Last week Salon sent writer Dan Savage to Iowa to cover the presidential primary caucuses. While there, he came down with the flu. The story he filed -- a feverish, compelling and disturbing account of how candidate Gary Bauer's crusade against gays drove him to try to infect Bauer with his flu.

What do you think? Do you think it was humorous or even tad gone overboard?

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2000

Answers

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I think it was stupid. I mean, COME ON.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I thought it was funny. But then again, I didn't think he was really going around licking doorknobs, either. I think he was just joking about that part, and the whole thing was tongue-in-cheek.

-- Mary Ellen mary-ellen.diaryland.com

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

Imagine the outcry if a Republican had pulled this little "prank".

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

His prank was both gross and mean-spirited. I'm kind of suprised he admitted to it. I'm embarrassed for him.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I kind of doubt he really licked a doorknob and all that. Dan Savage is a well-known smart ass who likes to shock people, but he's also pretty big on avoiding germs and he is not, in fact, an idiot.

But I think Salon was probably stupid for publishing this: if he didn't really do it, then some folks are going to say that Salon should have labeled the article as fiction or satire or whatever. If he really did it, then Salon just looks bad for endorsing malicious stupidity.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I thought it was funny. I'm a Dan Savage fan from way back. I figured it was mostly tongue in cheek.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I hink this was brilliant. Gaybashing is not merely a "matter of opion." Taking things out of context and tryng to make them neutral "political" issues misses the point. There *is* a war on queers, which most queers are well aware of because we have to worry about being harassed, beaten, and sometimes killed. The foot soldiers of this war are the small-time, unorganized bigots who think faghunting is a good Saturday night sport, but the generals are the folks like Bauer who have made a career out of convincing folks that I am such a huge threat to them that they should give him money (or better still, take matters into their own hands).

This isn't an act of "terrorism" or "biological warfare" it's a form of self defense. Commenting on it as a neutral "freedom of speech" issue is fine if you're sitting on the sidelines, but when you're the one under attack, when you know this guys troops are saying that you should be stoned, shot or othewise killed (and when you know such killings happen quite often in the U.S., this isn't all hypothetical folx) it's a *whole* different story.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I'm with you in spirit, Dave, but if Dan Savage really licked doorknobs and coffee cups and what-not, the person most likely to get sick was probably the janitor -- who may not have health care or even sick leave. More importantly, I can't see one single long term benefit that could possibly come from this.

But I did think the story was funny. I guess I'm just sick like that.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

Beth,

Ok, you've got me there. I do need to stand by my fellow workers, even if they are working for the Bauer campaign.

I did, however, think the story was hilarious. I think his resistance would be ineffective but only because it wasn't strong enough. He should have broken into the computers and changed all the names and phone numbers.

Damn, I hate this new keyboard. I love having a G4 at my office, but this small keyboard loses letters whenever I type too quickly.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I'm so glad you linked to this story, Beth! I hadn't heard about it yet. Hee hee hee.

I worked with Dan Savage on his (now over) radio show for four years, and I highly doubt he licked any doorknobs. Ew. But I'd be more inclined to believe he gave Gary Bauer his chewed-upon pen.

I'm glad to hear Dan is still out there stirring up controversy.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I thought it was really funny, but my love for Dan is unconditional -- pure and true like the desert sun.

Incidentally, did anyone else read the feedback for this story on Salon? And was anyone else absolutely infuriated by Russ Starrett's comment ("BTW, Savage, you might have exceeded your own expectations - you might have infected them with AIDS as well. Have you had a blood draw recently?")? *hiss* *snarl* *spit*

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

I thought the article was interesting, but I also thought it was incredibly unethical. Regardless of what anyone thinks of Gary Bauer or his campaign staff, attempting to harm his already-doomed candidacy by getting Bauer and his volunteers sick crossed the line. IMO, it's also not going to do Savage or his cause any favors. In fact, I'd guess it would help Bauer's campaign rather than hurt it, since it turns him into a victim.

I'm a journalist in my 9-5 working existence, so maybe that's why I have strong feelings about this even though I think Bauer's unqualified to be a dogcatcher, much less the President of the United States. What Savage did is exactly what gives journalists a bad name. We're supposed to report the news, not lead the parade for social causes. Even a columnist, while encouraged to express opinions and write provocative copy, isn't supposed to become part of the story. In this case, Savage IS the story.

I wonder if Salon would have published a similar article if a member of the Christian Coalition tried to pull the same stunt on Al Gore?

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Response to Dan Savages goes to undercover.

Oh, I suspect they would have, if a member of the Christian Coalition were willing to be published in Salon. I think Salon will print just about anything. You can accuse Salon of a lot of things, but political correctness ain't one of them.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Well, that goes without saying, which is why it's so popular. It also illustrates why I shouldn't post before I finish my coffee, because I'm cranky and irritable until that happens (not that I'm not cranky and irritable anyway, but at least now I'm wide awake).

I guess what I meant to ask was whether people who had no problem with Savage's actions would be similarly unaffected if the name "Al Gore", "Bill Bradley", "George W. Bush" or "John McCain" was substituted for "Gary Bauer."

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

I'm glad to see that Savage will be sued and probably face criminal charges for his "prank". In a delicious irony, the "prank" falls square inside of Iowa's recently passed "hate crime" law, so that his sentence will be much stiffer because of the hateful thoughts he was thinking while he committed his assault.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Can I ask where you heard that he would be sued? and by whom? I couldn't find anything on the Bauer site, on wire services or in the Des Moines Register site about it. I mean, it strikes me as problematic at best--proving that he actually did it. All he has to say is that it was a joke and that he didn't do it--and I really doubt that he did. Bauer would also be extraordinarily ill-advised to do so; he doesn't need to make an already desperately weak campaign a laughingstock. (Though, I suppose, by the same token it could hardly hurt him.)

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

To answer Emil's question:

http://www.nypostonline.com/commentary/23884.htm

Keep in mind that we have had 8 years of the most pro-lawyer administration in history. Our runaway tort lawyers will be glad to sue a deep pocket company like Salon.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

So it's Bill Clinton's fault that the Bauer organization is suing over their candidate being exposed to the flu?

Wow, Republicans really _can_ blame Clinton for anything!

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Anyway, I, too, thought the whole article is just a joke. Any sane person knows that you're far more likely to GET a disease than to GIVE one if you go around licking doorknobs!

And if Mr. Savage really did do that stuff, I have to rate his efforts at germ warfare as very poor. Saliva tends to have a very low concentration of virus, and there are proteins in saliva which act as antiviral factors. The MUCUS of a sick person, on the other hand, is going to be jam-packed with virus.

Also, anyone who's running for president probably shakes thousands of germy hands every day and is probably going to be very careful about washing his hands regularly and avoiding touching his face (you can't catch the flu through your skin, only through an orifice or a cut).

If he were really serious about hurting Mr. Bauer, he should have blown snot in his coffee or something.

Btw, I just read on cnn.com that yesterday, "[Bauer] also had an embarrassing fall from a stage during a pancake "flip-off" event. But Bauer jumped right back on the stage and predicted his campaign would too."

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Thanks for the citation to the NY Post article. I couldn't find that information anywhere.

My goodness. That Dreher guy in the NY Post article is quite something, isn't he? Positively frothing at the keyboard.

Unfortunately, Dan Savage does seem to have committed voter fraud, according to that NY Post article. (I can't believe he was dumb enough to complete that form.) Actually extraditing him back to Iowa to face the charges may be problematic--I should think that California, between chasing down murderers, drug dealers and the like, would just say "Get REAL", and since a primary is a state election, it's not a federal crime. If they just fine him, he'll probably pay it, but I don't expect that he'd serve a five year sentence. (I don't expect that they'd sentence him to it, either; they've got better things to do with their jails. Basically, actually pursuing the charge would cost Iowa more than it's worth.)

And I should imagine that "the mainstream media" has ignored this story because to the extent that they even knew about the article in Salon, they didn't take it seriously. The follow-up information is even more difficult to find.

In any event, the only thing they have proof positive of is the voter fraud. There's no real way they can tie anybody's flu back to Savage, nor can they prove that anyone got it from the doorknob he licked. And having been brain-damaged enough to fill out the form (and I'm beginning to think that Mr Savage has more than his quota of brain damage, thanks, but that's another issue) ... well. I don't know. I don't think he'll say, if pressed, that he licked anything, but who can tell.

And it's Iain, not Emil.

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2000

Iain, please pardon my dyslexia.

For the ultimate commentary on the Savage attack on Bauer see the article by my favorite lesbian, Camille Paglia at :

http://www.salon.com/people/col/pagl/2000/02/02/primary/index.html

After chewing up Savage for an appetizer, Camille slices and dices Hillary like Thanksgiving leftovers. She then treats us to tasty deserts consisting of mixed Hollywood-bashing and gun control wisdom.

Camille is on the other end of the spectrum from me on most political issues, but by golly it is SO refreshing to read an honest liberal's writing.

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2000

Uh, I have a problem with the classification of Camille Paglia as an "honest liberal." She's an honest self-aggrandizing blowhard, maybe. I have a hard time taking her seriously, because she always seems to be trying to adopt the stance that will shock the most people.

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2000

Did anyone else notice that the author of the Post article seemed to go out of his way to use the word "bugger" in the headline?

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2000

Wierd. I was just interviewed on a webcast radio show on gaybc.com because someone read my post on here. It was fun, although I Was nervous as hell and am sure I came off like a dork. I tried not to get TOO radical, but at the end I started to go into my "one big union for all workers" Wobbly spiel.

Anyway, I'm not sure how popular the probram is but he mentioned retrogression.com and xeney.com every few minutes so you may get a lot of hits today.

Then everyone can, like me, get sucked into wasting a good chunk of their day reading Beth's journal entries and searching through the ond ones for pictures of Doc (who is just so damn adorable).

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2000

Regarding Beth's comment on Camille:

Uh, and you don't think those precise words describe Dan Savage? Frankly, I find that very amusing that you don't see it.

Dan Savage is, has always been, and will always be (even if from a future jail cell!) a shameless self promoter, out to shock and draw attention to himself.

Remember who it was that declared the AIDS crisis ended a few years ago? He's reckless in his journalism.

And, if you all believe he could pull a stunt like registering to vote in a place where he doesn't live, why would you believe any less that he did as he says (couging on, licking, whatever) in the Bauer office.

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2000

I agree with you, Jeff, that Camille Paglia and Dan Savage are cut from the same cloth. But I think the real difference is that Paglia, despite her outrageous declarations and questionable methods, still expects to be taken seriously as an intellectual, whereas Savage seems content with his role as a wacky media provocateur.

And I wouldn't call _either_ of them "an honest liberal."

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2000

Dan Savage has been charged with felony voter fraud and could go to jail for up to six years for his "prank".

http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788993/11098790.html

Hurray for the rule of law!

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Y'know... Camille Paglia was fun once upon a time. Now she's just an obnoxious self-promoting windbag.

I don't know what happened finally with Dan Savage's prank, but I fully support him in doing it. It's funny in the Hunter S.Thompson tradition, and it was directed at humiliating a wacko-Christer-right winger like Bauer. Dan would be fully correct in skipping to London if there are legal consequences.

-- Anonymous, July 10, 2000