They Were Hypocrites Then, Too

Richard Leiby at The Post gives us a story today (from nearly a quarter century ago) that reminds us they were hypocrites then, too:

24 years ago: Washington chatters about the political future of three-term Rep. Robert E. Bauman (R-Md.), who, facing a charge of soliciting sex from a 16-year-old male nude dancer, agreed on Oct. 3, 1980, to enter a court-supervised rehab program for his drinking problem. FBI agents said they'd received numerous reports about Bauman, a conservative moralist, cruising in gay clubs in Washington, but at an Oct. 8 news conference, with his wife and his priest by his side, the 43-year-old politician said, "I do not consider myself to be a homosexual." He lost reelection in November and later became a gay rights advocate.

He also brings us this:

"Girlie men": The phrase won roars of approval when Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger used it at the Republican National Convention, but is it an insult? Sean Bulson, the principal of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, thinks so, and he won't allow the school's young Republicans to wear it on their chests.

After 16-year-old Hanna Buckley proposed the slogan "Young Republicans Aren't Girlie Men" for her club last month, Bulson shot it down. Decrying what she considers censorship, Buckley -- the great-niece of William F. Buckley -- told us: "I didn't think it was offensive to anybody. It's just a quote from Arnold!" (At the convention, Schwarzenegger said, "To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie men.")

Bulson, citing the school district's "human relations and nondiscrimination policies," said he didn't want to give the term an official blessing. "The slogan struck me as insensitive at best," he told us. "In one way it's anti-gay, and I'm certain I could find people who say it's anti-female. I know there are people here who would find this offensive."

Buckley, a junior, has no avenue for appeal but, like the Terminator, promises she'll be back: "I come from a very political family. I want to be a politician when I'm older."

Wait. You know how they say that no child grows up wanting to be a prostitute or a junkie? Ms. Buckley has proven that wrong!