Sue Lovell's Hypocrisy

So it seems the runoff in At Large #2 is getting a little heated. Team Lovell must be doing some math and realizing that there's no room for her to gain new voters. Jay Aiyer, the only candidate running to work for ALL of Houston, does. As part of said effort to work on behalf of ALL of Houston, Jay paid a visit with one of those sorts of folks that even I'm not entirely crazy aboutL KSEV talk show host, Ed Hendee. Here's a few comments by Hendee that seem to be lighting a fire under Team Lovell's rear end:

(via the email circuit)

Edd Hendee Show KSEV AM 700---Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Approximately 7:40am

Hendee talked about the upcoming race, pointing out that Sue Lovell is a gay activist and that Jay Aiyer (Hendee mis-pronounces it "Ayers") is a married man with children. He has a copy of the "Fight Back" Fundraiser invitation.

"She's out there saying she's discriminated against. So Sue, you're a
hypocrite! And you're welcome anytime in the studio you want to defend yourself. Anyway, the (Fight Back Fundraiser) invitation goes on to say: 'Are we willing to do what it takes to keep qualified elected officials at the table who understand our issues and will fight for all the communities in Houston?'. So, anyway, it's about running the City of Houston, it's about pushing gay rights. Which is again, why I, frankly.it's not about.I don't discriminate against people because they are gay, I discriminate against people because they have an agenda, all the time. I don't want to see a heterosexual agenda or a white supremacist agenda or a black supremacist agenda or any of that agenda. I want the City of Houston.the police.the fire.pick up the garbage and let the city be a great place live. This has nothing to do with your own personal little lifestyle agenda. But they can't let go of it, I'm telling ya. They're going to have the Fight Back Fundraiser [laughter] tomorrow night [laughter]. I hope you're not attending this [laughter]. But the list of people here at the bottom of these fundraisers, they always have the names of people who gave a nice little donation, or whatever and they're usually pretty high profile names. It's like if we were going to do one for Jerry Patterson, who's Land Commissioner for Texas. It would be at our house, I hope you're going to come, and it'll say on the invitation: Edd and Nina Hendee. [Laughter] The Fight Back Fundraiser: Mike Holman and Tim Surrett, that's a couple [laughter].Rick and Tim.David and Alex. I mean.this is.SHEESH! [laughter]. The couples are guys! It's like Aunt Jack and Uncle Tim. You know, it's just.sheesh. You think there might be an agenda at play here?

It's not about putting somebody on City Council to run the city, it's about pushing the gay agenda. Sue Lovell is a activist, a very open activist, gay community member. Lesbian, mother of two-adopted-and she's running against Jay Ayers [Aiyer]. I'm supporting Jay Ayers [Aiyer], not because of homosexuality but because Jay Ayers [Aiyer] has promised to help us with the conservative fiscal responsibility on City Council. So this runoff coming up in about a week or so for City Council is a big deal. And if you think the gay community isn't going to go out and bloc vote this deal, I got news for ya. Again they say: 'They won Proposition 2, its time to fight back!' [Laughter, then exasperated sigh] Oh my, right here in Houston, Texas. 7:54 a.m., now Kevin Charles with the morning traffic update who is apparently not attending the fundraiser. [laughter]

Now, for all that faux concern for fiscal responsibility, Ed sure does delve into an inordinate amount of homophobia. And true to script, Sue Lovell called out the dogs. A call from her "supporters" for Jay Aiyer to denounce Ed Hendee's comments. Then a call from Sue herself:

I and my supporters renew our call on Jay Aiyer to repudiate the endorsement and vicious statements of Edd Hendee. Mr. Aiyer to this date has not done so.

I repudiated and rejected the unsought endorsement and ugly statements of James Galvan, immediately and without reservation. I did not want that kind of sentiment associated with my campaign.

Mr. Aiyer sought Mr. Hendee's endorsement, according to Mr. Hendee. Mr. Aiyer should now reject that endorsement and prove to Houstonians that he will stand up to bigotry and hatred.

OK, so Sue's been somewhat fair in denouncing James Galvan's immature and asinine endorsement. Way to stand up, Sue. James Galvan represents an asterisk in terms of Houston opinion. She's even occassionally called off her supporters attacks on Jay for being a "terrorist" though that practice still continues to this day.

But what REALLY set me off was not this apples-to-oranges namecalling B.S. No, it was the apples-to-apples comparison of Ed Hendee's comments and those of another individual ... this one an endorsee of Sue Lovell herself:

I take offense when people associate me and my race and my culture with a social ill. I don't see how the two relate to each other. I just wanted to make that clear.

Sue, it's been seven months since Al Edwards referred to your own lifestyle as a social ill. Renounce his endorsement and we'll begin taking your word seriously. Till then, you're just another hypocrite.

ADD-ON: Jay HAS actually put out the following statement in response to the Lovell insanity:

All too often in politics today, the low road is the one most traveled. In May, I signed the Texas Code of Fair Campaign Practices, partially in response to disturbing racially bigoted comments coming from Ms. Lovell?s campaign. In the spirit of having a rigorous contest on the substantive issues of importance to Houstonians, I called on the other candidates in the race to join me in signing the pledge. No one else signed.

Hate has no place in Houston. Any such prejudicial comments, be they based on sexual orientation, ethnicity, or any other ?lowest common denominator? divisive issue are wrong and have no place in public discourse. I will always oppose discrimination in all its forms, and reject personal attacks against candidates or their family members.

I take Mayor White?s call to never let people divide Houston very seriously. That is why I have worked hard to run an inclusive, non-partisan campaign that reaches out to Houstonians from all walks of life. There is far too much work to be done continuing to move our city forward to take the low road.

Jay's been running a campaign of ideas and that's what this city needs. He signed the Code of Fair Campaign Practices in May. He's been talking about how government in Houston can be better, more effective, and more efficient. It's been six and a half months and we're still waiting on Sue Lovell to follow Jay's soon-to-be-trendsetting lead on this. Then again, what good is one's word if you're not willing to sign on the dotted line to back it up with?