A few friends have already commented on this one, but it’s so amusing, I can’t resist.
About a week ago, Republican Party leaders in Jefferson County, Kentucky, gathered to choose delegates to the Republican National Convention. It didn’t go well.
As the Louisville Courier-Journal explained, two Jefferson County GOP activists — John Lawlor and Peter Hayes — were competing for leadership posts. Things got a little heated, the two had “words,” and now one of them has sworn out a warrant against the other, charging him with assault.
Lawlor is a so-called ex-gay. That is, he acknowledges that he was “gay at one time,” but insists that he no longer is. Hayes, meanwhile, is a member of Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church. Apparently, each knew how to push each other’s buttons.
Lawlor said Hayes approached him and asked whether he was having a sexual relationship with another male Republican. “He knew my history and he was trying to provoke me,” Lawlor said.
Lawlor said he “was gay at one time and he (Hayes) knew that.” Lawlor said he is no longer gay.
Hayes said he merely asked why Lawlor had opposed Hayes as a delegate and sided with another faction of the Republican Party. He said he made no sexual references.
Lawlor said the two then began talking about Hayes’ religion.
Hayes belongs to the Unification Church, founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
Both men said Lawlor then called Hayes a “Moonie.”
Things, apparently, got a little physical.
Lawlor said that is when Hayes “bopped me” in his left arm. It caused a bruise and left his arm sore for several days, Lawlor said.
Hayes, however, said he only tried to grab Lawlor’s arm to get his attention.
Hayes said: “I asked him how come you didn’t do the right thing, and he said, `It’s because you’re a Moonie and I don’t want to work with you.’ Then, he started saying, ‘Moonie, Moonie, Moonie, Moonie, Moonie.'”
Lawlor recalled saying only “Moonie, Moonie, Moonie.”
If only the ex-gay and Moonie factions of the Republican Party could resolve their differences…