Gays and Guns, an Update

Well, there is news to report on two matters I have written about in the last week –Guns and Gays (If you added in God you’d have the GOP political agenda).

A week ago I wrote about how I missed out-there gay people in Bolivia, after more than a dozen years living in San Francisco. Well, I spoke a week too soon. Last night Cochabamba celebrated its first gay parade parade, complete with traditional Bolivian dances performed in drag. Los Tiempos reports that thousands of people participated, if not as paraders, then as spectators.

Way to go Cochabambino gays! I should note that I can hardly wait for the comments blaming me personally for having brought Sodom and Gomorrah to La Llajta. That credit, I am afraid, will have to go to others, Bolivians one and all. And as for those who are upset about our support on the Blog of gay Bolivians, my advice is, really, just get over it. Trust me, your homophobia is far more damaging to gay people than their homosexuality is to you.

Now onto guns and my post Friday about the unfortunate 20-year-old woman from the U.S. who got talked into bringing ammo down by a Colonel stationed at the U.S. Embassy.

Yesterday President Evo Morales brought up the topic in a speech in a small town near Oruro. Lumping ‘ammogate at the airport’ along with two other previous incidents – the bombing of two La Paz hotels by a mentally disturbed U.S. tourist and the arrest of two young Americans taking photos of official cars at last year’s Presidential summit – Morales declared that Bolivia was the victim of “aggressions” at the hands of the U.S. government. Presidential spokesman Alex Contreras went so far, says Los Tiempos, to “suggest” direct participation by the White House in the three “attempts against democracy.”

If we have learned anything about the Bush White House these past few years, the folks running the show are more likely to be amazingly incompetent as they are skillfully conspiratorial, especially about international small fish like Bolivia. The ammo in the airport incident is a case in point. A conspiracy to bring in munitions? This was just a classic example of lame judgment.

The irony here is that what Evo is up to is painting conspiracies from abroad in order to boost his political position at home (not an approach I favor). In doing so he is mimicking the behavior of the Bush White House.

Political BS Bolivian Style: The U.S. is launching attempts against Bolivian democracy by putting 500 rounds of ammo in the suitcase of a 20-year-old woman on American Airlines.

Political BS U.S. Style: "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraqi regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." And oh yes, we also have proof that Saddam Hussein has close relations with Al Qaeda.

Now, for ten points, which of these has had the most serious implications?