bkdelong

So there's a story that has been broken by the blogosphere about Alan Keyes, (running against Barak Obama for an Illinois Senator seat), and his daughter, Maya. It seems that a smart blogger has put two and two together and discovered Maya Keyes' weblog. Various other sites have gone a step further and found sites of her purported girlfriend including one of the two of them kissing.

I'm torn.

On the one hand, I absolutely abhor the thought of this story being splashed all over the tabloids at the expense of Maya - she's only 19 and isn't really campaigning for her father; just making occasional public appearances with her family. She's not a public figure and has the right to her privacy & her own life.

On the other hand, her father has made some strong statements over the years that are incredibly anti-gay and homophobic including one reported in the Chicago Tribune about Dick Cheney's daughter, Mary, that would look incredibly hypocritical should this recent revelation prove to be true.

Two hosts with Sirius OutQ spoke with Keyes for four minutes Monday night in a nearby hallway. Their conversation centered on Keyes' opposition to gay marriage. Keyes said family is defined by having children.

"If we embrace homosexuality as a proper basis for marriage, we are saying that it's possible to have a marriage state that in principle excludes procreation and is based simply on the premise of selfish hedonism," Keyes told hosts Michelangelo Signorile and Corey Johnson.

...

"I have said that if you are actively engaging in homosexual relations, those relations are about selfish hedonism," Keyes said. "If my daughter were a lesbian, I'd look at her and say, `That is a relationship that is based on selfish hedonism.' I would also tell my daughter that it's a sin, and she needs to pray to the Lord God to help her to deal with that sin."

Who knows, based on some of the contents in the blog alleged to be Maya's, maybe he's already told her that.

Third, my parents and I were seriously not getting along and so we needed some time off from each other; the idea was that after a year of being a wonderful good helping-the-poor type person they would once again like me and therefore be willing to pay for my college I'm not so sure that part of it will work; despite the fact that I'm all about working for global justice THEY don't care about that, THEY only care that I am an evil dyke.

And even if I am a charitable dyke I am still a dyke who KISSES GIRLS and especially with the gay marriage thing going on now that's at the front of their minds. So I think I might get back to find out they still don't like me and I won't have a college to go to.

But sociologically it's another fascinating look at the blogosphere breaking a story before journalists and political operatives even catch wind of it.

Think about it, however - who would want to run with the story? The Republican party, (despite becoming more and more conservative since Dubya's election), made a considerable effort to place Alan Keyes as the Republican candidate to replace Ryan in the race against Barak Obama for U.S. Senator. I don't think they'd risk dissension in the ranks and send the Religious Right against Maya & her father to risk losing that Senate seat. I'd be interested to see if they keep their attack dogs muzzled.

And look how far Obama is in the polls.... AP reports a 51 point lead as of today. There is no reason for him to touch this with a ten-foot poll and even if he was behind - I don't think he'd mention it. One of the liberal blog sites that picked this up, Daily Kos, has been just as torn on bringing the issue up - the Democratic party has nothing to gain by making this into an issue and Maya isn't actively participating in her father's campaign so there's no basis for calling her a hypocrite.

I put my money on the media outing her. Someone, somewhere will write the story either to boost ratings or simply to make sure all the facts are out there for the people to factor the information into their selection on voting day. It remains to be seen whether this comes out at all.

Whatever the outcome - it will no doubt become a public story and for that, I apologize Maya. You are young and have your life ahead of you - and to be used for political gain whether positive or negative, is not fair. I hope your friends and other members of your family support you through this ordeal and that you don't let it effect who you are and how you see yourself.

Update: (6:55pm ET) When I wrote this piece, there was only one link in Google when I did a GIS search for "Maya Keyes". It's now the first of 57 entries in Google In addition to Daily Kos discussion, there is also a few aggregators that picked up said discussion, a link to Maya's alleged blog, and an interesting post from a Columbia Law student's blog that looks at the ethics behind "exposing" Ms. Keyes blog.

Update: 7:54pm ET - It seems that Maya updated her Web site. Very curious:

<Begin Web Site Quote>

In America today, more black children are aborted than are born.

A black baby is now more than three times as likely to be
murdered in the womb than a white bab
y.

Since 1973, abortion has reduced the black population by over 25 percent.

Twice as many African-Americans have died from abortion than have died from
AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, can
cer, and heart disease - combined.

Every three days, more African-Americans are killed by abortion than
have been killed by the Ku Klux Klan in its
entire history.

Planned Parenthood operates the nation's largest chain of abortion clinics and
almost 80 percent of its faciliti
es are located in minority neighborhoods.

About 13 percent of American women are black, but they
submit to over 35 percent of the abortions.

Not to mention that Margaret Sanger (the founder of Planned Parenthood) was an avowed racist who wanted to sterilize
the "unfit," and Sanger's organization's members warned about the danger posed to the white population by the "black" and "yellow"
peril, and wanted to "purify" America's "breeding stock."

<End Web Site Quote>

Strange.....doesn't seem like her words. I wonder if someone did, in fact, hack her site. Or if she attempted to throw people off from believing she was Maya by going to the extreme. Quite possibly, she tried to "get in line" with her father's views once the media storm happened. I wonder if anyone actually "captured" Maya's site before she restricted viewership. Chillinois got quotes but sometimes actual screen captures or HTML downloads are better.

I found the Web site of her alleged girlfriend - Bria - the girl in all the pictures we've come cross and she is a liberal, pro-choice anarchist. While Maya may be Pro-Life, such a virulent attack on Pro Choice folk on her site seems....a bit convenient.

Chillinois also reports that the "issue" will be addressed by Mr. Keyes at a South Suburban Event tonight. This meeting is probably the Southside Town Hall Meeting scheduled for 7pm CST at Israel Methodist Church in Cottage Grove, IL.

Update: 9:33pm ET - *sigh* I'll likely go to hell by the time this story is said and done with. This is my last update for the night. Kos reported WTTW has mentioned the story in their evening news stating that it will be brought up at a press conference with Keyes.

[BrainStream]
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