Former McCain Campaign Manager Steve Schmidt Endorses Marriage Equality

The avalanche of prominent Republicans endorsing marriage equality continues today as former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt jumps on the bandwagon. Schmidt is now listed as a co-sponsor of Ken Mehlman's AFER fundraiser.

"There is a strong conservative case to be made in favor of gay marriage," former McCain campaign manager and fellow same-sex marriage fundraiser Steve Schmidt told the Huffington Post on Tuesday. "Marriage is an institution that strengthens and stabilizes society. It is an institution that has the capacity to bring profound joy and happiness to people and it is a matter of equality and keeping faith of one of the charters of the nation, the right to live your life. "More and more conservatives are saying that opposition to gay marriage would not be a litmus test for membership in the GOP," Schmidt added. "And more conservatives are making the case that no more do you want big government conservatives in the bedroom than big government liberals telling you how to live your life."

Towleroad notes that in 2005 Schmidt attacked Mike Rogers as a "bottom feeder" for claiming that Mehlman is gay.

VERY FUCKING RELATED: John McCain's current campaign manager, Mark Buse, is an openly gay man working to elect one of the most powerful enemies of his LGBT brothers and sisters. As reminder, McCain voted YES on DOMA, NO on hate crimes, NO on ENDA, supported Prop 8, and expressed opposition to gay adoption. And of course, war hero McCain opposes the DADT compromise repeal. When is Quisling Mark Buse going to join his predecessor Steve Schmidt and come out for LGBT rights?

McCain Opposes DADT Deal, MSM Ignores Quisling Campaign Manager Mark Buse

John McCain has blasted the proposed compromise deal on DADT, which the media is widely reporting today. But going unmentioned remains the fact the McCain's Senate campaign is being run by openly gay Quisling, Mark Buse.

"This 'Don't ask, don't tell' issue, they're going to try to jam that through without even trying to figure out what the impact on battle effectiveness would be," McCain said on Arizona's KBLU radio. "We have to be careful to make any changes to it, because we're in two wars," McCain said. The Arizona Republican, who's fending off a conservative primary challenger in his reelection bid, also asserted that the push forward with this deal is driven by fears that Democrats might lose the votes to repeal the policy in this fall's elections. "One of the reasons they're trying to jam it through is that they think that after the November elections, they may not have the votes," he said.

Why isn't the media interested in what MARK BUSE has to say about DADT? Surely an openly gay man running the campaign of an openly anti-gay candidate provides an interesting angle, wouldn't you think?

ARIZONA: John McCain Hires Gay Man As Senate Campaign Manager

You may recall that during the 2008 presidential campaign, Mike Rogers and Michelangelo Signorile outed John McCain's Senate chief of staff Mark Buse, seen here in a photo provided to me at that time by a reader. Yesterday McCain named Buse as his new Senate campaign manager.

Mark Buse is McCain's new campaign manager. Buse is a veteran McCain aide who got his start in the 1980s as an intern in McCain's House office. More recently, he was McCain's Senate chief of staff. Buse replaces Shiree Verdone, who recently departed as part of a staff shake-up. Grant Woods, a former Arizona attorney general and another longtime McCain ally, has officially joined the campaign as a senior adviser.

Yesterday McCain was interviewed about DADT by the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, where he again stated his opposition to the immediate repeal of DADT, saying:

"The people that I talk to and know, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, have both come out strongly against the repeal, and certainly even more strongly against a process that would preemptively address an issue which, could, could, I emphasize could – we haven’t done the study – could adversely affect the morale and battle effectiveness of the United States military, the by far and head and shoulders above and better than any other in the world today."

And now we have a gay man running the campaign of a politician who has opposed federal LGBT rights at every turn, admittedly with a softer voice than most, couching most of his objections in murky language about "states rights." McCain voted YES on DOMA, NO on hates crimes protections, and NO on ENDA. He's stated opposition to gay adoption and he supported Prop 8. And let's not forget his loud endorsement of Arizona's racist immigration law.

Once again, the assault on the LGBT community is being aided and abetted by one of our own. Today that person's name is Mark Buse.

Ehrenstein On Buse

Writer David Ehrenstein has published a piece in the LA Weekly about the John McCain's gay chief of staff Mark Buse, Manhunt, and gay Republicans. Ehrenstein, a regular JMG participant, interviewed Log Cabin's Patrick Sammon, Michelangelo Signorile, Mike Rogers, and me. The article begins:

“If an outing happens in the forest and no one hears it, is it an outing?” wonders gay activist Mike Rogers. It’s a question that he and outing pioneer Michelangelo Signorile have been asking since September 22, when they outed Mark Buse, longtime Senate chief of staff to Republican presidential candidate John McCain. With the economy tanking, Sarah Palin on the attack, Lindsay Lohan “going lesbian” and Clay Aiken making the cover of People the day after the Buse revelation, you may not have heard about it. If you heard of Buse at all, it was likely for the $460,000 in lobbying fees he earned in 2003 and 2004 from troubled loan giant Freddie Mac (not to be confused with the more than $2 million McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, received over the years for work he and his lobbying firm did for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as recently as August). On political Web sites ranging from Daily Kos, Eschaton and Firedoglake all the way to the gay-centered Towleroad, JoeMyGod and Pam’s House Blend, Buse has been Topic A — especially afterSignorile provided on-the-record quotes from an ex-lover of Buse’s, Brian Davis. Rogers even went to Buse’s Washington office to personally deliver the latest Roy Cohn Award for most harm done to the gay community by a gay man.

“Did the gay readers of my blog go, ‘Oh, my God, I live in D.C. and I can’t believe he’s gay’” Rogers asks. “No. But One News Now, an online news service that’s about as right wing as you can get, was quite upset, and they’re hardly the only ones.”

Read the rest.

Fundie Leader Complains About Mark Buse AND Sarah Palin

While the economy mess has made the MSM too busy to pay much notice to the revelation that John McCain has a gay chief of staff, notorious homophobe Bishop Harry Jackson has taken interest. Jackson is the pastor of Hope Christian Church in Maryland and is on the board of the National Association of Evangelicals. Jackson on the Mark Buse revelation:

"The pro-gay, anti-church groups see themselves in a death-lock in a war -- and they hope to create a sense of disunity among Christians around [the question] 'can we really trust McCain?'" According to Jackson, the announced "outing" of Buse is a calculated political move. "I think this attack has come at this moment because of the issues of marriage amendments in these states and the issue of a pro-family agenda," the pastor suggests. "And I wish [McCain] was more engaged positively, because he's getting the negative attack no matter what."

On Friday Jackson appeared on Michelangelo Signorile's show on Sirius XM to complain that the Buse revelation should have McCain more forcefully defending "traditional" marriage so people don't think he's soft on gay issues. (Who could think THAT?) But Jackson also admitted that the right is fighting a losing battle, at least on civil unions.

"My concern about John McCain stepping up and being articulate about the marriage amendments is more about protecting the definition of marriage as one man and one woman as cultural guardrails...The reason I say I will work with civil unions, etc. -- that may not have been my original position, but I think it's a reality. We have had laws in New Jersey, all over the country. The reality is gay civil unions are going to be the law of the land all over the country...You may call it movement [on my part.] I call myself a realist...I think this would be a split issue [on the Christian right], a lot of people would disagree with me. But I think we're embroiled in a battle that's unfolding."

Jackson then complains that Sarah Palin was "wishy-washy" on gay marriage during her debate.

"A lot of folks were upset that she didn't say there is a marriage amendment on the ballot in Florida, California and Arizona...She missed an opportunity to say 'I'm for marriage'...She could have defined that thing clearly and she would have a lot more people enthusiastic about her campaign. There have been people [grumbling]...I do think she seemed a little wishy-washy and unclear on the marriage issue. She left making it sound like she and Mccain and Biden and Obama were exactly the same and they're not."

Whee! In-fighting amongst the fundies! Listen to Jackson's interview on Signorile's site.

Mark Buse Worked For Freddie Mac

I totally missed it when I was looking at the list of his lobbying clients, but the Washington Post and others are reporting that openly gay McCain chief of staff Mark Buse once worked for Freddie Mac as a lobbyist.

When mortgage giant Freddie Mac feared several years ago that Sen. John McCain was too outspoken on the issue of executive pay, it pinpointed a lobbyist known for his closeness to McCain and hired him to work with the senator.

Mark Buse, a longtime McCain adviser who had been staff director of the Senate commerce committee, signed on as a Freddie Mac lobbyist, and his firm, ML Strategies, earned $460,000 in lobbying fees in late 2003 and 2004, according to lobbying disclosures. Buse is now chief of staff at McCain's Senate office.

Buse was one of many strategic hires made by Freddie Mac in its efforts to sew up support and manage opponents on Capitol Hill, a push that peaked in 2004 with the retention of 34 outside lobbying firms. Over the past decade, Freddie spent more than $95 million on lobbying, while its sister company, Fannie Mae, spent more than $79 million.

The story of how Buse came to get involved is emblematic of the interconnections among Fannie, Freddie and the lawmakers whose support was critical for their business.

McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said the hiring of Buse did not influence McCain. "I think the reality is that John McCain takes positions, you know, based on what he believes is in the public interest, period," Rogers said. "If these folks thought they were getting something out of John McCain . . . it's not based in fact."

Buse was providing Freddie Mac "with advice on how to deal with issues of concern to them, you know, both in the commerce committee and in the Senate at large," Rogers said. Through the McCain spokesman, Buse declined to comment.

Freddie Mac's interest in Buse dates back to mid-2003. That May, McCain presided over a hearing on executive pay at which he condemned "a disconnect between CEO pay and performance at many of America's corporations" and said that "these kinds of excesses are making a lot of Americans angry."

[snip]

"Senator McCain was talking about limiting executive compensation, and Buse was retained to nip that in the bud," said a former lobbyist who insisted on anonymity because of continuing relationships with the companies.

The commerce committee, which McCain chaired, considered taking up legislation to address Fannie and Freddie in 2003 but refrained from doing so because it lacked jurisdiction, Rogers said.

McCain continued to talk about the compensation issue. But inside Freddie Mac, Buse's effort was viewed as "hugely successful," a former Freddie Mac lobbyist said. "The statements didn't go away completely, but in terms of Senator McCain doing anything about it, it just never materialized. As far as I know, Buse was the only person working that issue for Fannie or Freddie, so he got a lot of credit internally for the results."

As a Freddie Mac lobbyist, Buse participated in a meeting on executive compensation with aides to members of the commerce committee, said sources informed about the matter who insisted on anonymity to avoid professional repercussions. Freddie Mac spokeswoman Sharon McHale said she was unable to get any information on Buse's relationship with the company.

McCain campaign spokesman Rogers said Buse "met with, obviously, a variety of staff." He said Buse never spoke with McCain about Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or executive compensation.

McCain co-sponsored a bill to overhaul regulation of Fannie and Freddie in September 2003 and again in 2006. "He helped sound the alarm on the risk that Fannie and Freddie posed to the taxpayers unless they were reformed," Rogers said. McCain also advocated requiring companies to count stock option awards as expenses, a move opposed by many corporations because it could depress their earnings and make options less plentiful.

The lobbying reports filed by Buse's firm say his work for Freddie Mac involved "general issues affecting the mortgage industry." The forms listed four other ML Strategies employees as lobbyists for Freddie Mac, but a spokeswoman for the firm, Gina P. Addis, referred questions about their work to Buse.

Buse was nicknamed "The Ferret" because he helped his boss, McCain, find pork-barrel provisions buried in legislation. McCain has said he considered Buse to be like a son.

Buse left the commerce committee staff to lobby, signing on clients as diverse as oil giant Exxon Mobil, Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, according to the government records. He also represented telecommunications clients affected by the committee.

Buse returned to McCain's office this year as chief of staff. Davis, the McCain campaign manager, last week defended his long association with the Homeownership Alliance, saying he served as "the public face of an organization that promoted homeownership." But people who worked for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Homeownership Alliance said the group's central mission was promoting Fannie and Freddie.

I could kick myself for missing Freddie Mac on that list.

McCain Speaks To Washington Blade

John McCain has responded to a list of LGBT-related questions submitted by the Washington Blade. In his responses, McCain speaks fondly of such noted gay figures as former Rep. Jim Kolby (R-AZ), lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, and Mark Bingham, at whose funeral McCain spoke.

Unfortunately, the submitted questions do not mention McCain chief of staff Mark Buse, but McCain says this about potentially naming an openly gay person to the Supreme Court or other prominent positions: "I have always hired the most qualified and competent people — regardless of their political party, race, gender, religion or sexual orientation."

On whether he'd appoint a SCOTUS judge with a history of anti-gay rulings: "I will nominate judges who interpret the Constitution, not judges who legislate from the bench. Legislators pass laws; judges interpret them. Unfortunately, too many judges have become confused [about] their role."

Below are some of his other responses on critical gay issues. There are no surprises.

DADT: "I promise to give full consideration to any legislation that reaches my desk. On “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” I’m going to defer to our military commanders. So far they have told me it’s working. I’m willing to have the policy reviewed to make sure that’s the case, but at the end of the day, I’m going to rely on the commanders who will be impacted by a change in the law."

ADOPTION: "I respect the hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian people who are doing their best to raise the children they have adopted. As someone who adopted a child, Cindy and I know better than most couples the amazing satisfaction that comes from providing love to an unwanted child. I believe a child is best raised by a mother and father because of the unique contributions that they make together to the development of a child. At the end of the day, this isn’t an issue the president deals with. I’m a federalist, and this is an issue reserved to the states in our system of government."

Log Cabin Republicans: "I appreciate Log Cabin’s support. I’ve had a friendly relationship with the organization for almost 15 years. We don’t agree on every issue, but I respect their commitment to the GOP and I thank them for their support. Our party needs to focus on what unites us and I appreciate Log Cabin’s effort to make the GOP more inclusive. I have always been willing to discuss the important issues of the day with Log Cabin members and that will continue if I am elected. This is going to be a close election and we need support from every American. I hope gay and lesbian Americans will give full consideration to supporting me. The stakes are high in this election. I will have an inclusive administration and I will be a president for all Americans."

DOMA: "As a Republican, I am a strong advocate for federalism. States should be able to decide as many issues as possible. That’s certainly the case on the definition of marriage. My home state of Arizona shouldn’t be compelled to recognize a marriage from California or Massachusetts. Those states can decide that issue by themselves. However, at the same time, my own view is that marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman. That’s what I supported in Arizona. I realize this is a controversial issue and we must conduct this debate in a way that respects the dignity of every person."

Federal Marriage Amendment: "I voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006. I continue to oppose such an amendment today, because as I’ve explained this should be a state matter, and not one for the federal government — as long as no state is forced to adopt some other state’s standard."

Proposition 8: "As I did in my home state of Arizona, I support the effort in California to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. However, the people of California will ultimately decide this issue, and I’ll of course respect the decision of the voters."

ENDA: "Gay and lesbian people should not face discrimination in the workplace. I’ve always practiced that in my hiring. I select the best people, regardless of their sexual orientation. I support the concept of non-discrimination in hiring for gay and lesbian people. However, we need to make sure legislation doesn’t lead to a flood of frivolous lawsuits or infringe on religious institutions. What I can say now is I will give careful consideration to any legislation that reaches my desk, and confer with Congress before making decisions."

Matthew Shepard Act: "I have voted against the proposal several times. Let me make it clear that no one should face violence because of who they are. It’s un-American and morally repugnant. People who commit any violent crime should face tough penalties. However, I am not convinced that this is properly a federal issue, or that criminal sentences for terrible crimes should be longer because of the views of the perpetrator or the identity of the victim."

Read the entirety of the Washington Blade's interview.

The Case Against Mark Buse

Over at BlogActive, one of Mike Roger's readers has laid out the case for exposing John McCain's hypocrisy in employing chief of staff Mark Buse.

LCR Cries Foul On Mark Buse

Log Cabin's Scott Tucker is crying wah-wah-wah because the evil lefty gay bloggers have been talking about McCain's chief of Quislings, Mark Buse.

Mark Buse has been openly gay for years and has acknowledged as much. So the notion that he has been “outed” is simply false. But secondly–and this is the bigger point–this political stunt by Mike Rogers just proves what Log Cabin has been saying for years. John McCain is an inclusive Republican who hires the best people, regardless of sexual orientation.

Also, can we please stop childishly lobbing the “homophobic” insult at Republicans who don’t agree with us on every issue? Rogers and his crowd keep saying McCain is “homophobic” or “anti-gay.” Words mean things. Calling John McCain homophobic doesn’t make it so. The truth is, Sen. John McCain is anything but homophobic. This is a man who has a record of hiring gay staff members–as evidenced by this recent “bombshell.”

Pam Spaulding responds:

Then what is the "personal destruction" you are talking about? If Buse is out, then discussing the fact that Mark Buse is gay shouldn't be of any consequence -- unless there is something wrong with being out of the closet to the Republican base.

Isn't that the real problem here? If John McCain is personally inclusive, why can he not be so as a candidate? McCain might consider Buse a family friend and not fire him for being gay, but what about the young gay person working at a DQ with an anti-gay boss -- he has no protections from getting axed if that boss learns of his employee's orientation. It's not inclusion when it only means the people in your inner circle.

Homophobia ("irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals") -- well, McCain's clearly not afraid of the homos. He's certainly willing to institutionalize discrimination of teh gayz, so what part of that "meaning" is misunderstood?

Even cutting Scott Tucker some undeserved slack -- what are you supposed to call someone who believe in tolerance on a one-to-one basis, but campaigns in support of anti-gay state marriage amendments, the continuation of DADT ("open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion, and discipline."), hate crimes expansion, ENDA, etc.? A professional anti-gay personal homosexualist? Is that more accurate? Or perhaps...um, a hypocrite?

This is why this story is newsworthy. The apparent fealty to the fringe anti-gay right by the McCain campaign -- from the opposition to basic LGBT rights to the selection of the real-deal fundie Palin -- does not project anything remotely resembling inclusion on our issues from my POV. It would be illuminating for the mainstream media to take a look at the public positions and personal practices of the Republican party generally, and specifically the McCain/Palin ticket to clear up any misconceptions people have -- both the "gay left" and the social conservatives on the right -- about where they truly stand.

Would the Log Cabin organization support some clarifying reporting on the matter?

From Daily Kos:

Who is the bigger hypocrite here?

Mark Buse, an openly gay man who is spending his life helping John McCain block important gay civil rights issues like marriage and adoption?

Or John McCain, who obviously has no problem with gay folks, but has adopted an anti-gay platform out of political expediency and a desire to court people like Sarah Palin, who think that if they just hate enough, they'll be Raptured into the love of Jesus when the End Times come.

Mark Buse: McCain's Lobbyist Insider

It certainly didn't turn out to be the biggest story of his day, but yesterday PBS ran an interview with John McCain's gay chief of staff Mark Buse. From the transcript:

JUDY WOODRUFF: Just to recap quickly the evolution of your time working for him [John McCain]. You started in 1984 as an intern when he was a member of the House?

MARK BUSE: Senate Chief of Staff to John McCain: House. Freshman in the House.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And what over time what have your jobs been?

MARK BUSE: Started as an intern, worked in the mailroom, answered the phones, legislative correspondent, legislative assistant -- anything that he wanted you to do, I did. You know, sort of just plugged away in the trenches for year after year. And that's sort of the way that he runs things. You know, just, if you are willing to work for him and stick around, he believe in that sort Navy mentality of you work your way up in the ranks.

Well, not exactly "up from the ranks." What Buse fails to mention to PBS is that he left McCain's employ in 1993, returning to Congress in 1997 as the Staff Director for the powerful McCain-chaired Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, a job he held until 2001.

Then from 2002 until earlier this year, Buse worked as a registered lobbyist for UPS, ExxonMobil, Goldman Sachs, AT&T, Cablevision, and various other travel, communications, biomed, pharmaceutical and technologies concerns - all companies with important legislation before McCain's committee. Ain't it neat how Washington works? After six years of being literally in the pocket of companies that were greasing the wheels of McCain's committee, Buse comes right back over. Via Slate from February:

The Times reports that the enemy of special interests, money in politics, earmarks, and lobbyists has staffed his presidential campaign with lobbyists and recently hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office. That particular lobbyist, Mark Buse, the paper reports, came to McCain's staff through the revolving door. Before he was a telecommunication industry lobbyist, Buse was the director of McCain's commerce committee staff.

When critics question McCain's integrity, his allies, such as McCain adviser and lobbyist Charles Black, say the man is beyond reproach. "Unless he gives you special treatment or takes legislative action against his own views, I don't think his personal and social relationships matter," Black told the Times.

This, of course, is hooey. What the lobbyist craves above all is access, and anything that provides that edge is coveted. In many cases, both lobbyists and their clients know the mission to change the mind of a member of Congress is hopeless. Often the point of the exercise is to be seen and heard by the member. If the lobbyist does not carry the day with the member, the client counts on the "relationship" to pay off in the next visit or the visit after that or the visit after that.

Getting inside the "red zone," to steal a metaphor from Washington Post reporter Jeffrey H. Birnbaum's feature about the tourism industry's recent lobbying efforts, is almost as good as a touchdown. Corruption, if that's the right word for it, arrives on the installment plan as a lobbyist moves closer and closer to a member.

All this stuff is well known, but I just find it amusing that Buse is now spinning his work history as an "up from the ranks" hard work ethic success, when really he's just another slimy lobbyist working both sides of the McCain fence. (And Manhunt.)

OUTED! McCain Chief Of Staff Mark Buse

In what they are calling a "hypocrisy bombshell", today SiriusXM radio host Michelangelo Signorile and DC-based LGBT activist Mike Rogers jointly revealed that Mark Buse, John McCain's chief of staff, is a gay man.

From a story just posted on Signorile's blog:

Over the past month I’ve been contacted by three different individuals (two of them members of the Log Cabin Republicans) claiming that McCain’s Senate chief of state, Mark Buse, is gay. None of these individuals would be quoted by name, though each described Buse as being rather “open” to those around him and to his family – in a “glass closet” rather than deeply undercover or trying to appear heterosexual.

Then I was contacted in recent weeks by 46-year-old Brian Davis, an Arizona resident, who told me about his intimate relationship with Mark Buse (confirmed by his mother, as well as by a long-time friend), and who decided he needed to tell the truth about Buse, on the record, in light of John McCain’s dramatic shift to the ideological religious right in this election and his choice of Sarah Palin, starlet of the evangelical movement, as a running mate. (Repeated calls to Mark Buse's office and calls and email to McCain's communications office in the Senate regarding this story were unreturned. Mike Rogers, the blogger and activist who revealed the truth about Senator Larry Craig and others in politics, today reports this same reality about Mark Buse that I report here, with separate, independent sourcing.)

Signorile has posted an old video clip taken by Buse's ex-boyfriend at their apartment in 2000.

Signorile:

John McCain is opposed to every single gay rights measure of recent years –- from a hate crimes bill, to an anti-discrimination bill to an attempt to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military –- and is publicly on record supporting a ballot measure in California this November to strip gays and lesbians there of their legally-won right to marry in that state. If that isn’t enough to make it relevant to report on his 20-year-relationship with a close aide and chief of staff who is gay, the fact that Sarah Palin is now on the ticket -- garnering support for McCain from previously reticent antigay leaders like James Dobson of Focus on the Family –- surely does.

Mark Buse, after all, is a public figure in his own right. His role as chief of staff to a man running for president has elevated him and certainly his controversial former role as a prominent lobbyist has brought media scrutiny to him. And he is running the Senate office of a 72-year-old presidential candidate who has had recurrent cancer and who might well usher into the White House as president a woman who, by what evidence we have, has melded her politics with her evangelical religious beliefs.

On Friday, Mike Rogers went to Buse's office to present him with the Roy Cohn Award.

Mark Buse is not just a Chief of Staff for a homophobic United States Senator, but he is helping that Senator get elected to the White House.

Does Mark Buse fit the Barney Frank rule? Without a doubt. While McCain voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, he supports amending state constitutions defining marriage as between a man and a woman. McCain knows our country needs everyone who wants to serve in the military and he knows that DADT is wrong, yet he swings to the right on repealing it.

Worst of all, and a demonstration of his inability to act rationally and with the country's best interests at heart, he picked someone who, if she becomes president (very likely), will be the most homophobic in American history.

With that in mind, and after confirming the information with two other sources, I decided it was time to present Buse the Roy Cohn Award for working against the interests of the lesbian and gay community while living as a gay man.

Go watch the video of Rogers attempting to deliver the award at Buse's office. Buse did not appear.

Mike Rogers:

Does the McCain campaign truly support LGBT Americans? Let's see when the American Family Association weights in. TAKE ACTION and CALL THE AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION and THANK THEM FOR SUPPORTING JOHN MCCAIN even though he has gay Americans in high places on his staff, including his Chief of Staff. You can reach the AFA at 1-800-A-FAMILY (1-800-232-6459)! Call and thank them today.

Oh, this is going to be FUN. But also, UGH. We've got another scumbag traitorous Quisling self-hating homo KAPO working to beat down his fellow queers.

UPDATE: If anybody can find a better picture of Buse, please send it to me. For a guy with such a high profile job, he's done an amazing job of keeping his face out of the news. Thanks very much to the JMG reader who provided the above photo.

UPDATE II: This story is exploding on Daily Kos.

If John McCain keeps this guy on as his chief of staff, does Sarah Palin still get to be raptured?

Honestly.

Who is the bigger hypocrite here?

Mark Buse, an openly gay man who is spending his life helping John McCain block important gay civil rights issues like marriage and adoption?

Or John McCain, who obviously has no problem with gay folks, but has adopted an anti-gay platform out of political expediency and a desire to court people like Sarah Palin, who think that if they just hate enough, they'll be Raptured into the love of Jesus when the End Times come.

Ridiculous.

Mark Buse is obviously a man of some ability. It ain't nothing to get yourself a position as chief of staff to a powerful senator and presidential candidate.

A pity that he is wasting his talents fighting against his gay and Lesbian brothers and sisters. And against everyone else who stands in solidarity for civil rights for all.

It's also a pity for us.

Because his efforts have contributed to the endless delays, damages and humiliations caused to gay and Lesbian Americans as we wait to achieve a full and equal status as citizens of the U.S.

UPDATE III: Since some readers are having trouble understanding the legitimacy of this outing, a reader suggests that we revisit a 2006 JMG post in which we discussed four outing scenarios. From the fourth case study in that post:

John Doe is a highly placed staffer in a prominent Republican senator's office. Doe's boss is virulently anti-gay publicly, even though he graciously hosts Doe and his boyfriend at dinner parties in his home. Doe is dedicated and skilled and with the help of his expert advice, Doe's boss successfully thwarts numerous gay-friendly bills and positions himself as a "pro-family" advocate.

Do we out John Doe?

It's almost as if the above was predicting Mark Buse.