At the movies with Matt Sanchez
Pentagon looking at kicking out Marine gay porn star prostitute
Reservist acknowledges gay porn past
“The real 11 inches of pure hypocrisy”
Should past participation in gay porn disqualify a potential enlistee?
WASHINGTON, March 8 ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ U.S. Marine reservist Matt Sanchez was given an Academic Freedom Award at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, where Ann Coulter hurled her “faggot” slur against Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards. Sanchez, who attends Columbia University, also recently appeared on conservative talk shows where he criticized “radical anti-military students” he met during campus recruiting. Reports have since surfaced that Sanchez has allegedly worked as a gay porn star, prompting silence from his (now former) right-wing cheerleaders and charges of hypocrisy lobbed at Sanchez by gay bloggers.
I recently wrote about the abject failure that is the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which is to military readiness what Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giiuliani are to marital fidelity. DADT doesn’t work, it’s not going to work…but it does leave homo-hating Conservatives feeling as if they’re doing their bit to protect our military’s (and our nation’s) moral fiber.
Personally, I don’t care if you bugger goats in your free time. Can you serve your country while maintaining a high degree of military discipline and professionalism? If you can, you’re welcome in this man’s army. If you want to do whatever it is you do with whomever it is you do it with in your free time, knock yourself out. When the balloon goes up, though, I want you at your post, professionally and capably doing what you’ve promised and and been trained to do.
I don’t care if Matt Sanchez was a gay porn star in a previous life. What disturbs me, though, is that Sanchez, a Marine Corps reservist, received an award at the recent Conservative Political Action Committee convention, and he’s been hailed and feted by the Conservative hoi polloi…all while DADT continues to be used to drum out hundreds and thousands of capable, willing soldiers our of our military. To call this the very height of hypocrisy wouldn’t BEGIN to do just to the two-faced Conservative movement.
In spite of this apparent, obvious double standard, Sanchez has the temerity to blame us evil Liberal bloggers for exposing his past. Well, pardon us for doing our homework and exposing Sanchez as a lying, hypocritical sack of dog excrement. That picture you see above? Yeah, that Sanchez with Ann Coulter, the same troll who call John Edwards a “faggot” in a speech at CPAC…and the audience roundly applauded her. Republican Presidential candidates only began to condemn Coulter when it became clear that they were going to be tarred with the same brush…though this didn’t stop Mitt Romney from celebrating Coulter.
I was invited to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, an annual convention of the right attended by more than 5,000 people, to accept the Jeanne Kirkpatrick Academic Freedom Award. It was recognition for what I’d said in print and on-air about anti-military attitudes on campus. During CPAC, I had my picture taken with the controversial conservative pundit and author Ann Coulter.
Coulter’s comments about John Edwards drew unprecedented attention to this year’s CPAC. Then, after a while, some of that attention was turned on me.
Uh, HELLO??? Coulter called John Edwards a “faggot”…it wasn’t a matter of some casual, off-the-cuff comment. Coulter launched a horribly, mean-spirited insult against a Democratic Presidential candidate, and did so in a way calculated to engender maximum attention. Mission accomplished….
As for Sanchez, well…if you sleep with dogs, you can’t claim to be surprised when you wake up with fleas.
Several bloggers were posting pictures of me and Coulter together and noting, gleefully, that the guy with his arm around the waist of the woman who called Edwards a faggot had, once upon a time, acted in adult films.
Some of the sites were comparing me to Rich Merritt, a Marine Corps captain who appeared in gay films. Others were comparing me to Jeff Gannon and claiming that I too had advertised my services as a male escort. I won’t deny it, or that I acted in several adult movies 15 years ago under names like Pierre LaBranche and Rod Majors.
I could care less what Sanchez did 15 years ago. Being gay and acting in gay porn is not a crime. Nonetheless, when Conservatives actively champion policies like DADT, it’s hard not to wonder how the rank hypocrisy escapes Sanchez. This is particularly true since Sanchez is a Marine Corps reservist. If the letter and spirit of DADT are to mean anything, then the Marines MUST remove him from service. Failure to do so would only serve to solidify the perception and the reality that what’s “evil” and “sinful” for Liberals and Democrats is perfectly acceptable for faithful Conservatives.
Matt Sanchez needs to take a good hard look at the hypocrites he has chosen to associate himself with. I have no argument with Sanchez’ past or his decision to repudiate it. What does anger me is that Conservative are so willing to accept Sanchez while they continue to celebrate and advocate DADT.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
