Rolling Stone Feature: Colbert, Brad Colbert,
Title: Rolling Stone Feature: From Such Things, A President Is Born Part II: Colbert, Brad Colbert, The Prospective First Gentleman
Author: melliyna
Fandom: Generation Kill, Band of Brothers, West Wing
Pairing: Colbert/Fick, Nixon/Winters, Speirs/Lipton, Ainsley/Sam
Rating: PG-13 (this part)
Disclaimer: I in fact, own nothing. No disrespect intended.
Warnings/Timeline/Spoilers: Mentions of adult concepts. Also this is The Big Damn AU of Doom world. Fair warning and all.
A/N: As always, my thanks to m_buggie for the brainstorming/help that led to this.
To capture the confidence of Brad Colbert, is an elusive thing, that cannot be gained over a lifetime, let alone eighteen months. As a journalist, an innate observer of human nature who nevertheless has as part of the creed of the profession to find the hidden layers of people, Colbert remains an enigma to the world at large. It is not that he is unfriendly (though he certainly owns the 'unsociable' label, admitting that "wider societal interaction remains a concept that me is both elusive and unwanted), but there will always be a self imposed distance in his manner. "I can count my close friends on one hand," he remarks in between fixing pancakes, amongst a mess of papers, documents and the occasional glimpse of the life that used to be, before the Presidential campaign engulfed the Colbert/Fick household. "I find contentment in it, " he says, pausing shortly before adding, "Scribe" with a tone that is somewhere between ironic, endearment and insult which adds to the uncertainty in his manner.
In point, this uncertainty has lead to sections of the media labelling him as a "campaign liability" to Fick. Colbert, quite aside from his gender, is not the political spouse that campaign dreams are made of. His history of disciplinary problems, the allegations regarding his working life as a Merchant Marine, in particular the controversial testimony regarding the Kingston, Jamaica scandal, his police record (in concert with the rumours of bar fights, that exploded in to YouTube footage that illustrated just how deadly Colbert could be with his fists. Then, Brad Colbert has not been termed the "James Dean of Political Spouses" without reason, customary leather motorcycle jacket not withstanding) and the problematic nature of the allegations raised by Casey Kaseem, in a relentless series of exposes penned on the blog americansfortraditionalvalues.com. This is anothers subject that Brad Colbert does not like to discuss, though he tells me eventually, after a particularly stressful day that "I refuse to lower myself and my ability to self censor to dignify muck with a direct response." It is his language, that genius combination of eloquence, intelligence and inventive profanity (that have lead to another moniker - that of "Victorian Gentleman, with the mouth of a Biker") that has been another casualty of his husbands campaign, at least in public.
"Do you regret it, the way the campaign narrative has been shaped " I ask him, as I sit across from him in the Campaign officers. Colbert, in his customary blue jeans, t-shirt and black motorcycle jacket (that have, perhaps surprisingly inspired both odes to his sex appeal and a degree of copy cat within the popular fashion world) does not look uncomfortable, merely a shade annoyed that I am once again, trying to pry him open. He tells me, in that flat but passionate manner that is usual with Colbert and his interaction with journalists, that when it comes to his relationship with Nate Fick he has no regrets, no doubts about standing by his side "to the gates of death and beyond," as he phrases it. You get the feeling, though it is never spoken, that this is a love that is almost that of two fellow warriors, two brothers in arms who have vowed to love and die beside each other. And it is in this, that a glimpse of the Brad Colbert that those few friends and loved ones see. It is in the love for his husband, the almost a kind of whole body smile, when you catch a glimpse of him on the phone, in the presence of his husband, you see a very different prospective First Gentleman. There is another kind of love, though it is no less profound, in the few mentions of his god-daughter that Colbert allows, in the drawings, carefully stuck to the fridge amongst campaign literature and strangely, shopping lists and magnets advertising garbage collection days, the half glimpse of a room that is kept aside for her and yes, scattered toys that however carefully tidied, always seem to end up with their own corner. Ella Nixon-Winters is another subject that Colbert both clams up about and smiles in pride, in love. "Ella and I have a ducklings story in common, " he tosses out one night, in between campaign events. When trying to capture Brad Colbert on the page you learn to find these moments, in which little pieces of himself are divulged, though again, when I later interview him in the company of his husband, when the narrative switches to the affection he feels for his close friends, there is an understanding that the broader world will never truly know him.
The 'ducklings story' however, refers to their shared abandonment and adoption narratives, though it certainly seems that the newest (and perhaps in the mind of Senator Nixon Senior, most unwelcome) edition to the Nixon family has had a smoother time of it that Colbert did, having been given in to the adoption system well before she was born. Colbert however, was six years old when he first found himself in his adoptive family, a situation that lead to, as Colbert puts it "a certain degree, oh Scribe of prurient interest, of inherent fuckery" though it appears that with his marriage, relations have become easier, though there is a hint that it may not have been that way at the first revelation of a male partner, at least if you listen to the rumour mill, a phenomeon that Colbert was overhead to describe as being almost a mob of "fish fucking, stumpy fingered perverts of, what I believe, the highest order that can be obtained in aforementioned fish fornication."
In this language, both in the condemnation and the avid consumption can be found the evidence that the public has had a mixed reaction to Colbert, even when acknowledging his attractiveness and passion. He has a bad boy charm, honed by the tabloid shots, the glimpse of him astride a motorbike against a sunset but often it is not offset by the perspective of other, softer images that have found their way in to the media. Shots of Colbert laughing, as he holds his husband in his arms after a long day of campaigning. Little baby Ella, lying on his chest as he is obviously singing her to sleep or later on, watching with a mixture of affection and amusement as she and Fick select icecream cones or laughing together, over a movie. Wedding photos, vacation snapshots, potraits of Nate Fick, tie dropped on the ground, shirt slightly unbuttoned, sitting on the table opposite Colbert, hands in his, the love obvious. Or perhaps, in the nations first possible male Presidential spouse, the bravery and decency that comes out quietly, at odd moments. He is not an active charity worker as such, in that he sits on no boards, but they have been tales of acts of generosity, even of heroism (several of his Merchant Marine crew mates swear to me that he has saved their lives, some of them more than once) It is this side of Colbert, that has perhaps been drowned out in sensationalism and the lure of his bad boy image, that his husband wants the wider public to see, to recognise. Both acknowledge that the personal exposure is uncomfortable, but inevitable, even as they seek to find a space in which they can be private, in a very public role. But no matter now public, Brad Colbert is not a man to allow access to himself, without revelation to many an observer, casual or otherwise.
(Next issue - at home with Colbert and Fick, with special guest appearance(s) of Ella Nixon-Winters. Evan Wright is a feature writer with Rolling Stone, The New York Times and a contributor to 538.com, MSNBC and Meech Is Radio. He spent eighteen months on the road with the Fick/Seaborn campaign, chronicling its highs, lows and middle brow moments)
Author: melliyna
Fandom: Generation Kill, Band of Brothers, West Wing
Pairing: Colbert/Fick, Nixon/Winters, Speirs/Lipton, Ainsley/Sam
Rating: PG-13 (this part)
Disclaimer: I in fact, own nothing. No disrespect intended.
Warnings/Timeline/Spoilers: Mentions of adult concepts. Also this is The Big Damn AU of Doom world. Fair warning and all.
A/N: As always, my thanks to m_buggie for the brainstorming/help that led to this.
To capture the confidence of Brad Colbert, is an elusive thing, that cannot be gained over a lifetime, let alone eighteen months. As a journalist, an innate observer of human nature who nevertheless has as part of the creed of the profession to find the hidden layers of people, Colbert remains an enigma to the world at large. It is not that he is unfriendly (though he certainly owns the 'unsociable' label, admitting that "wider societal interaction remains a concept that me is both elusive and unwanted), but there will always be a self imposed distance in his manner. "I can count my close friends on one hand," he remarks in between fixing pancakes, amongst a mess of papers, documents and the occasional glimpse of the life that used to be, before the Presidential campaign engulfed the Colbert/Fick household. "I find contentment in it, " he says, pausing shortly before adding, "Scribe" with a tone that is somewhere between ironic, endearment and insult which adds to the uncertainty in his manner.
In point, this uncertainty has lead to sections of the media labelling him as a "campaign liability" to Fick. Colbert, quite aside from his gender, is not the political spouse that campaign dreams are made of. His history of disciplinary problems, the allegations regarding his working life as a Merchant Marine, in particular the controversial testimony regarding the Kingston, Jamaica scandal, his police record (in concert with the rumours of bar fights, that exploded in to YouTube footage that illustrated just how deadly Colbert could be with his fists. Then, Brad Colbert has not been termed the "James Dean of Political Spouses" without reason, customary leather motorcycle jacket not withstanding) and the problematic nature of the allegations raised by Casey Kaseem, in a relentless series of exposes penned on the blog americansfortraditionalvalues.com. This is anothers subject that Brad Colbert does not like to discuss, though he tells me eventually, after a particularly stressful day that "I refuse to lower myself and my ability to self censor to dignify muck with a direct response." It is his language, that genius combination of eloquence, intelligence and inventive profanity (that have lead to another moniker - that of "Victorian Gentleman, with the mouth of a Biker") that has been another casualty of his husbands campaign, at least in public.
"Do you regret it, the way the campaign narrative has been shaped " I ask him, as I sit across from him in the Campaign officers. Colbert, in his customary blue jeans, t-shirt and black motorcycle jacket (that have, perhaps surprisingly inspired both odes to his sex appeal and a degree of copy cat within the popular fashion world) does not look uncomfortable, merely a shade annoyed that I am once again, trying to pry him open. He tells me, in that flat but passionate manner that is usual with Colbert and his interaction with journalists, that when it comes to his relationship with Nate Fick he has no regrets, no doubts about standing by his side "to the gates of death and beyond," as he phrases it. You get the feeling, though it is never spoken, that this is a love that is almost that of two fellow warriors, two brothers in arms who have vowed to love and die beside each other. And it is in this, that a glimpse of the Brad Colbert that those few friends and loved ones see. It is in the love for his husband, the almost a kind of whole body smile, when you catch a glimpse of him on the phone, in the presence of his husband, you see a very different prospective First Gentleman. There is another kind of love, though it is no less profound, in the few mentions of his god-daughter that Colbert allows, in the drawings, carefully stuck to the fridge amongst campaign literature and strangely, shopping lists and magnets advertising garbage collection days, the half glimpse of a room that is kept aside for her and yes, scattered toys that however carefully tidied, always seem to end up with their own corner. Ella Nixon-Winters is another subject that Colbert both clams up about and smiles in pride, in love. "Ella and I have a ducklings story in common, " he tosses out one night, in between campaign events. When trying to capture Brad Colbert on the page you learn to find these moments, in which little pieces of himself are divulged, though again, when I later interview him in the company of his husband, when the narrative switches to the affection he feels for his close friends, there is an understanding that the broader world will never truly know him.
The 'ducklings story' however, refers to their shared abandonment and adoption narratives, though it certainly seems that the newest (and perhaps in the mind of Senator Nixon Senior, most unwelcome) edition to the Nixon family has had a smoother time of it that Colbert did, having been given in to the adoption system well before she was born. Colbert however, was six years old when he first found himself in his adoptive family, a situation that lead to, as Colbert puts it "a certain degree, oh Scribe of prurient interest, of inherent fuckery" though it appears that with his marriage, relations have become easier, though there is a hint that it may not have been that way at the first revelation of a male partner, at least if you listen to the rumour mill, a phenomeon that Colbert was overhead to describe as being almost a mob of "fish fucking, stumpy fingered perverts of, what I believe, the highest order that can be obtained in aforementioned fish fornication."
In this language, both in the condemnation and the avid consumption can be found the evidence that the public has had a mixed reaction to Colbert, even when acknowledging his attractiveness and passion. He has a bad boy charm, honed by the tabloid shots, the glimpse of him astride a motorbike against a sunset but often it is not offset by the perspective of other, softer images that have found their way in to the media. Shots of Colbert laughing, as he holds his husband in his arms after a long day of campaigning. Little baby Ella, lying on his chest as he is obviously singing her to sleep or later on, watching with a mixture of affection and amusement as she and Fick select icecream cones or laughing together, over a movie. Wedding photos, vacation snapshots, potraits of Nate Fick, tie dropped on the ground, shirt slightly unbuttoned, sitting on the table opposite Colbert, hands in his, the love obvious. Or perhaps, in the nations first possible male Presidential spouse, the bravery and decency that comes out quietly, at odd moments. He is not an active charity worker as such, in that he sits on no boards, but they have been tales of acts of generosity, even of heroism (several of his Merchant Marine crew mates swear to me that he has saved their lives, some of them more than once) It is this side of Colbert, that has perhaps been drowned out in sensationalism and the lure of his bad boy image, that his husband wants the wider public to see, to recognise. Both acknowledge that the personal exposure is uncomfortable, but inevitable, even as they seek to find a space in which they can be private, in a very public role. But no matter now public, Brad Colbert is not a man to allow access to himself, without revelation to many an observer, casual or otherwise.
(Next issue - at home with Colbert and Fick, with special guest appearance(s) of Ella Nixon-Winters. Evan Wright is a feature writer with Rolling Stone, The New York Times and a contributor to 538.com, MSNBC and Meech Is Radio. He spent eighteen months on the road with the Fick/Seaborn campaign, chronicling its highs, lows and middle brow moments)