Hillary even loses when she wins an endorsement. Good-old-boy No. Carolina Gov. Mike Easley spruced up his endorsement of Hillary with a gratuitous slur against gay people when he observed that "Clinton makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy." Easley was probably pandering to his core NASCAR supporters, and he may have let his own prejudice slip out. Easley, pretty much a no-name outside of his state and deservedly so, is hardly the issue, but what really caught my attention is that Hillary Clinton, who campaigns as a defender of LGBT civil rights, let the comment pass without comment. A self-described "fag hag" friend who is a Hillary supporter sniffed: "some people may take exception to the remark." Well, I am one who takes exception. "Pansy," is hardly less an offensive term than is "faggot," and you dear readers may interject your own gender or racial equivalents. It is very disappointing that Clinton ignored the slur, and even more disappointing that so many people outside the LGBT community did not appear to notice, take offense, or criticize the epithet. It shows that we still have a way to go before homophobic insults are universally condemned or at least self-censored. This is not the first time that a Presidential candidate in 2008 has ignored a supporter’s homophobia. John McCain’s enthusiastic embrace of John Hagee’s endorsement immediately comes to mind, even after Rev. Hagee had preposterously blamed the New Orleans disaster on its local Pride Parade. The McCain campaign in Florida also used anti-gay robocalls criticizing Romney for telling “gay organizers in Massachusetts he would be a stronger advocate for special rights than even Ted Kennedy.” A Republican candidate tolerating or employing gay bashing is hardly a news bulletin. But I expected more from Hillary Clinton, and the media in general. It should not just be the LGBT community that notices and condemns such bigotry.

Well, I don't know about the pansy thing, but the Clinton's whole pugilistic pose doesn't work for me or, judging by Tuesday, too many other people either.

It's hard to see how it helps Clinton to remind people of the partisan warfare of the 90's. I don't want someone who is going to "fight for me." Frankly, that's patronizing. I'm not some wuss who needs protection from the playground bully. I want a grownup who is going to get over it.

Oh come on, this is just silly. Maybe Easley knows enough gay men to know that by and large they aren't any more likely to be pansies that straight men. In any even, the word 'pansy' does not necessarily refer to gays. It just means somebody that isn't tough. Gays are pretty much as tough as straights. Stop stereotyping.

You know there are enough real problems in the world without inventing new ones.