Homosexuality is not a particularly interesting topic to me, except in how it relates to society as a whole. Such as in prejudice and marginalization. And, of course, in how it has become such a lightning rod, so to speak, for, er, polarization. I found out about Mr. Sanchez on the Stephanie Miller show this morning, when her vacation replacement Elayne Boosler was having so much fun with the story.

I read Mr. Sanchez's rationalization of his curious history. He is pretty intelligent. He also does spin very well, a skill that should be come in very handy in the field of marketing. The part about being sorry for leaving a "summer job" off his curriculum vitae was the best. I had a summer job once sweeping floors in a kitchen table factory. I have had allergies ever since. Another summer I worked on a farm. Another was scraping windows at a construction site. I didn't put those jobs on my resume either.

It would be too easy to joke about whether Mr. Sanchez is featured in "Hot military studs," but I don't mind that others do, and have no problem laughing at the jokes. What I think is worthy of further study, though, is the dishonesty. I don't consider myself a "leftist" because I don't believe the metaphor is appropriate. The mythical spectrum of "left" to "right" exists only in the minds of the ideologically addicted. Nonetheless, there are many people who believe they are positioned somewhere along this nonexistent spectrum, and they form their lives around their imagined placement.

Mr. Sanchez identifies himself at the "right" end of the nonexistent spectrum, and thusly identifies with and seeks acceptance from the major figures of that identity. He can hardly be blamed for hiding his "summer job" in an industry that is supposedly antithetical to his supposed beliefs. I find no inconsistency in this.

The reason I find no inconsistency is that "conservatism," "the right wing," "neocons," and whatever else this sphere of mental and social identity is called - it's all bullshit. There aren't any real beliefs there. It's all about greed, rapaciousness, dominance, scapegoating, and paranoia.

Thanks to the Bush criminal operation, it is all falling down like rain. I said years ago that there was nothing to worry about with Newt Gingrich because he would overplay his hand. Now the entire "right wing" has overplayed its hand, and its house of cards is falling down all around it. Mr. Sanchez can be thanked for his contribution to the downfall. Overplaying his hand turns out to be his only talent. Hmm. I guess he has other talents.

This is the best critique of the "right wing" psyche I have seen yet. Except that I have a problem with the term "right wing." It's like calling a group the "Green Bay Packers." The only packing any of them do is to pack a suitcase. The "wings" could just as easily be called the "fore" and "aft" "wings."

Which may be a key to the impasse. People are free to quit one "wing" and join another "wing," like David Horowitz and

David Brock. It's the ultimate free agency, with the difference being change in identity and the identity reward syndrome that accompanies each wing.

Then there is Matt Sanchez, who has taken identity free agency to new extremes. Formerly and actor in "gay" pornographic movies, he is now a hypermasculine Marine (the only difference being the Marine part) and darling (appropriately) of the "right wing."

Regardless of the semantics, though, Mr. Greenwald has articulated the fake nature of the ultramasculine "right" better than anything else I have seen. I covered the subject a couple of times in my blog (http://whilewestillhavetime.blogspot.com/search?q=enhancing+your+masculinity and http://whilewestillhavetime.blogspot.com/2006/12/after-fall.html#links).

The more this subject is looked into, the better. This phenomenon had a beginning, and it will have an end. They really all are fakes. When the "Iraq" war started I was a member of a group called "Veterans for Peace." I had a bumper sticker that said "Another veteran against war with Iraq." I got tailgated on a regular basis on the local version of a freeway. All it took was a tap on the brakes to introduce the fake tough guys to their ancestors. For some it took two taps, the second a bit more emphatic. Seeing your ancestors twice in one day is more than any faker can handle. I eventually quit Veterans for Peace and sold the car, and now don't get tailgated at all.

Suicide on campus is nothing new. At several universities where I either worked or was a student, there were suicides every spring, typically during finals week, but not necessarily. It seemed the most common method was jumping off a high-rise dorm.

College students are vulnerable. They are still forming their identities, and the pressure of achieving some mastery of difficult coursework while sorting out their purpose in life, relationships, and pending adulthood can be overwhelming. In today's world there is the added factor of accumulation of massive amounts of debt in order to be in school at all.

Schools expelling students is a phenomenon similar to the Walter Reed scandal - bureacratic decisions made for spurious reasons, supported by the inertia of the organization. No doubt the schools want to avoid being sued, but they may end up that way anyway.

The best way to look at this problem is to first recognize that things didn't used to be this way. Then look at what is different today. An endowed reasearcher could do a valuable study, establishing pre and post effects of different variables. Someone has probably started looking already.