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Cabin Fever

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If there’s a group of people in America more obtuse than the Log Cabin Republicans, I’d love to see them.

The Log Cabin Republicans, a lobbying group for gay Republicans, are regrouping after an election proved a national consensus against gay marriage has broadened its legislative goals this year. The group is reaching out to conservative organizations and vowing to be a partner with the Bush administration.

[…]

“Now the election of 2004 is over,” said Christopher Barron, the Log Cabin Republicans’ political director. “And we think there are opportunities to work with this president. The fact is the gay and lesbian community has to realize that the president won.”

Seriously, what would it take for these guys to get the message? They’ve been treated like pariahs in their own party — that is, when they’re not being completely ignored. Then, after being ostracized and marginalized for the umpteenth campaign cycle in a row, the Log Cabin gang comes right back, asking for more punishment. It’s painful to watch.

Maybe the problem is one of memory. Perhaps the Log Cabin Republicans have forgotten some of the slights that have come their way. Here’s a quick reminder: the LGR asked Bush for tolerance on gay issues, right before he vowed to never “knowingly” hire a gay person for his administration. The LGR asked to begin a dialog with Bush, right before he refused to even talk the group, because, as Bush put it, he doesn’t “believe in group thought.”

The LGR condemned Rick Santorum as “the face of exclusion and intolerance,” right before the Senate Republican caucus promoted him. The LGR went all out to win any kind of concession during the skirmish over the 2004 Republican platform, right before the religious right rolled over them like a bug. The LGR said it could tolerate almost anything except a full-blown, anti-gay constitutional amendment, right up until Bush embraced the idea publicly a year ago.

And now the Log Cabin Republicans, once again, come back to the party, asking to be part of the team and vowing to “partner” with a presidential administration that has shown the group nothing but disdain. It’s as sad a spectacle as you’ll find in American politics.