The Moose is amused by the righteous right's indignation over a friend taping a friend.
The Doug Wead taping of then Governor Bush has tripped-up the Moose. The moral hypocrisy of the right over the clandestine tapes is astounding even by their standards.
While Linda Tripp was the heroic darling of the right, Doug Wead has become the moral midget. It all depends on whose ox is being gored.
Who would have thought that these paragons of morality would succumb to moral relativism? Apparently, situational ethics in the pursuit of the Clintons is no vice.
But, that's not what got the Moose's goat this morning. The tapes reveal that W. is not personally an anti-gay bigot. The Moose emphasizes the word personally. President Bush is actually "pro-choice" on gay-bashing. He would not do it personally, but it is fine in the campaign context.
Consider the 2000 campaign when W. was asked whether he would meet with the gay Log Cabin Club. At the time, he was meeting with all Republicans who possessed a checking account.
But, this was his response to meeting with the gay GOP'ers,
"Well, because it creates a huge political scene, I mean, that this is all--I am someone who is a uniter, not a divider. I don't believe in group thought, pitting one group of people against another. And all that does is create kind of a huge political, you know, nightmare for people. I mean, it's as if an individual doesn't count, but the group that the individual belongs in is more important."
Say what?
During this controversy, the Moose received a call from the current candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia - righteous Ralph Reed (sorry, no tapes). Since McCain indicated that he would meet with the Log Cabin folks, Reed told the Moose that he would orchestrate a phone call campaign on this topic against the Senator, if necessary.
Well, sure enough, a vicious under the radar slime campaign was launched against McCain in the South Carolina primary. Josh Marshall ably chronicled this episode in the American Prospect.
Why rehash this ancient history - to make the point that W. is certainly not a bigot - it's just that slimy politics comes in handy when he gets into a tight spot. -- | 
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