O’Donoghue lowers the bar — again
Robert just mailed me a poem sent him personally by Joe O’Donoghue, who’s pissed off that Robert opposes Prop D, O’Donoghue’s zoning land grab. The poem is notable for two things: its terrible rhyming, and its attempt to use Robert’s transgender status to intimidate and demean him. And to be clear about its intent, Robert’s boss was cc:d on the poem, which was certainly an attempt to get him to back off. Robert’s too pissed off to respond, so I will:
Hey, Joe, shut the hell up.
O’Donoghue’s attempts to get his way by violence, intimidation and prejudice are well documented, and this is another example. Frankly, it’s despicable and offensive. I think the time has passed when any political figure in San Francisco can ally him- or herself with O’Donoghue. If you’re taking money from the man or his organization, you’ve lost my support.
In addition to being an asshole, O’Donoghue’s a terrible poet, as his missive to Robert demonstrates:
OUR TRANSFIGURED ROBERT
When Eve was sent to test his grace
She brought to him a cherub face
A Jason personality
Of sweet and sour banality,
But angry at that form given
Haaland to vengeance was envy driven,
Dastardly acts was all he saw
As life a doomed synecdoche,
With spirituality thus lost from his sight
He seeks relief in power and might,
Now he plots, now he lies
Despite the failures, the greater he tries,
Searching for the what that’s not
A solution lost in the Gordian knot,
But since his id an abject trail
Expect from him puke rant and rail,
And as he cants perceived wrongs
The drug thugs sing this daily song,
“Beat the elderly and the frail
In the hospital that’s worse than jail,
S.E.I.U. their principles sold out
For greater power and greater clout,
Douse the ward with gasoline fire
The bureaucrats they with us conspire,
Hit a patient with a chair
Why the hell would S.E.I.U care,
Hit the patients in the head
Live they now in fear and dread,
Send us now another bum
This for us is so much fun,
Garbage in, seniors out,
Hail our transfigured political clout”.
(emphasis in the original)
April 12th, 2006 at 11:53 am
There was a time when this might have bothered me personally, when my self esteem as a transgender man was maybe lower, but those days are long, long gone. My self esteem as a man is not dependent on his approval or any one else’s. I am angry though. I am angry that people think that it is okay to attack someone based on their transgender status during a political campaign in order to demean, belittle, and intimidate them.
April 12th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Being a relative newcomer to SF, I hadn’t heard of O’Donoghue before reading this post. He appears to be seriously disturbed, as well as an utter dirtbag. Robert is absolutely right that it isn’t worth taking offense. If anything, I suppose one ought to be proud to be the object of this clown’s ire.
April 12th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Joe O’ hits a new low.
The poem speaks more of the author than anything else-and it doesn’t reflect well on Joe.
April 17th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Barf! That’s all I can say. What a repulsive missive.