Ken Livingstone pats himself on the back in gay pride march

[afleitch]

This wasn't a gay rights parade, on the surface yes, but not deep down. This was a collective pat on the back by the left, congratulating themselves on paying their annual lip service to gay rights. At the same time they are busy building bridges with those who seek to take those rights away. (al-Qaradawi, Ken?)

And praise for Chavez?

'He also thanked a delegation attending from Venezuela and applauded the country’s president, Hugo Chávez’s record on gay rights, after criticism of him being a dictator, “If I had to choose between a defender of gay rights as a president, or the one in Washington who practices bigotry and intolerance, I know who I would vote for.'

No Ken. I wouldn't vote for the dictator. You might, but I guess I've came to expect that from you.

Communist nations in Europe were some of the first to decriminalise homosexuality, would it have been acceptable to have stood up in the 1960's as tanks rolled into Prague and applauded their gay 'rights' record? Would it hell.

Thank God Alan Duncan was there to maintain some sense.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ken Livingstone patting himself on the back or having hypocritical views is not exactly news

As far as actually running a city goes, he's not so bad.

[opebo]

The left certainly aught to pat themselves on the back for their courageous stand on homosexual rights.  Affleich, your enemy is not only the musselman but the christians and conservatives as well.

[Cubby]

Afleitch I don't know who Alan Duncan is but Ken Livingstone is cool cause he's a liberal, and to us Yanks you're either a Pat Robertson Republican or a Howard Dean Democrat. There is no middle ground, so why you choose to bash the side that supports gay rights is beyond me. 

Livingstone is doing exactly what one of my heroes, Republican Mayor Rudy Guiliani used to: On St. Patrick's Day, gays were banned from the parade but he'd march with the Police and others, and in June he'd march in the gay pride parade. They both have a lot of demographics to please so we can't expect them to side with just one.

And please tell me you don't like Bush more than Chavez because if you do that'll make me very sad.

[opebo]

...to us Yanks you're either a Pat Robertson Republican or a Howard Dean Democrat. There is no middle ground,

Great post overall, Pym, but I would like to clarify that Howard Dean is the middle ground - what america lacks is a Left, not a middle.

[Bono]

Afleitch I don't know who Alan Duncan is

Alan Duncan is a libertarian Tory MP for Rutland and Melton. And he's gay.
He's still one mf my favorites, if not my favorite, MP.
And how can you compare a crazed communist who now has more poverty in his country than Argentina had in the necession days with Bush is beyond me.

[afleitch]

There is no middle ground, so why you choose to bash the side that supports gay rights is beyond me. 

I am questioning why they support gay rights. Some genuinely do, but for some it appears to be nothing more than lip service, and they shut up about gay rights when theres Muslims to be appeased come election time!
As for Ken, he seems to contradict himself. His support for Qaradawi is disturbing (and by support I mean praising and feting the man who calls for the execution of homosexuals when he came to the UK, shortly after last years pride march)

I am pleased that in the US, far leftist groups have stayed true to genuine support for gay rights, but this is increasingly less so in the UK, particularly from those ass-wipes in Respect.

As for Chavez v Bush I dislike both of them intensely.