# Larry King asks Massa "Are you gay", Massa (kinda) answers **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 10, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991 "2010-03-10T16:49:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/21 "2010-03-10T19:26:01Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If he were interviewing a woman who was married to a man? Yes, he might ask if she were straight. If he were interviewing a straight man who allegedly groped a woman, the question wouldn’t make any sense. If he were interviewing a guy married to another guy who allegedly groped a female staffer the question “are you straight?” (or maybe “are you bi?”) would make just as much sense. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/22 "2010-03-10T19:31:54Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > That’s got to be tough for black staffers: > > “Congressman, you have a meeting at 10:30.” > > “Please, call me Massa.” > > . > . > . > . > . > “Congressman, you have a meeting at 10:30.” Think that’s bad? Here in Ontario, there are judicial officials whose _official title_ is “Master” (they rank below judges and deal with certain types of motions, scheduling and the like); and the official form of address to such a person is “Master [last name]”. > **[Master (judiciary)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_(judiciary))** > > A master (called an associate judge in some jurisdictions) is a judicial officer of limited jurisdiction in superior courts in common law jurisdictions. The office originated in the courts of England and Wales and has been adopted in courts in numerous other countries. A master's jurisdiction is generally confined to civil proceedings and is a subset of that of a superior court judge or justice. Masters are typically involved in hearing specialized types of trials, case management, and in som... No end of hilarity ensues when a Black lawyer is in attendence, given that much of the dialogue in such procedures consists, basically, in variations on “Yes, Master [Smith], I will certainly follow your Orders”. 😃 It would be just as funny if the Master himself were Black, giving orders to White lawyers, but generally Masters I have seen have all been grumpy old White guys (I’d be grumpy too if I did scheduling all day). ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/23 "2010-03-10T19:54:51Z")
Right — well maybe I’ll give you 3 viable answers. No, yes, or GFY. It seems he hit none of them here (or, as someone said, kinda tried to hit all 3). And yes “If you think I’m gay, ask my friends in the Navy” isn’t a Perry Mason kinda argument. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/24 "2010-03-10T20:33:57Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > He dances around the question like a true politician. To be fair, it could just be force of habit – maybe he’d dance around the question “Does the Sun rise in the east?” just as perplexingly. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/25 "2010-03-10T21:01:14Z")
Massa wasn’t on _Anderson Cooper_ in person last night but they played clips of him and in one he mentioned a ‘Navy ritual’ of tickling other guys. David Gergen, who served in the Navy during the 60s, said this was news to him. Of course Massa also may or may not have terminal cancer, may or may not be the subject of a Left Wing conspiracy\* due to his objection to health care, may or may not be under ethics investigation for playing grabass with male employees and may or may not be under ethics investigation for financial improprieties, it depends on the moment and what story he’s telling. (When Glenn Beck and Nancy Pelosi both agree somebody’s a sad pathetic unreliable nutcase attention must be paid.) \*As if the Left Wing could conspire- it’s the worst thing about them. Most couldn’t manage to play grabass with themself unless they had a committee meeting first. Then they’d probably hit themself in the nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/26 "2010-03-10T21:04:50Z")
Somebody on _Morning Joe_\* made a tagline out of it and went around rasping in a high obnoxious voice, “ARE YOU GAAAY?! ARE YOU GAAAY?!” \*An early morning show on MSNBC, an obscure cable network. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/27 "2010-03-10T21:12:42Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Shouldn’t that be “gwine away”? Gwine away? I thought he was in de cold, cold ground! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/28 "2010-03-10T21:15:12Z")
De verdict was de blue-tail fly. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/29 "2010-03-10T21:26:01Z")
[Eric Massa’s Navy Files](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/eric-massas-navy-files/37309/) > [@](#): > > According to Peter Clarke, a Navy shipmate, Massa was notorious for making unwanted advances toward subordinates. He tells the story of his friend Stuart Borsch, with whom Massa shared a hotel room while on leave during the first Gulf War. “Stuart’s at the edge of the bed,” Clarke says Borsch told him at the time, “and [Massa] starts massaging him. Massa said, ‘You’ll have to get one of my special massages.’ He called them ‘Massa Massages.’” Ron Moss, a Navy shipmate and Borsch’s roommate, confirmed that Borsch told him this story at the time. etc. Naturally, some will say that Pelosi payed off the navy boys for dishing dirt on Massa. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/30 "2010-03-10T21:46:14Z")
Well there’s the added question here. If you’re a man, and when drunk at a party you say to another man “I should frack you”, you’re fairly likely a latent homosexual? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/31 "2010-03-10T21:46:54Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Eric Massa’s Navy Files](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/eric-massas-navy-files/37309/)etc. > Naturally, some will say that Pelosi payed off the navy boys for dishing dirt on Massa. He didn’t serve on swiftboats, perchance? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/32 "2010-03-10T21:53:10Z")
> [@](#): > > He also says he told a male staffer, “I want to frack you.” I’m told that “frack” means fuck in Klingon or something. OK, now _that_ gives me a lot of respect for him. Ladies and gentlemen, a politician elected to high office has actually used _Battlestar Galactica_ slang, and been reported in the news as doing so. My nerd brothers and sisters, we have arrived. Oh, and he’s apparently gay, too? Who gives a frak about that? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/33 "2010-03-10T22:02:30Z")
Not me, but he should stop playing games and just cop to it. I have some respect for that right winger in California who got busted outside the gay club because he at least didn’t try to deny it, or weasel it, or qualify it, or dance around or prevaricate, or blame the alcohol or anything else politicians (or mega-church pastors) do when they get caught with teh ghey. He just straight up admitted he was gay without qualification. His career is probably still over (at least as a Republican), but he kept a lot of dignity by not playing games. The “wide stance” kind of bullshit never fools anybody anyway. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/34 "2010-03-10T22:25:27Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > He just straight up admitted he was gay… Oh, you silly punster! Man, this guy is some kind of crazy. He’s all over the frackin’ map, contradicting himself about every other minute. Cue the chorus: _In the Navy!_ ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/35 "2010-03-10T22:29:32Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I have some respect for that right winger in California who got busted outside the gay club because he at least didn’t try to deny it, or weasel it, or qualify it, or dance around or prevaricate, or blame the alcohol or anything else politicians (or mega-church pastors) do when they get caught with teh ghey. He just straight up admitted he was gay without qualification. His career is probably still over (at least as a Republican), but he kept a lot of dignity by not playing games. I think it was over anyway, because of term limits or some such. At any rate, he was not running for re-election before the gay bar event. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/36 "2010-03-10T23:39:34Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Eric Massa’s Navy Files](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/eric-massas-navy-files/37309/)etc. > > > [@](#): > > > > According to Peter Clarke, a Navy shipmate, Massa was notorious for making unwanted advances toward subordinates. He tells the story of his friend Stuart Borsch, with whom Massa shared a hotel room while on leave during the first Gulf War. “Stuart’s at the edge of the bed,” Clarke says Borsch told him at the time, “and [Massa] starts massaging him. Massa said, ‘You’ll have to get one of my special massages.’ He called them ‘Massa Massages.’” Ron Moss, a Navy shipmate and Borsch’s roommate, confirmed that Borsch told him this story at the time. Like I said, saying “ask the 10,000 guys I served with in the Navy” was a very bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/37 "2010-03-11T00:02:13Z")
I dunno if he’s gay or not, but after reading this thread I really, _really_ want tamales. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/38 "2010-03-11T00:03:06Z")
Please-you get in a few tickle fights and undo a few guys’ pants and they label you a homosexual? ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/39 "2010-03-11T03:11:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Not me, but he should stop playing games and just cop to it. > > I have some respect for that right winger in California who got busted outside the gay club because he at least didn’t try to deny it, or weasel it, or qualify it, or dance around or prevaricate, or blame the alcohol or anything else politicians (or mega-church pastors) do when they get caught with teh ghey. He just straight up admitted he was gay without qualification. His career is probably still over (at least as a Republican), but he kept a lot of dignity by not playing games. The “wide stance” kind of bullshit never fools anybody anyway. It seems to me that Massa is not so much denying it as just having a meltdown. I know some of his supporters personally, and was planning to attend one of his fundraisers (prior to all this stuff). He seemed like a fairly principled guy based on what I heard about him and his vote on healthcare reform. I think that he’s just overwhelmed and won’t be a reliable source of information for the next few weeks. He might be gay or bi, probably is, but the Democratic leadership has every reason to want him out. He’s a progressive who refused to compromise, and he’s in a hotly contested district for 2010. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991/40 "2010-03-11T04:12:41Z")
Am I gay? Ask the guys down at the leather bar. Ask the guy fellating me under the table as we speak. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-king-asks-massa-are-you-gay-massa-kinda-answers/531991.md?page=3)