Log Cabin Republicans Redux

Ever listen to Air America?  Although it's a relief from the constant verbal sewage that is right wing radio, ideas on the extreme left are just as grating and prickly.  Yesterday, when my favorite radio station, C-89.5 FM, which almost always plays dance hits, was playing gospel (which it typically does on Sundays) I tuned in to Air America to hear Janeane Garofalo and company lambaste the Log Cabin Republicans, calling them "self-loathing" Uncle Toms and likening them to Jews in the Third Reich who tried to change the direction of the Nazi party's political aims. 

I must be much more centrist than these people because I really found the sentiments offensive.  Most importantly the Log Cabin Republicans are out of the closet.  I am categorically against any out person being intentionally shamed by anyone else, regardless of where they fall in the political spectrum.  Yet this was what Garofalo and company were doing: intentionally shaming gay people.  Personally, I believe that gay people have the right to be Republicans (although I myself am not).  The Republicans don't mind gay members just so long as they are invisible and mute.  Yet the Log Cabin Republicans remain a constant and vigilant voice, advocating full inclusion and acceptance in the middle of the party that wants nothing more than to deny gay people any and all legal rights and recognition.  I say, bravo to them.  I respect their courage and their willingness to stand up for principle.

But then, I place gay issues ahead of other political concerns.  I used to believe exactly the same way that Garofalo does, but then I grew up.  I became more mature and pragmatic.  I did not abandon my principles, I honed them with rational thought.  What is far more important to me is the rocky state of Social Security under the onus of George W. Bush.  We are told that the system is in danger of bankruptcy.  I don't believe that.  The numbers don't play.  It's said that there are fewer workers paying into the system now than in the past, and that those numbers will continue to shrink.  Yet, the population of the United States DOUBLES every 35 years.  So somewhere in there is a massive disconnect.  Yes, Social Security is expensive, but I've paid into the program all of my working life.  I'm going to be 47 in another few weeks and I am depending upon Social Security aspart of my retirement (although I don't plan on retiring completely, ever).  I think there are a lot of retirees who continue to work and continue to pay into the system.  So there's this fake intergenerational conflict that's touted by opponents on either side of the issue.  I think that's all tommyrot too.  I don't know what the answer to Social Security is, but I don't think we're being told even the basic facts of the matter.