Rep. Ross-Lehtinen is one of the South Florida politicians I despise the most.
In as much as a gay man who is very much in favor of gay equality, I am first and foremost an American and my conscience will not allow me to defend this woman in any way shape or form.
There are many reasons I find her despicable; but let us begin with the historical facts: at the time of the death of Rep. Claude Pepper (D-F) it was communicated by the then Reagan White House that under no circumstances was that seat to go to another Democrat. Enter Ms. Ros-Lehtinen’s husband Dexter who was at the time Attorney General for the State of Florida. There was one credible and electable candidate for the Claude Pepper seat: Raúl Martinez, the popular mayor of Hialeah.
The Attorney General filed twenty some odd charges against the mayor and of course, the more charges piled up would give the impression that Mayor Martinez was guilty…it turned out that most of the charges were thrown out and only one remained that was easily questionable…the guy actually got a sweetheart deal on some real estate and it was never proven that he did anything to benefit the seller.
On the other hand, if one is to ask about sweetheart deals, let us ask the Representative and her husband how much property near the airport on LeJeune Road they gobbled up before it was developed into a highway-airport access extravaganza.
But there are other issues that bother me tremendously as a Cuban-American and that is that I hate it when politicians come pandering to the Miami Cubans in order to ingratiate themselves with them to gain their votes…Reagan did it when he stood with Ileana in “La Esquina de Tejas”, Little Havana, USA and shouted “Viva Cuba Libre”
I saw how Ileana very contrived participation in the funeral of the Cubans who lost their lives in a shipwreck while trying to flee Cuba, they were eventually buried in Miami and Ileana led the funeral march…it made me totally ill.
You see I don’t forget, I don’t forget that the woman worshiped President Bush and there was nothing he did that was wrong and even to this day she defends him. Much the same way she worships Ronald Reagan and would not be surprised if she had an image of the ex-President in a little altar at her house and lit candles in his memory.
As a gay man, I am also torn by the inequities and the hatred that these people on the extreme right are directing against her…but at the end, perhaps it is best if Ileana is eliminated by the conservative purists and get some Teabagger candidate that will not be electable…let the chips fall where they may, I will not sign the petition.
This is the petition that I received via e-mail:
ALERT: Anti-Gay Groups Target Pro-Equality FL Congresswoman
Dear Raul,
The anti-gay extremists are going berserk.
They've launched an all out attack on Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who is the first and ,so far, only Republican to co-sponsor a bill that would repeal the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Ros-Lehtinen is a longtime Equality Florida supporter and a 2010 Voice for Equality Award honoree for her work to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell and as a founder of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. She's stood her ground against these extremists in the past but this time they are coming after her like never before.
Anti-gay extremists know that public opinion has shifted dramatically in the direction of equality and our country is at a tipping point. That is why the attacks are so over the top and desperate. The notorious National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the so-called Christian Family Coalition (CFC) have targeted the congresswoman and are asking their supporters to bombard her with letters and calls.
Now our community needs to let her and her colleagues know that when you stand up the discrimination, we'll have your back.
Nadine Smith
Executive Director
Equality Florida
PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/47538620
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