Wind Song
05-02-2012, 05:19 PM
This came in my email from The American Prospect'
Mitt Romney accomplished a rare political feat when he hired Richard Grenell to serve as his foreign policy spokesman: He managed to provoke politicos of all ideological stripes. Liberals were up in arms over Grenell's impolitic tweets (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/22/richard-grenell-mitt-romney-online-attacks_n_1442726.html?ref=media) (more than 800 of which he has deleted) haranguing female politicians and journalists, among others. The press corps was equally disturbed, as reporters recalled stories of Grenell's ill temperament (http://www.villagevoice.com/2003-08-26/news/hacks-vs-flack/) during his time as a U.N. spokesperson. Yet it was a separate character trait that appears to have doomed Grenell by riling up social conservatives: He’s gay. The National Review disparaged Romney's appointment, with one writer suggesting (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/297106/who-richard-grenell-anyway-matthew-j-franck) that Grenell was "a man with questionable judgment" for supporting same-sex marriage. The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer said (http://www.afa.net/Blogs/BlogPost.aspx?id=2147520359) that "Romney stepped on a landmine by appointing Richard Grenell, an out, loud and proud homosexual."
This afternoon—less than two weeks after Grenell’s hiring—The Washington Post broke the news (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/exclusive-richard-grenell-hounded-from-romney-campaign-by-anti-gay-conservatives/2012/05/01/gIQAccGcuT_blog.html) that Grenell had resigned “in the wake of a full-court press by anti-gay conservatives.”
Mitt Romney accomplished a rare political feat when he hired Richard Grenell to serve as his foreign policy spokesman: He managed to provoke politicos of all ideological stripes. Liberals were up in arms over Grenell's impolitic tweets (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/22/richard-grenell-mitt-romney-online-attacks_n_1442726.html?ref=media) (more than 800 of which he has deleted) haranguing female politicians and journalists, among others. The press corps was equally disturbed, as reporters recalled stories of Grenell's ill temperament (http://www.villagevoice.com/2003-08-26/news/hacks-vs-flack/) during his time as a U.N. spokesperson. Yet it was a separate character trait that appears to have doomed Grenell by riling up social conservatives: He’s gay. The National Review disparaged Romney's appointment, with one writer suggesting (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/297106/who-richard-grenell-anyway-matthew-j-franck) that Grenell was "a man with questionable judgment" for supporting same-sex marriage. The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer said (http://www.afa.net/Blogs/BlogPost.aspx?id=2147520359) that "Romney stepped on a landmine by appointing Richard Grenell, an out, loud and proud homosexual."
This afternoon—less than two weeks after Grenell’s hiring—The Washington Post broke the news (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/exclusive-richard-grenell-hounded-from-romney-campaign-by-anti-gay-conservatives/2012/05/01/gIQAccGcuT_blog.html) that Grenell had resigned “in the wake of a full-court press by anti-gay conservatives.”