by One, NPR hosts and MSNBC personalities speculated that the Republicans would surely use the ruling as a wedge issue in November leading viewers and listeners to believe the issue splits down partisan lines. And gay groups trumpeted congratulatory claims from Democrats and warnings from some Republicans that the issue was not settled yet.

But what you didn’t hear from the political left and mainstream media is that U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker was appointed by a Republican president and that the lawyer, former Solicitor General Ted Olson, who successfully argued the case on behalf of gays and lesbians, is a Republican.

If U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had had her way, Vaughn Walker would never have been a judge at all. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Walker to the federal bench. Pelosi mounted an aggressive campaign against him and led two dozen other Democrats to oppose his nomination over what they called his “insensitivity” to gays and the poor. The hectoring liberal mob won and Walker’s nomination stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Pelosi had successfully maligned Walker, who happens to be gay, labeling him a homophobe. Luckily, Walker was nominated again by President George H.W. Bush in early 1989 and subsequently confirmed to the federal bench.

…

But the 2008 decision by California voters to pass Proposition 8 and deny marriage to gays and lesbians should have been a warning sign. California voters overwhelmingly voted for both Barack Obama and Prop 8. At best, this vote means California Democrats are ambivalent about gay marriage. So why do Democratic activists and their media allies continue to define the issue as a partisan divide? The issue is not as partisan as they would like you to believe.

Immediately following the ruling from Walker, Fox News conducted an online and unscientific poll asking people to vote whether or not they believed the Judge had made the right decision. With more than 225,000 votes, 63% of the respondents said “Yes, Prop 8 violates the Constitution.” And 32% said “No, Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman.”

Some people think the issue is merely generational and that as young people mature the opposition to gay marriage will dissipate. But Dick Cheney and Laura Bush are both seasoned Republicans who support gay marriage. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both Democrats with enormous support from young people, are opposed to it. This week’s ruling by a Republican-appointed judge shows that the current stereotypes promulgated by gay civil rights leaders, their Democratic allies and the media are outdated and part of the reason the issue is destined to stay a political wedge.

Read the rest of Grenell’s column at the Huffington Post.

Posted: August 6th, 2010 under From the Right, In Focus, In the News, In the States.
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Log Cabin Republicans ally Ric Grenell opines in Politico about the recent ruling by Judge Vaughn Walker, striking down Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The Democrats have done nothing to give equal rights to gays and lesbians in the 18 months they have controlled the Senate, the House and the White House – despite promising they would. They have worked hard to keep the issue as a partisan political issue whereby they can decry Republicans lack of support while doing nothing themselves. The simple fact is that a Republican group brought the lawsuit to overturn Prop 8, it was argued as unconstitutional by Republican Ted Olson and was ruled unconstitutional by a Republican-appointed judge. And let’s not forget that President Obama and Hillary Clinton is against gay marriage and Dick Cheney and Laura Bush are for it.

Read more at Politco.

Posted: August 6th, 2010 under From the Right, In Focus, In the News, In the States.
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View This Statement At GOP.com

WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele released the following statement today in response to the passage of Proposition C in Missouri, which protects an individual’s right to make their own health care choices.

“In a significant blow to the Obama administration, the people of Missouri overwhelmingly struck down a central pillar of ObamaCare by passing a statute that prevents the federal government from requiring individuals to purchase health insurance.  By rejecting ObamaCare with nearly three-quarters of the vote in a critical swing state, Missouri sent a clear message to Democrats and the Obama administration that government-run healthcare is a gross overreach of the federal government that needs to be repealed and replaced.  In addition to voter disapproval, lawsuits across the country are moving forward and this week, Virginia earned a major legal victory in its effort to challenge the constitutionality of the government’s individual mandate.

“Democrats experienced a backlash against ObamaCare at town hall events across the country a year ago, and despite clear opposition from the American people, they forced through their government takeover with backroom deals and midnight amendments.  Last night’s decisive vote against a key provision of ObamaCare, arguably the cornerstone of the Obama presidency, shows how completely detached the Democrat agenda is from the American electorate, and is another reason why Republicans will win back the majority in November.”

 ###

Republican National Committee | 310 First Street, SE | Washington, D.C. 20003
p: 202.863.8500 | f: 202.863.8820 | e: info@gop.com

Posted: August 4th, 2010 under From the Right, In Congress, In the States.
Comments: 1

 Senator McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) released a report that highlights 100 top projects from the stimulus package that they say have “questionable goals,” are “being mismanaged or were poorly planned” and are even “costing jobs and hurting small businesses.” Below are the top ten most wasteful released by McCain.

#1. $554,763 to replace windows at the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center at Mount St. Helens that was closed in 2007

#2. $760,000 to Georgia Tech to study improvised music

#3. $762,372 for interactive dance software development called “Dance Draw”

#4. $62 million for continued construction of the North Shore Connector in Pittsburgh, aka “tunnel to nowhere” – even Gov Rendell opposes it

#5. $1.2 million to convert an abandoned train station that was closed in 1971 into a museum

#6. $1.9 million to collect, photograph, and study difference species of ants in east Africa and the Southwest Indian Ocean islands

#7. $59,845 for a comparative study of the rise of colonial lawsuits in the Spanish Empire

#8. $529,648 to study the effect of local populations on the environment in the Himalayas

#9. $357,710 to repair stonework on a 140-year old abandoned iron furnace in Kentucky

#10. $89,298 for a town in OK to replace a new sidewalk with a newer sidewalk that leads to a ditch

Read the full Coburn – McCain Report Here.

Posted: August 3rd, 2010 under From the Right, In Congress, In the States.
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While appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Fox News Host and syndicated columnist Bill O’Reilly took on a usual foe in President Obama, this time taking the President to task for the failed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy and the discharge of Lt. Dan Choi.

“President Obama has the power to stop this ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ business. Just sign an executive order. So I don’t know why it’s taking so long….It’s not fair. We should stop this nonsense,” said O’Reily of the policy which prohibits open service by gay men and lesbians in America’s armed forces.

O’Reilly joins many conservative leaders who have come out against the policy, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary Bill Cohen, General David Petraeus, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and General John Shalikashvilli, also a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Posted: July 29th, 2010 under From the Right, In Focus, In the News.
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A Daily Caller piece by Log Cabin ally Ric Grenell published July 28, 2010

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice has been on the job for 18 months now, but she doesn’t have much to show for it.  Her record of accomplishments and performance on behalf of the American people is embarrassing.  While Rice has been active in the social scene of Washington and The White House, a study released by the uber-serious non-profit group Security Council Report suggests that the past year has been the most inactive Security Council since 1991.  Rice missed crucial negotiations on Iran’s continued enrichment of uranium, she failed to speak out when Iran was elected to the Commission on the Status of Women and three other UN Committees, she failed to call-out Libya when they were elected to the UN’s Human Rights Council, she recently delivered an Iran sanctions resolution with the least support Iran resolutions have ever had and she called her one and only press conference with the UN Secretary General on the issue of texting while driving.  For an administration that promised to utilize the UN and improve our reputation around the world, its dinner party circuit strategy isn’t making America more secure.

Much of the blame for the weakness belongs to Rice and her habitual silence.  Rice has not conducted the hard negotiations nor done the sometimes unpopular work of engaging the UN on the United States’ priority issues.  When Rice does attend UN negotiations, she is all too willing to avoid confrontation.  While other foreign Ambassadors speak fondly of Rice and the Obama Administration’s easy ways, they have been weak negotiators for the American people.

This lack of American leadership at the UN has resulted in the general Security Council inactivity spotlighted in the study by the Columbia University-affiliated group – Security Council Report.

The Report says:

“In 2009 the total number of Council decisions (resolutions and presidential statements) decreased by 26 percent from 2008. The number dropped from 113 to 83, the lowest level since 1991.

Resolutions dropped from 65 to 48 and presidential statements from 48 to 35.

This significant trend is also mirrored in a matching reduction in formal Council activity.  The number of formal Council meetings decreased by 20 percent, from 243 to 194.

The number of press statements, which is one indicator of Council decision making at the informal level, also decreased by 23 percent, from 47 to 36.”

While Rice launched her tenure at the UN with a glamour spread in Vogue Magazine by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz showing her kicking back in an empty Security Council Chamber, she seems to not enjoy the Chamber when it’s full of diplomats.  During the Haiti crisis, Rice was not only absent from the Security Council vote to expand the UN’s peacekeeping operation, but she also failed to call an emergency meeting in the immediate aftermath to request more help.  In fact, 7 days after the Haiti earthquake left tens of thousands of people in the streets without food or shelter, it was UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon that came to the Security Council to request more troops – the American Ambassador hadn’t bothered.

This article was first published in the Harvard Republian Alumni Network Journal.

Posted: July 28th, 2010 under From the Right, In Focus, In the World.
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