SF Chronicle Outs Sens. McConnell & Graham as Gay?

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What are we to make of today's "Bad Reporter" comic strip by Don Asmussen in the San Francisco Chronicle satirizing suspected GOP, as in Gay Old Party, closet cases Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sen. Lindsey Graham?

The first panel shows the South Carolina politician's mug superimposed on a woman preparing a turkey for cooking under the words, "CNN: Your Aunt at Thanksgiving is Not Sen. Lindsey Graham".

The incoming U.S. Senate Majority Leader is shown in the third panel wearing a wig and necklace over a black shirt. The text reads, "Your Grammy at Thanksgiving is Not Mitch McConnell".

In the center panel U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama are featured and neither is feminized like the senators.

Has the Chronicle outed Graham and McConnell? To my queer mind, the answer is yes.

SF Chronicle's D8 Supervisor Forum on Sept 25th
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

(We got ahead of ourselves with the post a few days ago about the D8 incumbent waffling on joining this forum. Here's the post about the invitation from the paper.)

John Diaz is one of the top editors for the San Francisco Chronicle and today we received this invitation for him, which we quickly replied to and stated our willingness to participate in the democratic process with the paper:

"Hello Candidates:

"As part of its endorsement process, the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board is inviting District 8 candidates to a 1-hour forum at our offices, 901 Mission Street, on Thursday, Sept. 25, at 11 a.m.

"Each candidate will be allowed a 60-second opening statement, and then we will go with several rounds of questions, to be followed by a 60-second closing statement.

"We would appreciate your participation. Please RSVP via email to Jillian Sullivan of our staff, [addy deleted].

"John Diaz, editorial page editor

"P.S. We also will be sending you a questionnaire (12 question) by the end of this week. We intend to post your responses online for the benefit of voters."

We were especially pleased with those last four words: for the benefit voters.

San Francisco democracy will be tremendously enhanced with this forum and of huge value to District 8 voters. The #ILikeMikeSF team is pleased with this invitation, needless to say.

While the Chronicle's forum is not open to the public and, as far as we know won't be streamed on the web, it's still the only debate any entity in this town is organizing before the election.

In our response, we explained that a stay-away order is in place and Judge Sam Feng has modified exactly for purposes of such newspaper-sponsored group interviews and asked for a few details to present to the judge beforehand, at his request. The paper has agreed to provide us with those details (layout of the room, seating arrangement, etc) tomorrow.

Thank you, Chronicle editors, for this opportunity to bring all of the District 8 candidates together for the September 25th forum.

Wiener Waffles on SF Chron Endorsement Forum
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis
(Cross-posted at our campaign site.)

The San Francisco Chronicle on Aug. 28th called out Gov. Jerry Brown for long refusing then finally relenting to debate his GOP challenger Neel Kashkari, and issued a few grand pronouncements about democracy and incumbents (tinyurl.com/Chron-Democracy-Needs-Debates):

"Face-to-face debates between candidates are central to a healthy democracy. Politicians may want to avoid them - especially incumbents with big leads and hefty war chests - but voters deserve to see a side-by-side comparison between candidates who want to attain or retain key public offices. [...] Voters should be wary of candidates who are reluctant to subject themselves to real scrutiny."

On Monday, we accepted the Chronicle's invitation to participate in an editorial board forum scheduled for Sept. 25th with the District 8 Supervisor and all of his challengers, and we told the paper about a stay-away order that a judge has modified allowing for the incumbent to appear at debates with Michael. The Chronicle didn't keep its promise to provide us with layout and seating details by Tuesday, to present to the judge.

The Bay Area Reporter tonight notes the incumbent's stand on joining the Chronicle's forum (tinyurl.com/BAR-Wiener-Debates):

"Wiener has repeatedly said he will not participate in any forums that include Petrelis. But when asked this week by the B.A.R. if he would skip the Chronicle endorsement meeting should the judge allow Petrelis to attend, Wiener was noncommittal. 'It's too soon to say,' he said. 'The Chronicle is aware of the situation.'"

Yes, we agree with the Supervisor that the paper is aware of the sticky situation and may now be trying to wiggle out of the invitation to us and the editorial board forum, which is why the Chronicle has broken its promise to get back to us yesterday.

Could it be that the Chronicle was ignorant of their favorite Supervisor's adamant refusal to engage in the democratic process of debates with all of his electoral opponents?

Permit us to state we also concur with the paper's contention that voters should be skeptical of politicians unwilling to debate and be scrutinized. It will be very interesting, to say the least, to hear what the Chronicle has to say about the incumbent's reluctance to join a forum with Michael at the table.