We didn't ask. But he did tell Whatever else you want to say about it, this US presidential campaign has been educational. In recent days, for example, we have had an unexpected tutorial on the sexual fantasies of some of our rightwing friends. The lesson was delivered in the context of a controversy involving Richard Grenell, who quit this week as foreign policy spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, only weeks after he was named to the post. Gary Silverman Mr Grenell is a well-known figure in US conservative political circles, having served as press spokesman for John Bolton, President George W. Bush's ambassador to the UN. Mr Grenell is also openly gay, which aroused consternation among many of Mr Romney's supporters. Some of Mr Grenell's friends told my colleague Richard McGregor that the spokesman had in effect been forced from his job. "Romney and his core people are not anti-gay but they just didn't have a strategy to deal with the zealots on the right," said one. The campaign against Mr Grenell was led by Bryan Fischer, a talk-show host on American Family Radio, a network broadcasting "Christian-oriented programming" to more than 40 states. Mr Fischer's assault was two-pronged. As you might expect, he is no fan of gay sex or gay marriage. But Mr Fischer also alleged that gay men such as Mr Grenell engage in so much sex and are so distracted by it that they can be led astray by enemies of the US and should not be given important foreign policy jobs. "Given the propensity for members of the homosexual community to engage in frequent and anonymous sexual encounters, the risk to national security of having a homosexual in a high-ranking position with access to secret information is obvious," Mr Fischer wrote in his blog. Similar objections, of course, could be raised with heterosexual men. Last month's Secret Service scandal - involving male agents bringing female prostitutes of uncertain loyalties to their hotel rooms in Cartagena, Colombia, shortly before President Barack Obama was due to arrive - attests to that. But I don't think we can simply laugh off Mr Fischer. His views helped cause a real man to lose a real job. His arguments are also revelatory. Like a lot of conservative people today, Mr Fischer strikes me as the sort who is simultaneously uncomfortable with America's sexual culture and spending an amazing amount of time thinking about it. Indeed, for a supposed family guy, Mr Fischer possesses what the artist known as Prince once described as a "dirty mind." In his blog, carnal desire, particularly of the homosexual variety, is omnipresent and damn near irresistible. Mr Fischer thinks his opponents have amazing sexual dynamism. Gay men are veritable sex machines. Gay women are powerful seductresses. Before Mr Fischer took on Mr Grenell, he tried to persuade JC Penney, the US retailer, to drop comedian Ellen DeGeneres, a lesbian, as a spokesperson, claiming she would lure impressionable young women into a "dangerous and destructive sexual lifestyle." "Will America's young women be just a bit more likely to experiment with lesbianism now that JC Penney is mainstreaming it?" he says. To any objective observer, the answer must be yes. Is this a good thing? To any objective observer, the answer must be no. The dangers posed by Ms DeGeneres are legion in Mr Fischer's telling. "Research has indicated that lesbians suffer from increased levels of depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, breast cancer and vaginal diseases," he wrote. From a religious perspective, there is a certain logic to Mr Fischer's notions. He's a true believer, trying to live by the word of God in all aspects of his life. It stands to reason that he would suspect non-believers have similar absolutist inclinations. It never seems to occur to people such as Mr Fischer that sinners might be boring in their own ways. Even a bad person can have a headache, a work deadline or a kid to pick up at soccer practice. As for Mr Grenell, I would be embarrassed to ask him whether he's quite as frisky as Mr Fischer fears. But I have gleaned two potentially relevant facts from his press clippings: Mr Grenell spent quite some time working at the UN and he has gained notoriety in the years since by sending out hundreds of snarky Twitter messages, often about prominent women in politics. Mine is just one man's opinion, but somehow I doubt that Mr Grenell is quite as appealing as Mr Fischer thinks he is.