DECIDING BETWEEN PANDERING POLITICIANS
By Wendi C. Thomas

DeSoto Appeal
ar/11/deciding-between-pandering-politicians/
Marc h 11 2010
Memphis

If there’s one thing I can’t stand in politicians, it’s inconsistency.

Oh, and pandering. Make that two things.

In both cases, two candidates for the 9th Congressional District seat
have more in common than you think.

For all the wrong race-based reasons, former Memphis mayor Willie
Herenton is challenging U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen for the seat.

In a recent letter to the black Baptist ministerial association,
Herenton wrote: "As pastors, I hope you will join me in my opposition
to same-sex marriage and the legalization of marijuana."

That Herenton would pander to black religious conservatives is no
surprise. That the formerly gay-friendly politician doesn’t expect
to get called on his flip-flopping is.

Jonathan Cole, secretary of the Tennessee Equality Project, posed this
question on the TEP’s Grand Divisions blog (): Is Herenton using the
gay community?

Herenton’s support of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
community goes back a decade, Cole wrote, including a 2000 appearance
at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Memphis Gay and Lesbian
Community Center.

And that’s not all.

"On September 25, 2000, Herenton appeared at Calvary Church in Memphis
beside Judy Shepard (the mother of slain hate-crime victim Matthew
Shepard) to proclaim the day ‘Memphis Against Hate Crimes Day,’"
Cole wrote on the blog.

Cole quoted Herenton as saying then: "This should be a city where
people don’t have fear because of the color of our skin or the religion
we practice or the person we choose to love."

As recently as 2009, Herenton voiced his support for a city
nondiscrimination ordinance, which would have protected city
employees from job discrimination based on sexual orientation and
gender identity.

"It just seemed very ironic that he would turn around a year later
and use the community to further his campaign ambitions," Cole said.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the Baptist ministers to question
why Herenton has shifted his stance — as long as he stands by them
in bias, that will be good enough for them.

But there are many of us — of all colors — who love our GLBT
friends and family, and prefer an elected official who will protect
their rights.

Now when it comes to crazy, Cohen can’t beat Herenton. But his
allegiance to Turkey is a fine try.

As a freshman congressman, Cohen wrote the House resolution for
a formal apology for slavery, a move many saw as pandering to his
majority black constituency.

Cohen endured significant ridicule for the resolution, which ultimately
passed.

It’s no secret that without significant black support, Cohen can’t
win re-election.

But there are only 100 or so Armenians in Memphis, not enough to make
a difference at the polls.

It is widely accepted that Turkey exacted a genocide against Armenians
from 1915 to 1923, killing an estimated 1.5 million Armenians and
displacing thousands more.

Except by Cohen, who is Jewish. He has said the Armenians were
aggressors too.

The first holocaust of the 20th century is also denied by Turkey,
which withdrew its U.S. ambassador. This "take my toys and go home"
move came after a congressional committee vote this month condemned
the mass killing and called it genocide.

Recognizing the historical injustice of one group (African-Americans)
while stubbornly ignoring the horrific slaughter of another (Armenians)
gives credence to the theory that the slavery apology was a pathetic
attempt to appear as "black" as possible.

This will not and does not sit well with his few Armenian constituents,
and anyone who stands on the side of truth, no matter how long
obscured.

Before the committee vote on Turkey, Cohen wrote: "A vote on this
resolution will do nothing to rectify the tragedies of the past."

That’s funny, because exactly the same thing could be and was said
of his slavery apology.

And after the committee vote, Cohen quoted a Turkish proverb in a D.C.

paper, a maxim oddly appropriate for both he and Herenton: "A wise
man remembers his friends at all times; a fool, only when he has need
of them."