TN-08: NRCC "gay-baits" former minister, father of 3

Sessions Watch readers in Tennessee sent in this story from the Nashville Post; it's not directly about Pete Sessions, but about NRCC tactics. Since Pete is Chair of the NRCC we decided to run with it, since it sounds like something he'd approve.

So here's the story: NRCC spokesperson Andy Seré has been using his blog to imply that congressional candidate Roy Herron (running for TN-08) is gay. For proof, he points to Roy Herron's blog, where he writes about physical fitness and avoiding the heart disease that claimed his father's life:

Dad never got to see his younger two sons (my brother Ben and me) finish our education. The next heart attack got him. But I definitely want to see our sons grow up and complete their educations.

So, I work out. And like everyone, I try to watch what I eat, sometimes with less success than others. One of my friends reminds me, "You know, Roy, gluttony is still a sin."

And since it's one of my sins, I have to work out more than some to keep my weight down. But my heart seems strong with a morning resting heart rate (pulse) of 34, sometimes lower. I'm hoping it'll hang in there for a while yet.

Another part of my motivation is to encourage young people to be active. And as someone once said of proclaiming the Gospel, "Preach the Good News--use words if you must." It's much easier for me to preach and fuss, but most young people get enough preaching and fussing, but not enough good examples. And they sure know the difference between the talk and the walk. So, I know I've got to continue to try to eat less and work out more than I otherwise would.

Now, I'm fortunate. All three of our sons are runners on Dresden's Cross Country Team...

Sounds like pretty good advice, especially since there's been such an emphasis lately on personal responsibility in the health care debate.

But according to Andy Seré, physical fitness is for gay people. From Talking Points Memo:

When I first spoke to NRCC spokesman Andy Seré on Wednesday, Seré used Herron's personal blog against him. In addition to his legislative work, Herron uses a good portion of the blog to discuss his physical fitness, and his family's history of heart disease. "Rather than protecting small businesses, rather than protecting taxpayers, he often seems more interested in watching what he eats, making sure he's jogging enough miles everyday, and just watching his body image very closely," said Seré.

Hmmm...Sarah Palin is a runner, right? And George W. Bush is into physical fitness, right? If physical fitness is only for gay people, does that mean George and Sarah are...?

But we digress. Apparently, Andy Seré is using his blog to make a weak link between pictures of Roy Herron in jogging shorts to his vote to overturn a ban on gay people adopting kids. "So why can't Roy Herron just be straight with West and Middle Tennesseans" Seré writes on his blog.

So, what journalists wanted to know next is, what's behind Andy Seré's obsession with gay people? John Aravosis of AMERICAblog writes about what he found on Seré's Facebook page:

In unrelated news, it must have been one hell of a party that same NRCC spokesman, Andy Seré, attended last May, according to his Facebook page. The Fete was called the "GOB Freedom Festival." It caught my eye since "gob," among other things, is gay slang for oral sex, and for young gay sailors (and, an even odder coincidence, the party was for a military friend coming back to the states). It gets even odder when you look at the photos from the GOB "festival" that I found on Facebook...

Here's one of the photos--for the rest, check out AMERICAblog--or better yet, become one of Andy's Facebook friends:

Our readers in Tennessee say that Ron Herron is a devoted family man and father of 3, and that he's a former minister; they assure us that he isn't gay but add, "Not that there's anything wrong with that! :)"

Libertarian John Jay Myers joins TX-32 race

From Dallas Morning News:

Onetime city council candidate and longtime Libertarian John Jay Myers has announced his plans to runs for U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions' seat. The campaign will officially kick off Jan. 28.

Myers ran a spirited but doomed campaign for City Council member Carolyn Davis' 7th district seat. Virtually unknown to the district's political and religious establishment, he nevertheless won quite a few votes through tireless campaigning and a message that seemed to resonate with voters from Buckner Terrace to East Oak Cliff...

The Sessions Watch team welcomes John Jay Myers into the race, and wishes him all the best. We invite our Libertarian readers to check out John's website at this link: John Jay Myers for United States Congress.

"Allen Stanford Helped Pete Sessions Score His Biggest Political Victory"

From Talking Points Memo:

"I love you and believe in you," Sessions wrote Stanford in an effusive Feb. 17 e-mail, according to the Miami Herald in an exclusive report Monday. "If you want my ear/voice -- e-mail."

Why the warm-fuzzies?

Perhaps because five years ago, in Sessions' greatest moment of political need, Stanford and his associates proved staunch allies.

A Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates that employees of Allen Stanford-led Stanford Financial ranked No. 2 among Sessions' donors during the 2004 election cycle, accounting for $24,275.

Of course, that amount alone won't win an election. But the Stanford donation total ranked ahead of massive firms such as SBC Communications, Ernst & Young and Crow Holdings, all of which have notable presences in Sessions' Texas District 32, situated in Dallas and its suburbs.

And it was the 2004 election cycle that Sessions, an incumbent, grappled with another longtime incumbent congressman in Democrat Martin Frost...

And, again, there's an interesting item in the comments section of the blog:

My family is represented by Sessions in Congress and we invested millions of dollars of our family's trust with Stanford last year that is now completely gone. This was a trust for two disabled members of our family. We have contacted Sessions' office no fewer than a dozen times with no return phone call. He is a disgrace to our community. He should be fighting for all the Stanford investors he helped Allen Stanford deceive. Part of the reason we trusted Stanford Group so much was because of the company's roots with our trusted elected officials like Sessions and Senator John Cornyn. We would have been better off investing with Madoff because at least those investors were able to get securities insurance. Sessions should be fighting in Washington to help the Stanford depositors to get at least the same relief the Madoff victims got. What Sessions did to help Allen Stanford is called AIDING AND ABETTING.