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By Jeff Fecke | April 23, 2003
That Good Ol’ Fashioned GOP Tolerance
I’m not quite sure what’s got everyone worked up about the boneheaded comments of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA). For those under a rock, he said:
The Supreme Court says that you have a right to consensual sex within your home, that you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery, you have the right to anything.
Leaving aside the fact that a ruling has yet to be handed down on the most recent sodomy suit to be granted cert–meaning the Supreme Court has said quite the opposite in the only controlling precedent–Santorum’s comments are ridiculous. For one, of the horrible things he claims I would have a right to do if those dastardly Justices have their way, only one should be illegal. That one–incest–should be illegal because of the inherent abuse implied in it and the great potential for genetic abnormalities in any potential offspring.
Adultery is immoral, and I would never commit it; nevertheless, it falls more under breach of contract than threat to society. If every adulterer received the maximum sentence, we’d have to build a lot of jails. Bigamy? Polygamy? Not to my taste, but if it makes you happy, by all means.
Of course, I’m an old fashioned libertarian. I don’t want to know what’s going on in your bedroom. That’s your business. You keep out of my bedroom, I’ll keep out of yours, okay?
Well, not okay by the GOP.
This is why I am at a loss as to why Sen. Santorum is getting so roundly denounced. After all, his source material is the Republican platform. I can cite many examples, but here’s our President’s home state, Texas, for 2000:
The Party stands strongly against activist judges, who use their power to usurp the clear will of the people. We publicly rebuke judges Chief Justice Murphy and John Anderson, who ruled that the 100 year-old Texas sodomy law is unconstitutional, and ask that all members of the Republican Party of Texas oppose their re-election, and activist judges like them, and support non-activist judges as their opponents.
Oh, it’s a little embarrassing, given that most Americans really don’t care what others do in the privacy of their own home, but there it is. Santorum may have been a little over the top, but what do you expect?
The Republican party is openly, explicitly, proudly anti-gay. Moderate conservatives like Andrew Sullivan can try to paper over that fact, or focus on the many good things Republicans do, but there is no ignoring it. Not that Ari Fleischer won’t try.
So to Rep. Santorum, I say: stick to your guns. You’re an idiot, and you’re wrong. But you’re just doing what your party wants you to.
And to those of you out there who voted Republican because their views on gay rights don’t really matter all that much–well, all I can say is enjoy. And hope that the police don’t wander into your bedroom when you and your wife are doing that one thing you do. You know what I’m talking about.
Topics: Uncategorized/Old Blog Stuff | 1 Comment »
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