Free Republic

The Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican group, on Wednesday criticized a new ad from Rick Perry in which the Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate suggests "there's something wrong" when gays can serve openly in the military but kids "can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school." "Our nation was built upon individual liberty and individual responsibility, and open service by gay and lesbian servicemembers is directly in line with the vision of our Founding Fathers," said R. Clarke Cooper, Executive Director of the Log Cabin Republicans. "It is wrong for Governor Perry to assume being a person of...

Well, it looks like we have a new Anthony Weiner in town. A Puerto Rican TV show called Dando Candela presented Republican Senator Roberto Arango with naked pictures found on the Internet that they claimed were of him. He wouldn’t deny the allegations, saying he had taken photos like that but only to document his weight loss. Of course, that doesn’t explain the fact that the pictures were found on Grindr, a hook up site for gay and bisexual men.

Lost amidst all insider bickering, Haley Barbour question-dodging, press-banning and John Bolton sabre-rattling at the weekend California Republican convention was a bit of history: The party elected its first openly gay board member. And we didn't see a hoot of protest about it. "Well, openly gay," quipped Gregory Gandrud, who just took his seat on the 23-member board. The 50-year-old Carpinteria (Santa Barbara County) resident is a longtime party activist, and Capinteria council member from 2002-2006. So about being "the first" -- a caveat: The California Log Cabin Republicans believe he is the first California Republican Party board member. Gandrud...

Something reminded me this morning to check up on Jay....

Log Cabin Republicans petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to revive the legal battle over "don't ask, don't tell" after federal appeals court allowed the ban to stay in place indefinitely. On Friday, attorneys for the Log Cabin Republicans filed an appeal in hopes of finally overthrowing the ban on openly homosexual troops serving in the military. The gay and lesbian group had expressed opposition to last week’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to indefinitely uphold the 1993 law. In a Nov. 1 statement, Log Cabin Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper said, “Log Cabin Republicans is disappointed that Don’t Ask...

When Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) agreed to attend a fundraising dinner in Washington for the Log Cabin Republicans, many social conservatives were outraged. The group has long urged the GOP to be more accepting of gay rights, and some Republicans worried that the appearance by Cornyn, a party leader in Congress, would further legitimize its views. The senator not only attended the Log Cabin event at the Capitol Hill Club last Wednesday, he also accepted an award from the group, becoming the highest-ranking Republican to do so. After his speech, though, the group's president, R. Clarke Cooper, privately told Cornyn...

GOProud Pays Lots Of Money To Be Demeaned By Homophobic Racist 09/26/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoireHomocon is exactly what Ann Coulter did yesterday. She conned a group of homosexuals to give her money while she demeaned them and went on in a very racist fashion. She apparently made a series of jokes and then went ahead and stated the predominantly wealthy conservative lesbians and gays that they should oppose marriage equality and said “I should warn you: I’ve never failed to talk gays out of gay marriage.” She then went on to parrot the usual run of why lesbians and gays...

Suddenly, it's becoming less of a stigma for bigwigs to associate with gays in the Republican Party. Not only has former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman's 9/22 fundraiser for gay marriage rights attracted numerous high-octane Republican donors and activists, but Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Rep. Pete Sessions, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee will help the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay GOP group, raise money for its political action committee. A glossy pamphlet advertising the Log Cabin Republicans' national dinner at the Capitol Hill Club highlights an hour-long cocktail gathering with...

Log Cabin Republicans National Dinner Washington, D.C. September 22, 2010 With special guests: Sen. John Cornyn*Rep. Pete Sessions Join us this September 22nd for Log Cabin Republicans' National Dinner in our nation's capital. Confirmed speakers include National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Senator John Cornyn* (R-TX), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX), Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL), Representative Anh 'Joseph' Cao (R-LA), Representative Charles Djou (R-HI), Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, Daily Caller Publisher Tucker Carlson and Nick Herbert MP, Minister of State for Justice/Police (UK). (snip) *Senator Cornyn will be attending...

A growing number of Republicans are breaking with the party's traditional stance to publicly state their support for same-sex marriage, a shift strategists say stems as much from demographics as from the renewed focus on economics and the "tea party" movement. A solid majority of adults younger than 30 - about six in 10 - support the right of gay and lesbian couples to legally wed, according to a Washington Post poll in February. But even many older Americans and self-identified social conservatives have changed their view on an issue that just six years ago galvanized voters in support of...

Wynnewood Inn was built in 1828 in upper Middle Tennessee. It remained in an excellent state of preservation until suffering tragic tornado damage in 2008. A project to faithfully restore the historic structure is in progress.

Tishomingo County is a scenic slice of the Backcountry nestled in the Appalachian foothills of far northeast Mississippi. The Butler Dogtrot cabin was built near The Natchez Trace circa 1870 and survives as a fine example of this rustic architecture.

This log house was photographed near Hollins in Roanoke County, Virginia, about eight decades ago. I have been unable to determine whether it remains standing -- the structure was in serious disrepair when the photographs were taken long ago, indicating that its survival to the present time is questionable.

This unusual log cabin was photographed decades ago on Winterview Farm near Lexington, Virginia. I have been unable to determine whether it still stands.

A political activist and pro-family leader says a radical homosexual group is trying to infiltrate the Republican Party in order to render it less effective in standing up for policies like the ban on homosexuals from military service. On July 13, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips will hear the lawsuit brought by homosexuals who call themselves the Log Cabin Republicans as they challenge Clinton's longstanding policy of "don't ask, don't tell," which bars homosexuals from openly serving in the military. Congress is already working on the legislation to repeal the actual 1993 law that declares homosexuality is incompatible with military...

Son Jim came up for a visit this weekend and we spent Saturday at The Breaks Interstate Park on the Virginia-Kentucky border. The Breaks Visitor Center features a single-crib log cabin and a moonshine still -- which comes with directions for use, in case you don't already know how. [Photographs]

During the second half of the 19th century, traditional methods of constructing residential buildings -- by using logs, timbers, or solid masonry of stone or brick -- rapidly were displaced by balloon-framing and platform-framing methods. But while the building of log cabins as primary residences faded, Americans did not stop building log cabins. They simply built them for other purposes, to serve as vacation cottages and fishing and hunting camps.

In this article, a selection of mountain cabins which were photographed when folks were living in them. The cabins depicted are all believed to have been located in Appalachia, although the location was in some cases not specified.

Vintage settler's cabins are rare finds, as most of them didn't survive very long. Many thousands of these shelters were built during the early history of the Backcountry, constructed quickly and simply of peeled logs, often with no windows. The cabin depicted here was located in the Rich Valley of Virginia and was photographed in 1880. [Picture is linked because of claimed library restrictions]

The log cabins in this collection of vintage photographs have been lost, to the best of my knowledge. Timbers may have been salvaged from some, and it is possible that one or two have somehow survived, but if so I can find no trace of them.