The extent to which one is pleased by this is a matter of perspective. Should one see a glass half full or a glass half empty?posted by zombieflanders at 8:12 AM on February 27 [8 favorites]
The glass-half-full contingent will note that this kind of list would have been largely impossible as recently as a decade ago, and reinforces just how much progress has been made in a very short period of time. The "Republicans for marriage equality" club was infinitesimally small up until very recently, and now it's not.
The glass-half-empty crowd will note that there are 30 sitting Republican governors, and 45 sitting Republican senators, and the grand total of them who signed on to this brief is zero. There are 232 sitting Republican members of the U.S. House, and only two have stepped up to put their names on this list -- 0.8% of the caucus.
No catch. It's just that now BOTH conservative parties support same-sex marriage.The Republican Party does not support same-sex marriage. The Republican Party explicitly opposes it.
"The Republican Party and the Whig Party, of which Lincoln was a member, believed that government had a role in helping to move the country forward through building dams and dredging rivers and making harbors better, and the transcontinental railroad, much like what we call stimulus today," she (Kearns Goodwin) tells THR. "He also believed government had a role in helping people rise to the level of their talent in their discipline, that sort of equal-opportunity role, in that sense he might find the principles of the Democrats congenial."posted by Golden Eternity at 8:29 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
There's a painting that has Reagan and Nixon playing cards with Lincoln. It's so appalling, both as art and as political comment, that I sometimes wonder whether it's extremely dry satire.The fact that you can't see Lincoln's face, while they're all (with the possible exception of Lincoln) having a good laugh at something, and the focus of their attention is definitely Lincoln, makes me think that they're all laughing at him. Dubya in particular has a body language that seems to me to be "in your face" confrontational jocularity, and likely just made a joke that Lincoln is some kinda pinko commie Muslim.
The one gay Republican that I personally know* is, like almost all other Republicans that I know, not rich. He's not rich by a long shot. Rather, he is, just like almost all other Republicans that I know, under the impression that he would be rich if commies would just stop wasting money on crazy things like feeding poor people, public education, libraries, and inspecting the food supply.I really do not understand out gay republicans. I mean, seriously, what is the appeal?They're gay Republicans so, presumably they're rich
A White House official said Tuesday morning that no decision has been made on whether to file an amicus brief; the deadline is Thursday. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Tuesday evening that the administration was still weighing its decision, and is “looking at options that fall short of embracing a constitutional right'’ to same-sex marriage.Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Obama has made supporting same-sex marriage a central theme in his recent speeches, including his second inaugural address and has often stated that Americans ought to have equal rights, “no matter who you love.” He announced during his re-election campaign last year that, after months of saying his views were “evolving,” he had concluded gay couples ought to be allowed to marry.
"[A]dministration lawyers worry that taking such an expansive view in legal briefs could unnerve some justices in the Supreme Court's conservative wing, the people familiar with the matter said," the Journal reported.New York Times Editorial: Beyond Selma-to-Stonewall
The outcome of the Proposition 8 case is likely to affect the lives of gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans for years to come, even if the final disposition is not sweeping enough to wipe out all state laws currently banning same-sex marriage. A strong filing by the Justice Department, forthrightly declaring that denying the freedom to marry violates the Constitution, would put the full weight of the federal government on the side of justice and could influence the shape of the ruling.posted by ericb at 11:33 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
For the administration to be missing in action in this showdown risks conveying a message to the justices that it lacks confidence in the constitutional claims for ending gay people’s exclusion from marriage or that it believes Americans are not ready for a high court ruling making marriage equality the law of the land — impressions strikingly contradicted by legal precedent, the lessons of history and by the president’s own very powerful words.
But the presence of so many well-known former officials ... suggests that once Republicans are out of public life they feel freer to speak out against the party’s official platform, which calls for amending the Constitution to define marriage as “the union of one man and one woman.posted by benito.strauss at 12:37 PM on February 27
"There has, as far as I am aware, never been any serious proposal by anyone to force churches to recognize gay marriages. Just like, for example, the Catholic church is not forced to recognize marriages between divorcees, or for that matter marriages between Hindus."The issue comes the same way birth control did. The Catholic Church isn't required to say birth control isn't a sin, but as long as people are working for them they have to deal with federal regulations in terms of who gets what benefits. So they complain about having to pay for birth control and they'll probably complain about having to offer benefits to same sex partnerships.
Former McCain strategist Steve Schmidt told the Times, "The die is cast on this issue." Does this push indicate a real change on this issue within the GOP? Or is it merely a token gesture from marginalized moderates?posted by ericb at 1:15 PM on February 27 [8 favorites]
Schmidt is right: The die is cast on this issue, and the [Republican amicus brief] signatories are belatedly getting ahead of history before it flattens them like a tank. Generational turnover alone assumes gay marriage will be a done deal in America; public opinion on this issue has moved faster than any civil-rights battle in our history. So excuse me for being the skunk at the party, but where were these latently brave conservatives when their stand might have made a much bigger difference in bringing equality to gay Americans?
Ken Mehlman, the Bush-era Republican chairman, deserves credit for his activist stance on marriage once he left politics and came out as gay (in 2010). But that doesn’t erase the ugly history that came before: He stood idly by when Bush and Rove vilified gay men and women to scare up votes during the 2000 and 2004 campaigns — a strategy that whipped up further bigotry against vulnerable gay citizens even as the country was still in the shadow of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard.
SKINNERFrom 'The Portland Trip', Seaon 2, Episode 7.
Ask me the question, Josh!
JOSH
How can you be a member of this party?!?
SKINNER
You've been holding that in for way too long, man.
JOSH
This party who says that who you are is against the law.
...
SKINNER
I agree with 95% of the Republican platform. I believe in local government. I'm in favor of individual rights rather than group rights. I believe free markets lead to free people and that the country needs a strong national defense. My life doesn't have to be about being a homosexual. It doesn't have to be entirely about that.
« Older "In the records of the more or less illustrious de... | The Transgender Legal Defense ... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by wheelieman at 7:59 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]