 | ||
 | Democrats retreat on war end | |
| Playbook: Could a typo clear Craig? | |
| Thompson campaign remains optimistic | |
| Penn, like Rove, wants intellectual cred | |
| The truth might sting a little | |
| The Daily 2008 | |
| New SC Poll | |
| Burner Gets Clear Shot At Reichert | |
| Longtime WA Political Powerhouses Pass Away | |
| Hillary's New Ad |
| The Eye of the 9/11 Storm | |
| Hillary's Brier Patch | |
| Change, Sarkozy Style | |
| Bush is in a No-Win Situation in Iraq | |
| Congress Deserves Better Ratings, but Not by Much |
| Gay Impasse | |
| Why Submit to Judicial Tyranny? | |
| Special Report Roundtable - October 26 | |
| A Vote for Missile Defense -- And Gay Marriage | |
| To Have and to Hold -- Wrongly |
|
September 06, 2007
See Fred Flip. See Fred Flop?
By Maggie GallagherWatch Fred announce on Jay Leno's comedy show this week: See Fred run.
Is Fred the one? Is Fred strong on defense, hard on taxes and also pro-traditional morality? Is he Ronald Reagan II? Can Fred, at least, fake it?
Remember Fred on CNN in August? Would Fred as president actively support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage? A simple question. A clear question.
See Fred on videotape promise, "Yes."
Fred is not a flip-flopper. He doesn't talk out of both sides of his mouth. Like him or hate him, Fred lets you know where he stands. Right?
Hear Fred speak more, "I don't think one state ought to be able to pass a law requiring gay marriage ... and have another state be required to follow along." Federal judges, Fred says, may rule the Full Faith and Credit Clause requires that. "I think a federal constitutional amendment would cure that," he says.
Does Fred support the Marriage Protection Amendment or doesn't he? The amendment a majority of GOP senators supported in 2006? The one that's simple first sentence reads: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman"?
No one can tell. So Team Thompson tidies up the mess to National Review online: "Fred Thompson does not support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage."
"If necessary," though, Team Thompson says he might support some other constitutional amendment that has the word "marriage" in it.
Oh dear. Fred's "yes" to Anderson Cooper actually meant "no." Was Fred confused by the question? Or was he trying to confuse us?
(Should polygamy be left to the states too, Fred? Will the strict constructionist judges you appoint overturn Reynolds v. United States, the 19th-century Supreme Court decision upholding the government's right to ban polygamy?)
Marvel at how that allegedly divisive issue of gay marriage produces a stunningly broad consensus among presidential candidates across party lines.
Look at all the candidates who now have the same position on gay marriage: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and now Fred Thompson. They all say: "Leave it to the states." (Barack Obama says that's why we should overturn the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- so that we can leave marriage to the states. Why is he wrong about that, Fred?)
Clinton, Obama, McCain, Giuliani and Thompson all say they are against gay marriage.
Who is the ONLY major presidential candidate willing to stand up and do something about it? Mitt Romney.
Watch a trial court judge overturn Iowa's DOMA law. See him give marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Shudder as gay rights activists denounce Iowans who disagree as irrational, mean-spirited bigots. See gay marriage become a front-burner issue in Iowa, just a few months before the people vote in caucuses for president.
Who will help Iowans facing state judges misusing their power? Not Clinton, not Obama, not Giuliani, not McCain. And not Fred Thompson. He and they have better things to do.
Clinton, Obama, Thompson, Giuliani and McCain all say they oppose gay marriage. But they all oppose a federal marriage amendment, which would stop these judges, even more.
Mitt Romney, amazingly, is now the ONLY major GOP candidate who supports putting these judges in their place with a federal marriage amendment. Will being the only pro-marriage candidate help him in Iowa?
See Fred run. See Fred stumble? See Fred flip. See Fred flop?
Stay tuned.
