Thursday night’s GOP debate between Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Gary Johnson showcased the anti-gay politics of the GOP, but especially of Rick Santorum. While it took almost an hour for the DOMA and “gay marriage” question to be posed, it was. Rick Santorum, introduced as the most socially-conservative of the candidates, did not disappoint.
Asked, “Are you willing to tone down your positions on abortion and homosexuality in an effort to reach more voters and help the GOP coalesce behind a more fiscally focused platform?,” Santorum replied, staking his ground and bashing his in absentia opponent, Governor Mitch Daniels, “Anybody that would suggest that we call a truce on the moral issues doesn’t understand what America is all about.”
“America is a country that is based on this concept, and the Declaration of Independence, that we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. Rights come from God and the first of which is life. The second of which is liberty,” Santorum preached.
But what Santorum really means is “Allow straight people to be free, and to pursue their own dream and to serve their god, to serve their family and community.”
“Those two concepts really transformed the world because it said that government was going to be limited. Allow people to be free, and to pursue their own dream and to serve their god, to serve their family and community. That is only possible if we have strong families. Strong marriage is at the root of strong families. And if we have a respect for human life because of course we’re all created equal.”
The irony of Santorum’s argument obviously escaped him. “Rights come from God,” Santorum said, applauding a limited government. A limited government would allow marriage equality, but that concept is lost on Santorum.
(Santorum has the embarrassing distinction to have won Politifact’s “Pants on Fire” award.)
“Allow people to be free, and to pursue their own dream and to serve their god, to serve their family and community,” Santorum says, but what Santorum really means is “Allow straight people to be free, and to pursue their own dream and to serve their god, to serve their family and community.”
Santorum is the ultimate bigot. Same-sex couples want to build strong families too, but to Santorum, families haeaded by same-sex coupes aren’t real families. According to Santorum, single-parent families aren’t real families, either. Essentially, only white, married middle- or upper-class families are real families.
Ron Paul was asked, “Are you advocating legalizing gay marriage in this country?”
“I’ve spent an entire chapter in my new book on marriage,” Paul replied, plugging his book, adding, “the government should just be out of it.” Paul said he favors marriage by the church or private contract, and that “we just shouldn’t have this argument.”
READ: Does Ron Paul Want To Stop The Supreme Court From Ruling On Prop 8?
“I have my standards, but I shouldn’t have to impose my standards on others,” the Texas Congressman, married 53 years said,suggesting that same-sex marriages don’t meet his standards, but hthat he has to allow them to stay true to his principles. “Others have their standards, but they shouldn’t have the right to impose their marriage standards on me.” Paul said he believes marriage, if it must be regulated by the government, should only be at the state level.
Paul supports DOMA because it “protects” the states. “The Defense of Marriage Act was really designed to make sure the states have the privilege of dealing with it [marriage].”
Never mind that laws, and the state itself, exist — or should — to protect people, not the state.
Herman Cain said Obama’s decision to not defend DOMA was “a breach of presidential duty bordering on treason.” He then gave a history lesson on DOMA, then misstated the presidential oath of office to fulfill his position.
Cain’s reason for disagreeing with Obama’s decision on DOMA is because “that is asking the Department of Justice to not uphold a law.”
That was the entire depth of his reasoning.
(Oh, by the way, Frank Luntz, the GOP pollster, after the debate said that Cain won. Go figure.)
{ 13 comments }
In Ron Paul's effort to protect the states' interests in defining marriage, he has ignored that DOMA also defines marriage at the federal level, leaving states that have made same-gender marriage legal out in the water. Hopefully he will rectify this.
How can you not see that Ron Paul is basically saying that the federal government should just wipe thier hands of this issue and leave it to individual states to decide. He never siad anything anti-gay in his message, in fact he said that he has opnion and gays have thier opinion and neither side should ever impose or force thier opinion on the other.
Out of all of the Republican candidates, gays and pro-choicers stand the best chane with either Paul or Cain.
Try not to slander the entire GOP lineup becasue Santorum is a sefl righteous prick.
I finally figured out why some people want to leave the gay marriage issue to the states
They fear that the Supreme court will do exactly what it did in 1967, and eradiate all the bans on gay marriage and make it the law of the land, just as they did in 1967 re eradicating the 40 odd state bans on inter=racial marriage.
And the bigots will be exposed as society does not collapse and people accept our gay citizens as part of God's wondrous creation.
I heard a radio interview with Ron Paul on a christian radio show and the host kept trying to get Ron Paul to bash gay people and Ron Paul refused. He is obviously not an anti-gay bigot.
No one's trying to say Ron Paul is "an anti-gay bigot." I'm just saying he's not as supportive as many would like to think. Paul puts "states rights" ahead of the rights of the individual. If you doubt that, you didn't read, Does Ron Paul Want To Stop The Supreme Court From Ruling On Prop 8? http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/does-ron-pau…
Keep in mind he is looking at the situation from a federal perspective. Just because he is leaving the issue to the state, doesn't mean he's saying the states have a right to impose their will on individuals, just that it's not a federal matter. I'm sure if he were running for state governor, he would pass no legislation to impose marriage laws on individuals, but he isn't running for gov, he's running for prez, so has to approach from a federal point of view.
Why no mention of Gary Johnson? He was by far the most gay friendly candidate on stage. I'm not against Ron in fact i'm very supportive of him (despite being gay my main concerns at the moment are the economy and bringing ALL troops home immediately) but since this is about gay rights I would like to point out that Johnson has, by far, the cleanest record in that area.
Gary Johnson was totally snubbed at the "debate." he even complained halfway thru. Not all questions were asked to all participants.
I know he was ignored at the debate, I meant in this article. With Cain and Santorum's insanity and how people get confused over Paul's record you would think Gary Johnson and his superior clarity on gay issues would have gotten some praise in this article.
I just noticed you were the person who wrote the article.
Sorry if I came off as being whiny. It just baffled me how you mentioned all of the contenders names in an article about the anti-gay comments at the debate as if they were all the same without clarifying that Johnson isn't like the rest. Again I know he was ignored, but Mike Gravel was largely ignored during the Democratic debates of the last election and everyone knew where he stood (at least in general, if people FULLY understood him he would have gotten more votes).
No apologiies needed! I understand your point, but the piece was specifically about the debate and primarily about Santorum. Don't worry, we'll cover Johnson too, and I'm sure soon! Thanks!
Santorum = he's a batist minister. The people who were the bullwark of slavery and created the KKK and segregation.
Gays are just their latest victims. Our talibangelicals – keep replicating like the hydra monster of greek mythology. cut of one of their heads and a new one reappears.
BTW, lets talk about those folks briefsly.
minister ted Haggard – remember him – ranted against gays, and then got outed by his male prostitute boyfriends. Got "Christain cured", and then got caught again. Surprisinly this poor confused man finally admitted he is gay and now supports gay marriage
George Reker founder of the hate group FRC – he got caught taking pretty boy Jo=Vanni Roman, a male college prostitute gay with him to Europe "to carry his baggage. Which Jo=Vanni admitted meant massaging his private parts. Cost of Roman, per the "rentboy.com" website – $3000 for a weekend, probably $20,ooo for a two week European vacation.
Its always that way – minister Barnes, foot tapping sen larry craig of hte MInn Airport restroom etc. All these secretly gay creeps driven to hate them selves and others like them by our so called christians.
Best described as America's talibangelicals.
I shot him (and Donald Rumsfeld, Herman Cain, Mike Huckabee) at the NRA convention in Pittsburgh last weekend, Tom! http://gunfreezone.net/wordpress/index.php/2011/0… http://gunfreezone.net/wordpress/index.php/2011/04/30/violence-spouting-anti-gunner-roaming-the-nra-annual-meeting/
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 1 trackback }