The Problem With Bill

Tucker Carlson (MSNBC) called the performance "cringe-worthy."

Alison Stewart (MSNBC) said it was "cringe-tastic."

Jonathan Capehart (Washington Post) said it was like, "...watching someone drown in the shallow end of the pool and than refuse a life preserver." He added, "I watched that big guy shrink in his chair as he answered the questions."

The audience groaned.

I was cringing and groaning at my TV set at home.

I'm talking about Governor (and Presidential hopeful) Bill Richardson's performance on LOGO TV 's Visible Vote ‘08 Presidential Forum Thursday evening.

First, some background. If you're not familiar with LOGO, it's a LGBT oriented cable channel and this was billed as the first Presidential forum on gay issues. Each candidate who agreed to appear got 15 minutes on their own from a panel of questioners which included the aforementioned Jonathan Capehart, journalist Margaret Carlson, singer/activist Melissa Etheridge and the Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese. The candidates appeared in the following order: Barack Obama, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton (Dodd and Biden had scheduling problems). Naturally, no Republicans agreed to appear in a separate forum.

So what was so wrong with Richardson's performance?

In a word: everything.

Let me state up front that while I don't have a favorite candidate yet, I really liked Bill Richardson and have stated that on this blog before. I also kept saying back in 2004 that Kerry should have picked him for his running mate.

Here's a sample of Richardson's sorry performance:

MS. ETHERIDGE: Thank you. Do you think homosexuality is a choice, or is it biological?

GOV. RICHARDSON: It's a choice. It's --

MS. ETHERIDGE: I don't know if you
understand the question. (Soft laughter.) Do you think I -- a homosexual is born that way, or do you think that around seventh grade we go, "Ooh, I want to be gay"?

GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, I -- I'm not a scientist. It's -- you know, I don't see
this as an issue of science or definition. I see gays and lesbians as people as a matter of human decency. I see it as a matter of love and companionship and people loving each other. You know I don't like to categorize people. I don't like to, like, answer definitions like that that, you know, perhaps are grounded in science or something else that I don't understand.

It's not just that the content is bad, it's like he wasn't even prepared for the question -- at an LGBT forum! After the broadcast, he released a statement saying, "I do not believe that sexual orientation or gender identity happen by choice." Then he repeated that he wasn't a scientist.

[sigh]

But it didn't stop there.

While he said he was for civil unions because that was achievable and he's a guy who gets things done, when Joe Solmonese asked him if he would sign a gay marriage bill if it was presented to him by the New Mexico legislature, he just wouldn't answer the question directly no matter how many times it was put to him.

And then they brought up something that I hadn't heard before. Bill Richardson had used the word "maricón" on the Imus show. For those of you, who unlike me, haven't lived in NYC for 15 years that word is Spanish for "faggot."

GayNewsWatch.com describes the Imus incident:

Almost exactly one year before Imus was to lose his show for using a slur to describe the Rutger’s women’s basketball team, the shock jock used the Spanish word “maricón” in an on-air exchange with Richardson.

“Bernard on the staff here has been claiming you’re not really Hispanic so-- that you're just claiming that for some sort of advantage or something,” Imus said to Richardson, tongue clearly in cheek. “You can just answer this yes or no and this will answer that question. Would you agree that Bernard is a maricón?”

Without missing a beat, Richardson replied in Spanish, “Yo creo que Bernardo, sí — es un maricón si él piensa que yo no soy hispano. [General laughter] Was that good enough or what? [General laughter]”

“That’s good enough for me,” Imus replied.

Most gay Latinos interviewed for this story agreed with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation that the word “maricón” means “faggot” in Spanish. So, translated to English, Richardson had replied: "I believe that Bernard, yes – he’s a faggot if he thinks that I am not Hispanic."

By the time Richardson left the forum stage, my support for him had entirely shriveled up and gone the way of the wind.

[sigh]

You can see Bill R opine on "choice" here (it's about two and a half minutes in):


You can read Pam of Pam's House Blend's wrap up here (she does have a link to good things that Richardson has done for the LGBT Community) and Sue of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents weighs in here.

You can also view clips of the entire forum at LOGO's website here and the forum will be rebroadcast Monday at 7:00 PM ET.
.