Mel Martinez to Replace Ken Mehlman as RNC Chairman

Florida Senator Mel Martinez is set to replace outgoing chair Ken Mehlman as head of the Republican National Committee at the end of January.

Among Martinez' recent accomplishments, the Florida Senator's office was the source of the Terri Schiavo "talking points" memo, which his legal counsel drew up, detailing the political advantages to Republicans of intervening in that case. Martinez, of course, supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and expressed his belief in June 2006 that it shouldn't be left up to the states: "It isn't good enough to say, 'Leave it up to the states.'...If we leave it up to the states we will see the erosion of marriage that we've seen by activist courts, which we otherwise will not see if we protect the institution of marriage at the federal level."

Ken Mehlman to Step Down from RNC Post [tr]

NYT Covers Bill Maher CNN Censorship Story; Won't Name Mehlman

The New York Times covers CNN's censorship of Bill Maher on Larry King Live and his "speculation about some politicians’ sex lives" but refuses to name RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman as the figure that Maher singled out on the show.

A spokesman for Larry King Live told the paper: "When someone says something potentially defamatory that we don’t expect them to say live on the air, we typically won’t be liable for it. However, if we continue to rebroadcast it, without any reporting of our own or any comment from the subject of the accusation, we could be legally responsible for what that guest said."

Apparently the Times feels the "cautious interpretation of the law" observed by CNN extends to them as well.

Some Names Were Named, but Not for Long [nyt]

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Ken Mehlman to Step Down from RNC Post

RNC Spokesman Brian Jones told news outlets that an announcement about RNC Chair Ken Mehlman's future would be made in the days ahead, while sources close to the Associated Press said that Mehlman would be stepping down from his post in January.

According to AmericaBlog, John King of CNN actually said "He's been on the gerbil wheel, as one of his close friends put it, for well in excess of six years now and he's tired."

The gerbil wheel??? Doesn't King know that associating gays and gerbils is just wrong.

A freudian slip poor choice of words for someone just outed on Larry King Live.

Oh wait, that never happened.

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CNN Censors Footage of Bill Maher Outing Ken Mehlman

As noted by some of Towleroad's readers in the comments section, CNN edited the west coast feed of Larry King Live and cut out Bill Maher's comments outing RNC Chair Ken Mehlman. Thanks to John at AmericaBlog for the clips... First clip is the original, second is the edited version.

Who is CNN trying to protect?

UPDATE: As you'll see the above video on the left is gone from YouTube. CNN sent out a cease and desist letter to YouTube, ordering them to take the uncensored version down. The uncensored version is still up at the Huffington Post.

Shame on CNN.

CNN censors Bill Maher, deletes Larry King Live segment where Maher outs GOP party chair Ken Mehlman as gay [americablog]

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Bill Maher Outs Ken Mehlman on Larry King Live

Bill Maher appeared on Larry King Live Wednesday night and outed RNC Chair Ken Mehlman. Via AmericaBlog comes this clip, for which I've written up a transcript.

MAHER: "Frank Rich wrote about this a couple of weeks ago. He said, yes we've heard about Mark Foley...but he said, that's just the beginning of it. A lot of the chiefs of staff, the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican party, are gay. I don't want to mention names but I will Friday night.

KING: You will Friday night?

MAHER: There's a couple people everybody in Washington knows, who run the Republican party

KING: You will name them?

MAHER: I wouldn't be the first. I'd get sued if I was the first, but...you know, Ken Mehlman, okay there's one I think people have talked about. I don't think he's denied it when people have suggested it (actually, he has). He doesn't say...

KING: Ken Mehlman? I've never heard that. But the question is...

MAHER: Maybe you don't go to the same bathhouse I do Larry.

KING: Why would someone who is gay take public anti-gay positions? Why would you do that?

MAHER: Because Larry, hating yourself is the greatest love of all.

KING: (Laughs)

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Ken Mehlman 'Gay-Baiting' Ad Mocks Harold Ford 'Race-Baiting' Ad

Mike Rogers of BlogActive, along with Proud of Who We Are, has produced a new parody ad mocking a "Harold, Call Me" spot being run against Democrat Harold Ford by the RNC in Tennessee. The anti-Ford ad has been criticized for its racist overtones and called "over the top" by the Tennessee Republican candidate Bob Corker. RNC Chair Ken ("I'm not gay") Mehlman denied any knowledge of the ad's content before it ran and sees nothing wrong with it.

Above, the RNC Harold Ford ad (left) and the Ken Mehlman parody ad on the right.

No word yet on whether or not Mehlman likes the taste of his own medicine.

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