Creep of the Week: Tommy Thompson

Tommy Thompson, former governor of Wisconsin and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001-2005, is feeling the heat after his decidedly anti-gay response to a question during the GOP presidential debate.
The moderator asked the presidential hopeful the following question, "If a private employer finds homosexuality immoral, should he be allowed to fire a gay worker?"
Thompsonis answer: "I think that is left up to the individual business. I really sincerely believe that that is an issue that business people have got to make their own determination as to whether or not they should be."
He was even given the chance to clarify. The moderator asked, "So the answer is yes?" Thompson replied, simply, "Yes."
Thompson is now claiming that his hearing aid wasn't working. He also didn't feel good.
"I didn't hear the question. All I was thinking about was getting off the stage," he told the Associated Press.
Don't you hate it when you're sick and accidentally say something that denigrates an entire group of people? One time, when a friend of mine was really, really sick with the flu but trying to keep up appearances at a dinner party, she accidentally denied the Holocaust. So it happens to the best of 'em.
At this point I should probably mention that last month Thompson appeared in front a Jewish group and claimed that earning money was "part of the Jewish tradition."
Oy.
But give the man a break. He had the squirts. Aw man, did I just say that? Wait, did he actually say that?
"I was very sick the day of the debate," Thompson said. "I had all of the problems with the flu and bronchitis that you have, including running to the bathroom. I was just hanging on. I could not wait until the debate got off so I could go to the bathroom."
Wow. That's got to suck. I mean, it's one thing to have to stand on the same stage with guys like Sam Brownback and Mitt Romney. That could make anyone a little queasy. But to have the flu on top of it…
I admit it, I feel for the man. So I suppose it is possible that poor Tommy Thompson was clenching his butt cheeks so tight he actually cut off oxygen to his brain and it was this lack of oxygen that caused him to say such a stupid thing.
"I said it, I'm sorry, and it won't happen again but it's not my record," Thompson said. "There's nothing discriminatory about me at all."
It's true. Thompson isn't the anti-gay right's presidential poster child.
My issue is this: the moderator's question was very direct. Thompson's answer wasn't. Instead of saying what he's now claiming he really believes – that gays shouldn't be fired – he tried to weasel his way out of a direct answer. Because God forbid any Republican ever be seen as telling businesses what to do, even if it's that they can't discriminate.