NYT Blogger Discovers Another 'Lifelong Republican'

October 9th, 2008 10:16 PM

fake republicanAttention all you liberal journalists out there, including Timothy Egan blogging at the New York Times!

You really do need to come up with a better descriptive term than "lifelong Republican" which is the most obvious "tell" of all that the person in question is not quite what they claim they are.

In the case of Egan, trying very hard to project "Republicans" as drifting away from John McCain, he used that overused description in his most recent blog entry:

My friends: it’s not good for Senator McCain.

“As a small business owner, it’s very hard to watch a lifetime of hard work and savings just wither away in the last two weeks,” said Jan Martin, a native of this more-than-mile-high city, and a lifelong Republican. “The debate on Tuesday night has, if anything, bolstered my opinion.”

So Jan Martin, who also serves on the city council, will cross party lines in less than a month and vote Barack Obama for president, she said. She’s not leaving the Republican party – she’s deserting the nominee.

Are you really going to make me have to go through the motions in checking on how legit "lifelong Republican" Jan Martin really is, Timothy? Well, okay. Here goes. A very quick check on "lifelong Republican" Jan Martin reveals that (surprise, surprise) she is a member of the ACLU:

THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
COLORADO SPRINGS CHAPTER holds its

ANNUAL MEETING
Tuesday, April 15 � 7 PM � Slocum Hall � Colorado College


With
Nominations of new members

And its
SPRING FORUM

THE COLORADO PARTY CONVENTIONS:

PROTECTING FREE SPEECH and PUBLIC SAFETY

With
Taylor Pendergrass, ACLU-Colorado Staff Attorney,
Main Speaker
and

  • Jan Martin, Colorado Springs City Council
  • Bill Sulzman, Peace & Justice activist leader
  • Steve Liebowitz, Deputy Chief of Police
  • Dennis Apuan, Vice-Chair, El Paso County Democratic Party

 Gee, is that Peace & Justice activist leader also a "lifelong Republican?" How about that Vice-Chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party? Oh, and it seems that "lifelong Republicans" make it a habit to hang out at Colorado's Gay and Lesbian Fund party:

Among those at the festive event were Eve Tilley, whose signature hats will be the subject of an art project at Bemis School of Art in the spring; Bruni Berkowitz; Pat Peterson; Alma Cremonesi, director of the Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival; Gerald Albrent; Susan Presti; Pam McManus; Lynn Pelz; Chris Garvin; Amy Julye; Jan Martin; Richard Tucey; Beth Kosley; John McIlwee; Wendy Mike; Ken Robinson; Gladys Harris; Steve Sletta; David Carroll; Scott Hente; Cynthia Nimerichter and Ted Worcester; Lynne Telford; Sen. John Morse; Dwight and Sue Brothers; Ruth Roland; and Jesse Trevino.

A look at  the City of Colorado Springs website reveals that "lifelong Republican" is also a member of the Citizens Project, one of whose projects includes this:

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people continue to face unfair discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation. Citizens Project believes the principle that “all men are created equal” as stated in the U.S. Constitution will never be faithfully upheld while it remains legal to discriminate against people because of who they are. Objections to GLBT civil rights come from religious doctrine, and our nation is founded on laws and principles, not on any particular religious faith.

I object! There is no mention here of otherly gendered "lifelong Republicans."  I claim this oversight amounts to discrimination. In any event even though one might easily find "lifelong Republicans" as members of these groups one could count the number of conservative Republicans in the same groups on the fingers of their hand...but only if that hand were missing several fingers.

So my advice to Timothy Egan and other liberals is to come up with a much more original term than "lifelong Republicans." The moment you you use that term, your true agenda is revealed from the get-go.