Showing posts with label Gary Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gary Johnson. Show all posts
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Quotes from the Fox News/Google Debate
(Click here if you're having trouble viewing the video.)
The Fox News/Google GOP Presidential Debate took place on September 22nd in Orlando's Orange County Convention Center. The debate included the usual Republican candidates, including Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, John Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, and Michele Bachmann. However, this was also the first official GOP presidential debate to include former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson. Debate topics included immigration, education, foreign policy, the economy, and social issues, prompting several controversial comments from candidates. For your reading pleasure, I've highlighted several quotes from the debate, specifically on federal departments, education, and gays and lesbians in the military.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Two More Pledges You Should Know About
You may remember the controversy surrounding "The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family", a pledge created by the Family Leader and signed by several right-wing presidential candidates. Other right-wing organizations have also penned pledges for like-minded candidates to sign, so I'd like to introduce readers to two prominent pledges.
First, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a well-known anti-LGBT organization, has crafted a pledge against same-sex marriage for presidential candidates to sign. According to the NOM website, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum have signed the pledge, with NOM's Maggie Gallagher lauding them as "champions."
By signing the pledge, candidates vow to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Furthermore, signatories pledge to appoint like-minded judges and attorney generals who are committed to the "original meaning" of the Constitution. Candidates who sign the pledge also vow to put forward legislation granting residents of Washington D.C. the right to vote on marriage (although it does not specify what to do if D.C. voters vote in favor of same-sex marriage rights). Finally, and most chillingly, signatories pledge to establish a "presidential commission on religious liberty." This commission would be responsible for investigating alleged harassment or threats against Americans who organize, speak, propose "protections" or vote for marriage (!?).
First, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a well-known anti-LGBT organization, has crafted a pledge against same-sex marriage for presidential candidates to sign. According to the NOM website, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum have signed the pledge, with NOM's Maggie Gallagher lauding them as "champions."
By signing the pledge, candidates vow to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Furthermore, signatories pledge to appoint like-minded judges and attorney generals who are committed to the "original meaning" of the Constitution. Candidates who sign the pledge also vow to put forward legislation granting residents of Washington D.C. the right to vote on marriage (although it does not specify what to do if D.C. voters vote in favor of same-sex marriage rights). Finally, and most chillingly, signatories pledge to establish a "presidential commission on religious liberty." This commission would be responsible for investigating alleged harassment or threats against Americans who organize, speak, propose "protections" or vote for marriage (!?).
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Bachmann and Santorum Sign "The Marriage Vow"
The Family Leader, an Iowa-based right-wing organization headed by Bob Vander Plaats, released a pledge entitled "The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family." By signing the pledge, political candidates vow to uphold a list of policy pledges related to marriage, reproductive rights, women, the military, and the economy. Given the controversial content of the document, supporters of LGBT rights and women's rights should take note.
"The Marriage Vow" celebrates the institution of heterosexual marriage, which it insists protects children, "vulnerable" women, the "rights of fathers", and the liberties of citizens. Already, the document has cast marriage in heteronormative and hierarchical terms, claiming that marriage protects "vulnerable" women and endowes fathers with certain rights. Along these lines, "The Marriage Vow" argues that protections for women and children have allegedly deteriorated as marriage has supposedly become devalued in our society. Among the examples of supposed "debasement" of marriage it cites are adultery, "quickie" divorces, domestic violence, cohabitation, and beliefs that "non-heterosexual inclinations" are genetically determined and therefore immutable (!).
These claims made my hair stand on end. First, evolving notions of marriage and sexuality are not undermining protections for women and children. Rather, protections for women and children have increased, not decreased, over the past few decades, in the form of domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, child protective services, children's advocacy centers, laws criminalizing marital rape, mandatory reporting policies, awareness-raising campaigns about family violence, etc. Second, lumping nightmares such as spousal abuse together with cohabitation and evolving notions of sexual orientation is beyond tasteless, belittling LGBT people and victims of domestic violence. What does it say about the authorship's priorities when streamlined divorce laws, cohabitation, and enlightened attitudes about LGBT sexuality are held to be on the same moral level as domestic violence?
Several passages in "The Marriage Vow" urge candidates to oppose LGBT equality and maintain a heteronormative vision of marriage. Candidates who sign the document vow to uphold marriage as between one man and one woman, support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as such, oppose any effort to recognize same-sex unions, and advocate for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). To boot, signatories vow to defend the First Amendment rights of those who defend "faithful heterosexual monogamy", which I am interpreting to mean those who decry LGBT rights.
"The Marriage Vow" celebrates the institution of heterosexual marriage, which it insists protects children, "vulnerable" women, the "rights of fathers", and the liberties of citizens. Already, the document has cast marriage in heteronormative and hierarchical terms, claiming that marriage protects "vulnerable" women and endowes fathers with certain rights. Along these lines, "The Marriage Vow" argues that protections for women and children have allegedly deteriorated as marriage has supposedly become devalued in our society. Among the examples of supposed "debasement" of marriage it cites are adultery, "quickie" divorces, domestic violence, cohabitation, and beliefs that "non-heterosexual inclinations" are genetically determined and therefore immutable (!).
These claims made my hair stand on end. First, evolving notions of marriage and sexuality are not undermining protections for women and children. Rather, protections for women and children have increased, not decreased, over the past few decades, in the form of domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, child protective services, children's advocacy centers, laws criminalizing marital rape, mandatory reporting policies, awareness-raising campaigns about family violence, etc. Second, lumping nightmares such as spousal abuse together with cohabitation and evolving notions of sexual orientation is beyond tasteless, belittling LGBT people and victims of domestic violence. What does it say about the authorship's priorities when streamlined divorce laws, cohabitation, and enlightened attitudes about LGBT sexuality are held to be on the same moral level as domestic violence?
Several passages in "The Marriage Vow" urge candidates to oppose LGBT equality and maintain a heteronormative vision of marriage. Candidates who sign the document vow to uphold marriage as between one man and one woman, support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as such, oppose any effort to recognize same-sex unions, and advocate for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). To boot, signatories vow to defend the First Amendment rights of those who defend "faithful heterosexual monogamy", which I am interpreting to mean those who decry LGBT rights.
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