Ken Mehlman, former chairman...

...of the Republican National Committee, is being heralded for his courage in coming out of the closet this week. And to this I say, So what! Is this a big deal in 2010? Besides, Bill Maher outed him way back in 2006 on the Larry King Show. Why did it take Mehlman so long to confirm what everyone else already knew?

Do you know what would have really required courage? If Mehlman had come out in, say, 2004, when the Republican Party was bashing gays in a bid to rally the base:

In 2004, Republicans introduced 11 measures against same-sex marriage in various states, as part of a strategy to attract conservative voters to the polls at a time when President George W. Bush was running for reelection. President Bush himself railed against activist judges and backed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

In fact, some political observers credit the "Defense of Marriage" referendum on the ballot in Ohio for delivering that state -- and the presidential election -- to Bush in 2004.

So where was Mehlman then? He was Bush's campaign manager. Why didn't he speak out against bigotry six years ago? Sorry, Ken, but you don't get a lot of kudos from me.

Oh, and by the way, do you know how many mentions of this were on Fox News this week? Zero.