ONE MORE THOUGHT ON MONTANA

ONE MORE THOUGHT ON MONTANA GAY-BAITING

No doubt this had already occurred to you (especially if you’re gay), but it just occurred to me:

Isn’t it sad that Taylor could stand being called a crook, but broke down in tears at the insinuation that he might be gay?

Now this doesn’t in any way exonerate the Democrats who made the ad. Taylor is a crook, and he isn’t gay. Truth makes a difference. And Taylor lives in a world where being thought of as gay is worse than being thought of as crooked. (I guess it’s OK to be crooked as long as you’re straight.) So it was a rotten thing to imply that he was gay in the course of saying that he was a crook.

Still, this does suggest (to anyone who didn’t already think so) that the “family values” crowd might want to reconsider what its values are.

Hey! I’ve got an idea!

Maybe if we posted the Ten Commandments everywhere, someone might notice that “Thou shat not steal” is on the list, and “Be exclusively heterosexual” isn’t.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com