Brody's Notes... Florida Log Cabin Republicans Exploit Death of US Ambassador in New Political Ad

By Brody Levesque | FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- An political advertisement in the current issue of the Florida Agenda - a weekly LGBT newspaper distributed throughout central and south Florida - paid for by the Broward Log Cabin Republicans of Florida attacked Democrats and President Obama using an image of the lifeless body of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in the aftermath of the attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi, Libya. Ambassador Stevens and two other Americans were killed a month ago Thursday, on the anniversary of the September 11th attack on the U. S. in 2001.

The Gay Republican group's ad seems to echo charges made last month by various right wing groups that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had intentionally sent a "Gay" man to represent U. S. interests which in turn provoked the Islamic fundamentalists into attacking the consulate.
National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director, Jerame Davis, reacted in a statement saying:

"The Broward Log Cabin Republican Club of Florida has cravenly disrespected the life and legacy of a United States civil servant with this ad. Put bluntly, they have crossed the line of civil discourse and good taste by including an image of the corpse of slain US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens being carried through the streets of Benghazi, Libya. 

Their shameless and callous use of the image of Ambassador Stevens' body aside, the confused hatchet men at Log Cabin are conflating a number of unrelated issues in order to attack Democrats and President Obama. First, they latch onto right-wing rumors that Ambassador Stevens was gay and then they insinuate that President Obama is responsible for the attack because he did not protect the Ambassador from 'Sharia Law'. Then, in a very bizarre turn, they state their support for Israel as a 'beacon of hope' in the Middle East and urge voters to, 'support Israel in this hour of darkness: vote Republican!'

It is simply unimaginable to me how any political message, let alone the muddy and ludicrous message of this ad, in any way justifies disgracing the memory of a man who gave his life in service to his country. This level of depravity and moral indifference must not be allowed to enter our political discourse. 

We call upon the Broward Log Cabin Republican Club of Florida to retract this ad and apologize to Floridians for subjecting them to this sort of degenerate messaging. We also call upon Log Cabin Republicans national office to repudiate this ad for the partisan detritus that it is."

The ad can be found on page 27 of issue #151 of the Florida Agenda dated October 10, 2012.

This is a developing story.