Friday, February 01, 2013
NOT A HERO
Ed Koch is dead at 88.
That means that, technically, he is not a hero.
Remember my hero thing? Live to be 90 and be a power of example.
Ed fails on both counts.
When I was young, Ed Koch was a fiery liberal. He stood at the edge of the 60s and ranted and he was able to get elected as a congressman.
He even played the fucking guitar.
A lot of people thought and still think that Ed Koch is/was gay. OK. You don't have to say if you are or not.
But if you are the mayor and there is an epidemic among gay men in your city, a firestorm, then you cannot, you must not, refuse to help them whether it is because you fear your own outing or because your internalized homophobia is so fierce that you simply are immobilized.
Or worse, you decide that helping the plague's victims is not good politics. It might get in the way of your power and your re-election.
I have read few defenses of Koch in this area. It is indefensible. The facts are clear. He ignored dying gay men.
In my book that is a pretty deep chasm to cross to become a hero.
But forget about that for a moment.
He was a shit to people. He was an arrogant bastard who stepped on many people on his way to the top including shedding all his liberal postures.
Was he a complicated man? Yes. Did he do some good things? Sure.
But dicks don't figure in my pantheon.
Rest in peace Ed, if you can. You left a lot of unfinished business here.
There is a new documentary just out as he took his last breaths. A big break for the producers.
