Last Sunday, former Republican Senate staffer Ben Domenech published a blog post in The New Ledger in which he outlined President Obama's top ten picks to replace Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court. In describing the pros and cons of Solicitor General Elena Kagan -- seen by many as the likeliest choice -- Domenech listed as an advantage that Obama would be selecting the "first openly gay justice." CBS then reprinted the post on Thursday, prompting backlash from the White House, which vigorously denied that Kagan was a lesbian. After hours of initially defending the post, Domenech retracted the claim and CBS pulled the article from its website. Domenech also apologized to Kagan in a separate essay on the Huffington Post.
The entire episode -- from the initial rumor, to the response from the White House, to the discussion of the issue in the media -- confirms to me yet again that, even in the realm of politics, we are still a nation of juvenile adolescents.