This really surprised us today.
Gayco is a local theater company here in Boystown, based in The Center on Halsted. It’s our favorite gay-oriented theater group in town, but 90% of its staff are Kool-Aid drinkers, so we’ve avoided their productions the last year because we didn’t want to pay to see Dr. Utopia propaganda pieces. Back in 2007, they did a show called iHole that was funny…which included a dig at Dr. Utopia for refusing to support LGBTQ rights in anything but lip service (and reminding the audience this was an Illinois politician who had never marched in a pride parade, and never did a damn thing for gays, despite all his eloquent speechifying).
But, after Dr. Utopia became the Democrats’ nominee, Gayco worshipped him as “The Lightbringer”, along with almost everyone else here in Boystown. So, we found other groups to support and let Gayco fall off our radar. In the interest of full disclosure, we also ended a friendship with one of the actors, because this guy couldn’t get over the fact that we were (and remain) Democrats for McCain. To this day, this guy will still come up to us when we run into each other on Halsted…we try to be nice to him, and don’t even bring up Dr. Utopia or politics, but he just lashes out at us: “I can’t believe you supported McCain! I can’t believe you wore McCain shirts and recruited volunteers for him! I can’t believe you went to McCain events! I can’t believe you liked Sarah Palin!”.
Uh, there’s no past tense to that last part, mister. And once this actor gets in our face, we tell him that we might not start something with him, but we damn well will FINISH IT if he starts it with us. So, without fail, encounters with him end with us: (1) telling him how much we are looking forward to working for the Palin 2012 campaign and raising money for SarahPAC and (2) asking him what, exactly, Dr. Utopia has done for the LGBTQ community, what promises he has kept, and how all that Hope! and Change! is working out for everyone.
And the guy just stares at us, mumbles something about “I’m not going to get into all that with you”, and then saying something hateful about Republicans in general. He never, ever is able to defend what Dr. Utopia has done in the White House. A few months ago, he used to say, “Well, he’s only been in office six months”…but sometime around July, he stopped doing that. ”He’s only been in office nine months!” is pretty weak, when babies are conceived and born in that time. If a whole new life, an actual person, could be created…then Dr. Utopia could have kept a damn promise or two and done something worthwhile.
So…imagine our surprise to see the advertisement above for Gayco’s new production: The Audacity of Nope…which appears to skewer Dr. Utopia for his lies to the LGBTQ community.
Not that this, or anything, will ever convince gays to abandon the Democratic party. Democrats are identity-voters. If you are gay, you are a Democrat. That is the way people in Boystown think.
We were STUNNED when Cleve Jones was in town a few weeks ago and actually called Boystown out on this — for those of you who don’t know, Cleve Jones was one of Harvey Milk’s inner circle (played by Emile Hirsch in the movie Milk), who later became a prominent LGBTQ activist, and who originated the AIDS memorial quilt. Jones spoke at several venues in Chicago, including the Victory Gardens Theater and at Sidetracks, and he repeatedly told anyone who would listen that gays are foolish to automatically vote Democrat…since Democrats have been screwing the LGBTQ community over for decades. “What has the Democractic Party ever done for you? What have they done for us? All they do is lie,” pretty much sums up Cleve Jones’ take.
Cleve Jones is no fan of Dr. Utopia.
It’s nice to see the Kool-Aid wearing off over at Gayco, too.
They really are tremendously talented, and very cool people. We like them alot and miss the friendship of the actor former friend of ours. But, we just can’t be around Dr. Utopia’s followers and have discussions about him without calling him out on his lies, deceptions, and downright fraud. And, for some reason, even though these people know how we feel, they insist on talking about Dr. Utopia with us…which always ends with them failing to find any substantive defense of his behavior…so they degenerate into hateful diatribes about how bad Republicans are and how bad we are, as gay men, for backing McCain and supporting Sarah Palin…when we should be “good little Democrats” who always toe the party line without question.
Not anymore.
Not ever again.
And the DNC has Howard Dean, Donna Brazile, May 31st 2008, and Dr. Utopia to thank for that.
Count us in for Opening Night of “The Audacity of Nope”…we’re intensely curious how harsh Gayco will be to “The Lightbringer”, any criticism much deserved.
September 8, 2009 at 11:30 pm
When I was getting my degree in Business, I took an independent study course, and part of the requirement was to meet with a mentor from the industry and learn about their experiences in business.
My mentor gave me one lesson which he stressed over and over and over again: MANAGE EXPECTATIONS.
If the client expects more but gets less, he will be unhappy. If the client expects less and gets more, he will be extremely happy.
Barack Obama failed to manage expectations because he has promised something he could not possibly deliver: “Hope” and “Change”.
These concepts are so nebulous and ethereal that the interpretation of them becomes completely subjective: to the factory worker struggling to make ends meet, “Hope & Change” might mean a better paying job… but to the radical environmentalist who already has a good job, “Hope & Change” might mean less industrial pollution. In practice, these two ideals are diametrically opposed, since carbon taxes will harm manufacturing most of all.
At the end of the day, when you try and pin the Obobbleheads down on what firm policies their fearless leader actually stands for, very little can be said.
Millions of people took the mantra of “Hope & Change” and turned it into their own little idea of Utopian perfection. Now there are millions of different expectations placed on Obama. Thanks to his failures to be specific, Dr. Utopia is falling victim to his own rhetoric.
By promising to be all things to everyone, he’ll end up satisfying no one.
September 8, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Well said and this is one reason that I think he is still in campaign mode. That’s all he knows how to do, since he can’t actually fulfill people’s expectations.
From: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/clinton-compare.html
ABC News’ Eloise Harper Reports: In a Nightline interview with ABC’s Cynthia McFadden, Sen. Hillary Clinton, when asked about the Barack Obama phenomenon, used a quote from Obama to describe her opponent. “I think the best description actually is in Barack’s own book” Clinton said, “where he said that he is a blank screen and people of widely different views project what they want to hear.” Clinton continued saying “he just hasn’t been around long enough.” Clinton continued saying “But with the blank screen it gives you a chance to just really infuse it with whatever you hope for, whatever you want without knowing.”
September 9, 2009 at 2:59 am
The first time I heard BO talk was Feb. 08. My first reaction was, “oh my gawd, he just threw his grandmother under the bus.”
My next reaction was, “he’s not saying anything. He’s talking in platitudes. No wonder Oprah likes him.”
Btw, I’m standing there talking to my tv screen; I’m so taken aback. I heard he was this great orator. Huh?
Finally, the news media all over were talking about the great speech, his depth, blah, blah, blah, etc.
My eyes popped out of my head and I shouted at my screen, “HE’S CHAUNCEY GARDNER COME TO LIFE!” I was absolutely stunned.
I’ve told this to several people throughout the months; go rent the movie “Being There” starring Peter Sellers and Shirley MacClain (sp?).
If you haven’t seen it you will understand who Chauncey Gardner is (aka Chance the gardner) and a real life version of Wag the Dog. It’s frightening.
September 9, 2009 at 2:12 pm
OMG! You’re right …. it’s “Being There” all over again, only they’ve added the race card to it.
September 9, 2009 at 11:57 am
Whaaat? You mean he’s NOT going to pay my mortgage and put gas in my car? Son of a …
September 9, 2009 at 12:37 pm
No Ginger.
But he’ll be glad to TAKE your mortgage money (for nothing in return – just like Tony Renzo took his South Side Chicago tenants rent money and gave them no heat all winter). And probably he’ld be happy to have his O-Boughts siphon all the gasoline out of your car’s gas tank.
September 9, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I wonder if Peggy has seen any of that “help” she said he’d give her.
September 9, 2009 at 12:32 pm
At the end of the day, when you try and pin the Obobbleheads down on what firm policies their fearless leader actually stands for, very little can be said.
http://www.amazon.com/Politicalwobbles-com-POB-Barack-Obama-Bobblehead/dp/B001PIFFEW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1252517340&sr=8-6
September 9, 2009 at 12:36 pm
By promising to be all things to everyone, he’ll end up satisfying no one.
Ah, except that he’s from the Dilbert School of Management: it isn’t what you’ve done that’s important, as much as what you say you’ve done, and what you plan to do in the future.
Like a good con, the payoff is just down the road a piece. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?
September 9, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Well that works to a certain extent, but when people expect to have their own personal lives changed dramatically, they know when that doesn’t happen.
The woman in that video, talking about the mortgage and gas etc., she’s going to realize that she’s still paying her own mortgage — probably struggling to pay — and still has to put her own gas in her car.
Now, she can choose to ignore that fact if she wishes – and she probably will, along with many others – but independent-minded people who chose Obama for what they considered to be rational reasons are eventually going to feel betrayed and abandon him.
You see it happening already… his “base” is becoming more and more angry, as evidenced by the posts over on the Kos about how Obama can’t expect them to come out to support him if he abandons progressive ideals.
To them, Obama’s mantra of Hope & Change meant progressive socialistic ideologies, maybe even borderline or full-on communism. Certainly at least social democracy.
At some point, people from all sides who voted for Obama will realize that the man is generally nothing more than a charlatan who basically doppleganged his way into office.
September 9, 2009 at 8:32 am
did you all see the interview with Steve Hildebrand? the gay, former Dr. U advisor who is now loudly speaking out against the white house? finally! it was on politico.com
September 9, 2009 at 8:54 am
Dear Hillbuzz: So few people in my “real” life understand about election 2008. They do not want to criticize the One and still do not get what happened last year to Hillary, the DNC, moderate democrats, and the scam that people call last year’s election. So I have to come daily to “meet” with people I have never actually “met” on web-sites like this to be able to talk about what really went on and to understand and be understood. So I am in the “understanding mode” when I read your article herein and you state that never again will you be a “good little democrat”, and you have the DNC and Howard Dean, Donna Brazille and May 31st and BO to thank for that”. I UNDERSTAND. I AGREE. AND THANK YOU!!! P.S. And since we are all Chicagoans it makes it especially nice to know there are people here in town who get it, understand it, lived it, etc. So thanks for this web-site. And again, THANK YOU!!!
September 9, 2009 at 10:09 am
Hillbuzz guys…I’m hoping you can give me some advice. I have a lot of gay friends…I work for Disney…nuff said. In any case, most of them are liberal (of course) but there are some (mostly the southern ones) that are fairly conservative in most parts of their lives. However, I have YET to meet a single one that likes Sarah Palin. In fact one just went on and on about what a trashy person she was, yada yada yada. One actually said something like “it’s like she has no more qualification than I do…and do you really want ME to be VP of the US?” My point is “why not?” We’ve had nothing but Ivey League brainiacs running the gov’t and Wall Street for how many years and where have we gotten? Of course, the subject goes back to her “lack of class” or some other silliness.
How do I convince them differently? I’m obviously not the most skilled orator (or writer), but other than posting things on my FB page, I’m not sure if there is anything I can do.
Suggestions?
September 9, 2009 at 10:20 am
G8rMom7,
There is no way to convince these people.
What you have to understand is that gay people by and large just vote Democrat because that’s how they think — there is no other option. We are taught that Dems are good and Republicans are evil. Gay men have a high propensity towards misogyny — and since it’s unacceptable to make fun of fellow Democrat women, they turn all that hate towards Republican women. You should hear the things that gay men say about Sarah Palin, Laura Bush, Condi Rice, Ann Coulter, and other Republican women. They openly talk about wanting to rape them, they talk about how they should be raped by animals, they talk about how nasty their vaginas and breasts must be. It’s beyond vulgar. There isn’t even a word for it.
A few weeks ago in one of our gay magazines here there was an article about how gay men make nasty comments about vaginas all the time — and it’s true. They say things like “gross” and “yuck” and talk about how disgusting women are anatomically. In fairness, lesbians we know do the same thing with penises. But, there’s a sense of that “yuck!” that comes out when we hear the hate directed towards Palin. This hatred of women exists on some plane for gay men…and we could go on for paragraphs getting into more detail with it…but the only time they feel really FREE to express it is against Republican women.
Democrat women are divas and put on pedestals. Madonna. Streisand. Hillary. Gay men like saying how much they love and support Dem women. But, Republican women are the Ursula the sea witch and the Evil Queen to the Dems’ Ariel and Snow White.
You can’t convince these guys otherwise….just like you can’t get them to see that just because they are gay it doesn’t mean they HAVE to vote Democrat.
By and large, the LGBTQ community is probably the second lowest information voting block there is, aside from blacks. Blacks vote Democrat, and will always vote for another black over a white person. That’s all they see. LGBTQ don’t race-vote like that, and they will vote for a straight person over a gay person, but they will only vote for a Democrat.
We don’t know how to change that.
September 9, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Sounds like the LGBTQ communities needs a collective colonoscopy.
September 9, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Perhaps a simple reminder that she can balance a budget, something Washington appears to be incapable of.
September 9, 2009 at 11:23 am
Camille Paglia weighs in.
September 9, 2009 at 11:26 am
Oops … forgot to paste the link. Sorry everyone.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/09/09/healthcare/
September 9, 2009 at 12:40 pm
And Camille is still in denial.
September 9, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Thanks Hillbuzz…I went to a reunion of old friends I used to work with over the weekend and because of the alcohol, a lot of the gay guys were more vocal than normal. It’s interesting what you say about the hatred towards women.
Totally unrelated to politics but one thing I noticed (and one of them confirmed it for me)…no matter if a man is gay or straight, they are facinated with woman’s boobs (maybe not va-jay jays) but definitely the boobs. I have a girlfriend who had gotten a boob job and well, they looked good. So may of the guys commented an not just in a “fashion or style” way…they were making sexual inuendos as well. Because of the context it was funny at the time, but when I mentioned it out loud how they loves the oobies, one of them chimed in “that’s true”.
Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming…I love this site!
September 9, 2009 at 2:26 pm
HB – You guys show that no matter who we are, we want the truth. It is not about the political party, the group, or whatever else. We want the truth!
September 9, 2009 at 3:25 pm
I am glad there is some reality slipping in Boystown, can’t wait to hear about the show.
September 9, 2009 at 10:33 pm
First of all, I love your blog!
And…I’ve said this before in the comments on this blog. Obama could care less about any “community” that does not fit in with his master plan. The LBGT community is just another “means to the end”. You had all better get smart and realize that you will be at the bottom of totum poll just like anyone else that does not conform to O’s idea…after all, you do live in Chicago!
I’m in the “fly-over” area of the US and I will be in the same boat as your community.
The only thing I can say is: GET SMART people!!!!
Keep up the fight and I hope the Clinton’s have the wherewithal to bring down this fool!