CLOSET-CASE DAVID DREIER NAMED TO REPLACE TOM DELAY

House Majority Leader Tom Delay was indicted for his role in the Texas campaign finance scandal.

DIRELAND (Journalist Doug Ireland’s web log) reports that House Speaker Dennis Hastert has named Rep. David Dreier to replace indicted Tom DeLay as House Republican Majority Leader. Dreier is known for having an anti-gay voting record and has also voted against providing resources for the care of people infected with HIV-AIDS.

But wait ~ there’s more! DIRELAND also has a breaking news update (scroll down to the bottom of the article)about the controversy surrounding Dreier’s appointment. Here is what DIRELAND reports:

UPDATE: Late-breaking news — there was a mini-revolt in the House Republican Caucus this afternoon against Speaker Dennis Hastert’s choice of Dreier to replace DeLay. The result: Dreier will be sharing some duties with Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, who will be interim Majority Leader (photo of Blunt at right).. My Capitol Hill sources tell me there was a lot of grumbling aboutr Dreier’s accession to DeLay’s Majority Leader job because Dreier is from California and Californians already hold a half-dozen important committee chairs in the House, and because Dreier is a teensy bit more moderate on some issues than Dreier. But on one set of issues they agree — their opposition to full civil rights for gay people. Blunt is a recipient of the “True Blue Award” from the anti-gay Christer lobby, the Family Research Council, which quickly issued a staement praising the choice of Blunt. Eric Stern, executive director of the Stonewall Democrats, immediately issued a statement, saying:””Roy Blunt is flamboyantly out in his opposition to equal protections for gay and lesbian Americans. He is a leading anti-gay advocate in Congress, and we are convinced that he will continue the corruptive policies of Tom Delay on issues of equality as he is aided in his duties by Congressman Dreier.” At this hour (6:00PM) is unclear just how the joint Blunt-Dreier sharing of power will work. It’s unclear whether Dreier’s homosexuality played any role in the GOP congressmen’s revolt. DIRELAND will keep you posted.

Ken Sain also has a post on Dreier at: David Dreier