Coulter, Sanchez, And the Leftist Double Standard

Well, now, this is interesting.

Under an article in Slaon, subtitled:

“Left-wing blogs gleefully outed my gay porn past after I criticized antiwar zealots. But the truth has set me free.”

… Matt Sanchez:

In September 2005, I wrote a column for the campus newspaper that blasted the anti-military bias among my fellow students at Columbia University. In addition to being an American studies major at Columbia, I am a Marine Corps reservist, and my comrades in arms were proud of me once that column had turned into appearances on “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity & Colmes” and an opinion piece for the New York Post. None of those media outlets knew who I had been before I was a Marine, an Ivy Leaguer and an outspoken defender of the military.

…

Up until last weekend, Salon and the rest of the left-wing media had largely ignored me. Given the left’s constant talk about equality, discrimination, minority rights and systemic oppression, I thought the fact that I was a Hispanic, a Marine, a nontraditional, 36-year-old Ivy League student and a 100 percent flag-waving red-blooded Reagan Republican would make my point of view interesting, but so be it. Everything is political now, and even the double standards have talking points.

…

 Then came last weekend. I was invited to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, an annual convention of the right attended by more than 5,000 people, to accept the Jeanne Kirkpatrick Academic Freedom Award. It was recognition for what I’d said in print and on-air about anti-military attitudes on campus. During CPAC, I had my picture taken with the controversial conservative pundit and author Ann Coulter.

Coulter’s comments about John Edwards drew unprecedented attention to this year’s CPAC. Then, after a while, some of that attention was turned on me.

 …

The reaction of course was predictable…

Several bloggers were posting pictures of me and Coulter together and noting, gleefully, that the guy with his arm around the waist of the woman who called Edwards a faggot had, once upon a time, acted in adult films.

Some of the sites were comparing me to Rich Merritt, a Marine Corps captain who appeared in gay films. Others were comparing me to Jeff Gannon and claiming that I too had advertised my services as a male escort. I won’t deny it, or that I acted in several adult movies 15 years ago under names like Pierre LaBranche and Rod Majors.

We all have a tendency to want to hate the enemy. I suppose that’s why Coulter gets applause when she uses terms like “faggot” or “ragheads” (was that the last Coulter scandal, or was it her comments about 9/11 widows?). I also suppose that’s why I got so much abuse in my in box when gay and liberal bloggers posted ancient pictures of me.

Sanchez goes on to make other points the focus of his article.  But the passages I’ve excerpted here stood out like arc lamps in the night sky, in that they expose a double standard. It’s OK for liberals to wave the anti-homosexual flags when attacking conservative points of view, yet these same people will go after Ann Coulter? How’s THAT work?

 Well, it’s simple… for all their protests, such people are not arguing from a standpoint of principle… they’re arguing from a standpoint of whatever will give their anti-war slavering, a momentary advantage.

And here’s the capper: Clearly the left thought Sanchez would lose conservative support. However:

I am embarrassed to admit that was I worried that my fellow conservatives would distance themselves from me when the news about my film career broke. The opposite has happened. I’ve been asked to give my point of view, invited to speak at various functions, and invited back on television. My peers on the right have gone out of their way to give me a vote of confidence and avoid a rush to judgment.

The readership of this blog is a smart one; the implications of all of this will be obvious to you.