Did anyone else see this news item at MSNBC or any of the other news outlets that are undoubtedly carrying it? The one about Jerry Thacker being picked for an AIDS panel?

Jan. 23—The Bush administration has chosen Jerry Thacker, a Pennsylvania marketing consultant who has characterized AIDS as the “gay plague,” to serve on the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV and AIDS.

Can I please get a “What the fuck?!” from my readers? Thank you.

In his speeches and writings on his Web site and elsewhere, Thacker has described homosexuality as a “deathstyle” rather than a lifestyle and asserted that “Christ can rescue the homosexual.” After word of his selection spread among gays in recent days, some material disappeared from the Web site. Earlier versions located by The Washington Post that referred to the “gay plague,” for instance, were changed as of yesterday to “plague.”

Administration health officials speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed Thacker’s appointment. They said he was part of a diverse group that includes a member of the board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay and lesbian advocacy group; an AIDS adviser to the World Bank; and a state public health officer.

Thacker, this official said, “has a very powerful and tragic personal story and an ability to reach out to an audience we couldn’t reach in the process.”

Which audience would that be? The Bigoted Society of Self-Righteous Assholes? Yeah, we really need their input on this matter. I’m sure they’ll provide a balanced and thoughtful viewpoint. Does anyone else find it to be an astonishing coincidence that the moment this tiny-brained prick is nominated for a Presidential Advisory Panel the rhetoric on his website suddenly becomes a tad less harsh? Doesn’t he understand that with just Google’s website caching alone the Internet now has a long memory? Bigoted and stupid, he should fit right in!

Fortunately, later news reports have it that Thacker has opted not to accept the appointment under growing pressure from pissed off people everywhere. Still, this next bit cracks me up:

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, while neither confirming nor denying the withdrawal, issued a stern rebuke of Thacker’s statements.

“The views that he holds are far, far removed from what the president believes,” Fleischer said. “The president has a total opposite view. ... The president’s view is that people with AIDS need to be treated with care, compassion.”

Hey readers, can I get another “What the fuck!?!” out of you? Thanks!

So let me get this straight: The President purportedly has “a total opposite view” from those of Jerry Thacker, but it was the White House that decided to appoint him to the panel? This implies to me that The Shrub^(TM) is either exceptionally stupid, an exceptionally bad liar, or not paying attention to what decisions his staff are making on his behalf. Which is stupid.

HIV and AIDS is a growing problem and affects people of all walks of life whether they are gay or straight. Jerry Thacker himself has AIDS which he contracted through his wife who got it through a blood transfusion. His predicament seems to have caused him to go into Holy Super Crusader^(TM) mode and become a leader on the “homosexuality is a choice” anti-gay movement. I love the whole being-gay-can-be-cured-by-Jesus bit. Jesus hasn’t had much luck curing the pedophile priests of their problem and he’s had, by some estimates, a good 40 or 50 years to do it in. That’s the problem with Jesus, he’s just not dependable on the whole “curing” thing.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with gay people. I’ve known quite a few and they’ve always treated me fairly well. One of the only compliments I ever received on my ass came from a gay guy, but I think he was just trying to make me feel better. My ass ain’t that great. Still, I may not want to go to the party, but it’s nice to be invited.

Whether or not being “gay” is a lifestyle choice or something you’re born as doesn’t fucking matter. Being Christian is a lifestyle choice too and many folks that choose it are guilty of actions and deeds way more heinous in my mind than simply having sex with someone of the same sex.

HIV and AIDS are a big problem and the disease doesn’t care if you contract it through a bad blood transfusion or through sex of any kind with someone of either gender, it will still kill you stone dead unless we do something about it. Thacker himself should be painfully aware of it’s lack of discrimination. He chooses to put his energies toward the persecution of people with a lifestyle he disapproves of rather than toward contributing toward the eventual eradication of the disease he and his wife are infected with. That doesn’t make him a good choice for an advisory panel in the least. Hell, he’d never have to show up cause you already know what his primary suggestions are going to be. I’m glad he decided he didn’t want to take the heat.

Found over at Rachel’s site, but she doesn’t have trackback turned on.