I'm going to be totally contrarian here for a second, and posit another explanation: only the really blatant haters get outed. My understanding is that there's a rule-of-thumb about outing people, a sort of code of honor in the journalistic community. The rule is that unless the person is making sexuality a public issue — for instance, by gay-bashing or sponsoring hateful legislation — it's bad form to out them. When a person starts sticking their nose into other peoples' business, then their sex life is fair game.

I don't think that you have to presume that self-hating gay men gravitate towards the GOP. It's pretty easy to see that the GOP puts up with much more blatant homophobia. If self-hating, closeted Democrats are kept in check by the party, that alone could explain the disparity.

I do like the idea that many men maks their own orientations with homophobic bluster. I'm just cautious about assuming that such a delightful, simple idea explains this.

If they're playing unremarkable techno or electronica, I'd wager that it's precisely because it's unremarkable. I agree with the poster who said it beats than cock rock: you may not exactly like it, but (unless they're playing happy hardcore), does it really crawl in under your skin?

Then again, my gym playlists mostly consist of cheeseball industrial and synthpop club hits, which is to say, simplistic 4/4 dance beats made into English-language pop songs for a German audience. A particular favorite, and a sterling example of the absurd shit you can get away with, is Informatik's Nymphomatik..

Regardless of the original merits of the speech, the MSM has succeded in making it an issue by their blackout. And despite what their defenders would say, that's exactly what the press did: Colbert's performance should have merited a passing remark, even if it was unfunny or rude, rather than the complete silence it received. There was plenty of ink spilled about the far-less-interesting 'double Bush' skit. Let's assume for a second that Colbert was in terrible taste, that he spent 15 minutes coarsely insulting Bush and to his face. Doesn't that deserve at least one line in the 200-word fluff pieces on the event?