13 Cars: John McCain's Automotive Fleet Under Spotlight

John and Cindy McCain's fleet of vehicles is under scrutiny, particularly in the car-manufacturing swing state of Michigan. Newsweek reports that the McCain family owns more than a dozen cars while the Obamas own one:

"When you have seven homes, that's a lot of garages to fill. After the fuss over the number of residences owned by the two presidential nominees, Newsweek looked into the candidates' cars. And based on public vehicle-registration records, here's the score. John and Cindy McCain: 13. Barack and Michelle Obama: one."

Newsweek also notes that most of the cars are registered under Cindy's name. Huffington Post has a slide show.

Obama's car is a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, a replacement for a Chrysler 300C. Consider the outrage from the right if it was Obama that was the automotive glutton in this situation.

McCain was interviewed by a Michigan news station in September and attempted to explain why he doesn't buy American. He also said that his daughter Meghan bought her Prius herself, although last year he said that he had bought it for her. McCain lies, "I've bought American literally all my life and I'm proud." At least three of the McCain's vehicles are foreign-made.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Previously
John McCain Doesn't Know How Many Houses He Owns [tr]

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Gay Man Battles State of Virginia to Keep "Poofter" License Plate

Towleroad readers may be acquainted with the face of David Phillips. He's the Washington D.C. bear who two weeks ago came forward claiming he had some messy sex two decades ago with Idaho Senator Larry Craig.

Phillips is making headlines again, this time for his refusal to hand over license plates issued by the state of Virginia which he has had on his car for 11 years. The plates say "Poofter" which most here probably know is slang, sometimes derogatory, for a gay man.

Phillips tells the Washington Post that "it's just an amusing word that I self-identify with."

Writes the paper: "The commonwealth of Virginia is not amused. It gave Phillips his vanity plates in error, Carolyn Easley, coordinator of the special license plates office, wrote in a recent letter. 'You may have grown fond of your personalized plates,' but they are 'socially, racially or ethnically offensive or disparaging' and 'you must return them.' There was no explanation for why it took Virginia 11 years to figure out what 'poofter' means."

According to the WaPo, "hundreds of battles over personalized plates have used up untold government resources in a strange corner of the law that has some of the nation's top courts issuing contradictory rulings" and the ruling often comes down to personal viewpoints vs. obscenity: "One federal appeals court ordered Missouri to approve 'ARYAN-1,' saying the state 'may not censor a license plate because its message might make people angry.' In Vermont, however, a federal appeals court said the state could ban scatological terms because that doesn't involve quashing any viewpoint. In Virginia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit prohibited the state from banning a Confederate flag logo on a special license plate for the Sons of Confederate Veterans because that would be viewpoint discrimination."

Phillips, who is scheduled to appear at a hearing over the plates in Richmond, says he has no intention of returning the "poofter" plates.

A Vehicle for Self-Expression? Not on These Roads. [washington post]

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Matt Damon Wary of Making "Gay" Move with Ben Affleck

Didn't get to this item last week, but Matt Damon's interview in the most recent issue of GQ contained this little nugget about what he and Ben Affleck did with their first big paycheck:

"We both bought Jeep Grand Cherokees. It was funny, because Ben and I, we both always wanted a Jeep Grand Cherokee for some reason. That was the car. We always talked about it but never could afford one. So when we suddenly had the money, we each instantly started trying to convince each other to get a different car. We’d say, ‘Hey, have you seen the Explorer? The Ford Explorer is really cool.’ Because we knew it would just be so gay to get the same car."

And a gay car at that.

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Gay Cars: A Closer Inspection [tr]
Matt Damon's Wet 'n' Wild Initiation Ceremony [tr]

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Jesse Metcalfe's Dark Knight Fantasies

Jesse Metcalfe envisioned himself as the Dark Knight yesterday at a party celebrating the LG VX9400, a new mobile phone reportedly capable of delivering TV shows to your phone (watch out Apple), but he'll have to start thinking a lot differently to catch up with the real Batman.

The new bat vehicle, which will be driven by Christian Bale in the new film scheduled to open on July 18, 2008, was shown off yesterday by Warner Bros.

It's called the Batpod. No word on whether its dashboard has a YouTube hook-up.

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Jesse Metcalfe and Friend Get Their Tans On [tr]
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News: Gianfranco Ferre, Toronto, Alan Hays, Time Capsule

Gay groups want Florida Rep. Alan Hays out of office. They claim he said that his cousin deserved to die after contracting HIV: "Minutes after the conference, Hays released a statement denying that he told two nurses and a regional manager for a nonprofit AIDS health-care program Wednesday that his cousin was 'queer as a three-dollar bill' and 'had that homosexual lifestyle and deserved what he got.'"

Tulsa, Oklahoma time capsule built to withstand a nuclear bomb is destroyed by rust: "When civic leaders unveiled their freshly-unearthed 1957 Plymouth Belvedere last night in a gala ceremony involving plenty of colorful lights, draped curtains, and Enya-like music, they were no doubt horrified to discover that the car had been reduced to a giant, tailfinned paperweight." (videos)

Rosie O'Donnell to meet with Price is Right producers about hosting gig. Meanwhile, she keeps on going about her time on The View: "I got to tell you, I've been hanging around with those heteros for a full year and it's not fun! Turn around one minute and they'll stab you in the back with a high heel. They will."

Gay killer on hunger strike for his inmate lover in Britain.

As Gay As it Gets: Toronto targets gay travelers with $300,000 campaign.

Fashion designer Gianfranco Ferre dies of brain hemorrhage at 62.

Scenes from the Folsom Street East leather-fetish party in NYC over the weekend. NSFW.

Australian man sentenced to nearly five years in prison after lover dies in shoelace sex strangulation: "Late in the night they moved to the bedroom to have sex with Fraser reluctantly agreeing to tie a shoelace around Moore's neck and pull it tight. Justice Anderson said during this activity Moore suddenly collapsed. Fearing Moore was dead, Fraser covered his body with clothing and bedding and left the home. He was caught after the shoelace was found by police and revealed his DNA. Fraser pleaded not guilty to murder at the start of his trial but later accepted a prosecution offer to admit to the lesser offence of manslaughter. Justice Anderson said while he accepted Fraser did not intend to kill Moore, he described the man's conduct was grossly negligent or reckless."

For Father's Day, a selection of celebrity DILFs.

Investigation uncovers "extensive destruction" of RNC emails: "House investigators have learned that the Bush administration’s use of Republican National Committee email accounts is far greater than previously disclosed — 140,216 emails sent or received by Karl Rove alone — and that the RNC has overseen 'extensive destruction' of many of the emails, including all email records for 51 White House officials."

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Cadillac Drives into the Gay Market

Cadillac has put out its first ad specifically targeting the gay market, reports advertising watchdog Commercial Closet. It's also the first gay-themed ad for GM, although Saab and Saturn (brands of GM) have been in it for ten years.

Reports Commercial Closet's Mike Wilke: "The Cadillac print ad, part of the general market 'Life. Liberty. And the Pursuit' campaign from Modernista, Boston, features a scruffy driver in his 20s, dressed in a black shirt with a Miami Vice-style jacket, accompanied by another man riding in a black DTS. 'We wanted to put a face on the brand,' says John Gasloli, national advertising manager for Cadillac. 'We previously focused on the product and wanted to pull in more of the emotional.' The new ad was shot simultaneously with the general market campaign, Gasloli explains, where 'we cast a large cross section of people, with a variety of ages, gender groupings and looks.' For the Cadillac DTS, the photo shoot included four young guys and two young guys together, he says. 'I was on the shoot looking ahead to our print buy, knowing we'd be in Out, The Advocate and Instinct, but it happened naturally and organically,' Gasloli says. Yet special casting for the gay ad wasn't a consideration, the openly gay Gasloli says. 'As a gay male, what is the 'gay look?' In my opinion, it only becomes a stereotype.'"

Fairly subtle marketing, imho. But, you know, at least it's not a pink Cadillac.

You may also want to check out Commercial Closet's 2007 Images in Advertising Awards nominees. Winners to be announced on June 11 in New York.

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Sage Student Erin Davies Turns Hate into Tolerance Campaign

Erin Davies, a student at Sage College in New York, was targeted by anti-gay vandals when her VW Beetle was sprayed with the words "U R gay" and fag" in mid-April, most likely because the vehicle has a rainbow sticker affixed to its bumper. The incident occurred on the national "Day of Silence" in which students across the country use silence as a means to bringing awareness to intolerance and homophobia.

Instead of having the car cleaned up, Davies says she plans to use it to spread a message of tolerance and take it on a cross-country trip this summer with the hateful messages still emblazoned across its windows.

She told Capital News 9, "I'm sure I'm not the first person this has happened to, but I might be the first person who has been okay driving it around, putting it out there and letting people become more aware of it and decide, you know, how do we stop this from happening?"

Davies has started a website called FagBug to chronicle her activism. She says she plans to have people attach "FagBug" stickers to her VW as she travels across country.

On Monday, students at Sage college held a rally to support Davies. She told the Troy Record, "I came out 12 years ago, so this isn't news to me. But even as I drove through my neighborhood in the rental car, I was stopped by friends and acquaintances and asked what I planned to do next. I want to make this visible so people can see that hate crimes still happen."

FagBug [official site]
Hate crime turned into educational campaign [troy record]
Sage students march to promote tolerance [capital news 9]

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Gay Cars: A Closer Inspection

A New York Times article published today wonders if there is such a thing as a gay car?

"Cars are no more straight or gay than cellphones, office chairs or weed whackers. But in recent years that truism has not stopped a perception among some motorists that certain cars can, in the right context, be statements about a driver’s sexual orientation."

Considering the way BMW is marketing their cars to folks in West Hollywood, according to this ad dug up by L.A. blogger BoiFromTroy, the carmakers are certainly pushing things in that direction, at least in some markets.

Overall, however, according to gay technical director for Motor Trend Frank Markus, gays are pretty much like everyone else. Said Markus to the Times: "...clichés about gay drivers tend to collapse on close inspection, like the gay man who is a 'gym bunny' and gravitates toward Jeeps and convertibles 'to show off his hot body.' But, he added, 'If you could actually push a button and see what every gay person drives, it’s probably not too different from what the average person drives, but it might skew higher in price.'"

What do you think? Can gays be spotted by their cars?

Gay by Design, or a Lifestyle Choice? [nyt]

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KITT, Knight Rider's Gay Car for Sale [tr]

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KITT, Knight Rider's Gay Car for Sale

KITT, the talking car from the 80's show Knight Rider (starring 'The Hoff' of course), is for sale, but fans expecting magic from the vehicle may be disappointed:

"Although it cannot achieve the 300 mph speeds that KITT reached, soar 50 feet in the air or throw smoke bombs, key features of the star car are intact. Perhaps most important, the red scanner light on the nose glows and makes a humming noise. The car has two working video screens on the dashboard, and the cockpit features buttons that light up in green, yellow and red: ski mode, rocket boost, micro jam, silent mode, oil slick and eject. Most of the buttons don't do anything..Nor can the car hold a conversation or drive itself."

Hasselhoff outed the car last year at Trinity College in Dublin, telling a crowd there that KITT was gay: "We have some fairly X-rated outtakes on 'Knight Rider.' Kitt was constantly asking, 'Do you want me to take you home Michael?' in that very camp voice of his."

Knight Rider is currently in development as a feature film. You can buy the car for $149,995 at an auto dealership in Dublin.

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David Hasselhoff: Knight Rider's KITT was Gay [tr]
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James May, Co-Host of Britain's Top Gear, Outed?

I can't say I've ever seen Britain's motoring show Top Gear so I'm not so familiar with host James May, who is known to fans by the nicknames "Captain Slow" and "The Bachelor".

It appears, however, that his co-hosts Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson may have inadvertently outed him during a press conference in Johannesburg...

"The Bachelor" no more? Watch the last minute or so of this video and see for yourself.

(via jalopnik)

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News: Corpse ID Hunt, Screech Sex Tape, Mini Coopers

NYPD takes photo of dead West Village leather man's face to area bars for identification: "Passersby at first thought the corpse was part of early Halloween decorations. Only later did witnesses realize the body - decked out in black leather pants, a mask and black leather cowboy boots with spurs - was a human."

Gay rugby league icon Ian Roberts finishes testimony at inquest into death of his young friend Arron Light: "This was never about some sick little street kid who was a prostitute and had a sad life because that's not how I knew Arron. He was always this cheeky, good-looking endearing kid who just turned up on my doorstep one day."

The real issue in the disputed AIDS funding bill (marked to send money away from urban areas and into rural areas in the South) which just passed the house is there's just not enough money to go around. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif: "That means if we're going to give to some people who are very deserving, we're going to take from others who are very deserving."

A sex tape from Screech? Say it isn't so.

The Mini is the unofficial gay car of Thailand. Especially when it has zebra stripes.

Former Wisconsin student Brett Timmerman alleges he was attacked outside a Platteville restaurant because he was gay: "Timmerman's state suit alleges he suffered a ruptured eardrum and says his attackers falsely accused him of starting the altercation that still gives him nightmares. He said in an interview that he can't go to the bathroom alone in Platteville because he's afraid he might get jumped again."

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News: Boxer Briefs, Barry Manilow's Hip, Moustaches

Hundreds took to the streets on Friday night in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood to rally against the hateful attacks that took place near Balboa Park over Gay Pride weekend.

Remember the 14-year-old gay Iraqi boy murdered on his doorstep? Evidence shows increase in Iraqi Shia death squad executions of homosexuals: "There is growing evidence that Shia militias have been killing men suspected of being gay and children who have been sold to criminal gangs to be sexually abused. The threat has led to a rapid increase in the numbers of Iraqi homosexuals now seeking asylum in the UK because it has become impossible for them to live safely in their own country."

Hugh Jackman's lucky charm: a pair of ten-year-old boxer briefs.

Marvel Comics Editor in Chief says that due to "ridiculous" pressure from "pro-family" groups like Traditional Values Coalition, the company will not be publishing titles with gay and lesbian characters without an "explicit content" label: "The last thing we want to do is have everybody come down on the entire comic book industry."

Barry Manilow to undergo hip surgery.

What your facial hair says about you: “You’ve got some who are hairy and do nothing about it, some who are almost obsessive about being clean-shaven, and some who just keep their facial hair neatly trimmed—and what goes on up top is usually a good indication of what goes on below."

World's first gay motor show set to start its engines in Cardiff, UK.

Western Australia National Party passes motion supporting gay and lesbian civil unions: "This move by the National Party shows that there is an increasing level of support within the party to secure fairness and certainty for same-sex couples and their families, especially those in rural and regional Western Australia."

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News: Apple iPhone, Heath Ledger, Transgender Fish...

The Indian government's AIDS/HIV body is pushing to change a law set in 1861 by British Colonial rulers that criminalizes homosexuality. Under the current law, anyone found practicing gay sex may be punished with up to 10 years of prison time. The outdated law has made it difficult for health officials to reach those at risk because of fears of imprisonment and harassment.

Here's a somewhat shocking statistic: "A third of male fish in English rivers are changing sex due to 'gender-bending' pollution, alarming research shows...Tests showed the males developed female sex organs and were producing eggs. "

Twelve million American adults keep a blog.

As they should: Provincetown residents slam media, particularly The Boston Globe, which published a front page story on the town's "new intolerance", for making a mountain out of a molehill.

Heath Ledger to play The Joker in Batman Begins sequel?

Apple on rumored iPhone: "We're not sitting around doing nothing."

Barry Manilow being used as loitering-prevention method.

A British Radio 1 DJ has caused outrage after he said he wouldn't buy a certain car because it was too gay. "No, it’s a bit gay. A bit gay, yes very ginger beer," were the words used by Jeremy Clarkson on the Top Gear car review show. Said a BBC spokesperson: "The Top Gear team's irreverent sense of humour in their car reviews and exchanges with the studio audience is familiar to the programme's regular audience. The intention is to be cheeky and sometimes provocative, but not malicious."

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David Beckham Goes Car Shopping Choosing

Must be nice to have your car stolen one day and be handed a brand new one the next! Yesterday I posted about the £70,000 Audi Q7 4x4 with £20,000 worth of extras that David Beckham was given simply for being part of the Real Madrid team. Yes, the man who earns $83,000 a day gets free car swag too...

Hmm. Eeeny meeny miny mo...

It seems like the checkered backs of those Audis would make them very easy for the paparazzi to identify. But then when you're making so much bank a day paying for a paint job is like buying a gumball... Some metrosexuals have it so easy.

Posh must have been jealous of all the shopping choosing David got to do, because at some point they were seen out spending some of the $83,000 he made that day.

And Becks was looking mighty sharp I might add. However, he wasn't driving his new Audi. Who needs one when you have your own driver?

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Jeep Now Selling Buggies?

Pinned and mounted. It's not so often that a car ad really catches my eye, but I'm loving these new ads for the 2007 four-door Jeep Wrangler.

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