Screw the Gays… And Those Who Do Not Hate Them
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Kansas: do you really want this man to represent you?
I missed this a couple of days ago, but comment ‘Rambie’ e-mailed a link to me to the story about it at the Washington Post. He – rightfully – wrote in the e-mail ‘It shows how “Sexual McCarthyism” to use InstaPundit’s term is indeed alive and well in American Politics, but not exclusively by the party he thinks is using it.’
From the editorial:
IF YOU THOUGHT that fights over judicial nominations couldn’t get any worse, consider the case of Janet T. Neff, whom President Bush has nominated to a federal district judgeship in Michigan. Judge Neff, who serves on the Michigan Court of Appeals, is part of a multi-judge deal between the White House and Michigan’s two Democratic senators resolving a long-standing fight over federal court nominees from that state. Yet in reaching an accommodation with the home-state senators, Mr. Bush finds himself with another problem. For Judge Neff, it turns out, once attended a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple — and that has Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (R) reaching for the smelling salts and blocking the nomination.
Mr. Brownback has said he wants to satisfy himself that the judge was not presiding over an “illegal marriage ceremony” in Pittsfield, Mass., in 2002 — before the state legalized same-sex marriage. He has written to Judge Neff asking for an explanation, his spokesman says, and will hold up her nomination until he learns the nature of the ceremony and its legality. “It seems to speak about her view of judicial activism,” the senator told the Associated Press.
Well, til there I could understand his point. If a judge acted against the law, I can see why politicians would not want her to become a federal judge. However, this is not the so in this particular case:
In fact it does nothing of the kind. A commitment ceremony is not a marriage; it has no legal force whatsoever but is a private expression of the love and devotion of two people. The idea that such a ceremony could be “illegal” is deeply offensive; Americans are entitled to gather, speak, celebrate and worship as they see fit. An administration official says Judge Neff has told Mr. Brownback that she didn’t preside. But even if she did, that would say nothing about her jurisprudential views — merely that she wished to help a couple recognize their relationship informally in the absence of state sanction for it. Keeping Judge Neff off the federal bench over such a matter is perilously close to declaring her unfit to serve because she has lesbian friends.
In other words; what Senator Brownback is ‘opposing’ is that Janet T. Neff was present at a ceremony in which two lesbians expressed their love for each other. The ceremony does not have any legal binding whatsoever.
I am glad that Rambie sent this e-mail because this case is absolutely outrageous and – as such – deserves attention here at TMV. Senator Brownback is quite clearly a person who simply opposes homosexual-relationships an sich and he is letting this personal convictions influence his voting behavior / behavior as a Senator.
This has nothing to do with the law: it has everything to do with an intolerant Kansas Senator who is willing to block a nomination out of this intolerance.
What’s next? Blocking nominations because someone simply has homosexual friends? Because, as the editorial points out, this behavior of Sen. Brownback, is dangerously close to just that.
17 Responses to “Screw the Gays… And Those Who Do Not Hate Them”
What’s next? Blocking nominations because someone simply has homosexual friends?
Well duh!
You really do not understand the depths of right wing intolarance Michael. Your European mind is not prepared to walk so far on the dark side.
Sexual repression in all its forms is what primarly drives these people.
Imagine all the things that could get done if these people would put thier energy into constructive persuits.
And the GOP is considering Brownback for the presidential nomination in ’08—the heir to the great GW Bush, LOL! James Dobson would be loving it!
You all are so quick to condemn Brownback that you’ve totally blown past his own statement that he wanted “to satisfy himself that the judge was not presiding over an “illegal marriage ceremony”. What’s wrong with Brownback looking into what happened?
Why presume that Brownback wouldn’t drop his objection after determining that it was only a committment ceremony that Neff was presiding over? Jumping to conclusions a bit, are you?
And if, contrary to the Post’s assertion of fact, the ceremony was not merely a ‘committment ceremony’ but rather was along the lines of what happened in San Francisco, where the mayor flaunted state law by conducting actual marriage ceremonies? Still no reason for Brownback or anyone else to take issue with Neff’s actions?
Thanks for posting this Michael. This does highlight the blind-bias of the extreme partisans that I was trying to talk about in the “A Sad State of Affairs” thread yesterday.
We could go back to the Clinton administration and recall the JR Senator from Michigan blocking judges by not returning blue slips. The nuclear option wasn’t mentioned when the 6th Circuit had a critical shortage of Appelate Judges and Senator Abraham blocked the judges for partisan reasons. Now Brownback sticks his nose in another regions buissness and people give Congress a 16% approval. What happened to comprimise and the Gang of 14?
Wasn’t it Senator Hatch (my senator) who started using the blue-slips as a partisan weapon? Also, Clinton was quite open in seeking nominations for the courts from both parties.
Well, a quick Google search confirmed it.
“The Senate, The Courts and the Blue Slip” LINK
And this one, “Senator Hatch’s Double Standards and Abuse of Power” LINK
I’m not familiar with this “People for the American Way (PFAW)” group so take it with a grain of salt. However, as he is my Senator, I know Senator Hatch has increasingly turn more and more partisan over the past ten years.
Gee If he’s so hot under the collar about a judge presiding at a ceremony for gays, what must dear Sen Brownback think of the whole Foley fiasco, LOL??
“Blue slips” began before WW1. They’ve always been used in a partisan fashion to some extent.
Even money says Brownback withdraws his hold after DoJ reports no illegality. But yes, he’s sucking up to the anti-gay religious right. If DoJ reports no illegality and Brownback doesn’t withdraw his hold, you can up the adjective three notches past “sucking up.”
I hate Brownback. He is one of my pet hates in the party. It isn’t just stuff like this, the guy generally strikes me as a real weasel.
Tully: agreed, except for the part about Brownback sucking up to the religious right. He is the religious right.
Brownback seems to be the cookie cutter replica of Pennsylvania’s Rick Santorum. I am so tired of these sanctimonious, self-righteous Christian right Republicans! They give Christianity a bad name with their judgemental attitudes—can we get someone elected who will care about the real issues, and not whether two gays got hitched? If the end of Western civilization does come, it won’t be because of that!
I live across the border from this jerk. Kansas has lots of them and Missouri has more than its fair share too. In fact when I say I’m not so much a Democrat but an anti-Republican and proud of it can you understand it given how much I see of people like Brownback, Roberts, Tiahrt, Ryun, Talent, Bond, the Blunts and so on. Even if I considered myself a pure independent now there are no moderate Republicans running for office that I could consider voting for. Every candidate getting the Republican nod is too far to the right for me to even consider. Several high profile moderate Republicans in Kansas have just switched parties, including the current candidate for Lieutenant Governor, who used to be the Republican state chairman.
Remember that Brownback and his Missouri counterpart, Jim Talent, co-sponsored a bill to completely ban embryonic stem cell research. It became a big political liability for Talent and he backed off, producing a minor backlash from the religious conservatives.
I get the feeling that Brownback is more a professional panderer than a serious religious person. I think he knows his base (consisting of a fair share of Bible-thumpers) and he pretends to be one of them. I don’t think he is truly much of a religious zealot – just a professional politician of the worst stripe.
Jim S- I actually think its a good thing that moderate Republicans are now joining the Democratic Party. It will broaden the base, and moderate its views, which too often pander to the extreme left wing. Once the Republicans start losing a few Congressional elections, they’ll probably start throwing guys like Talent, Brownback, Blunt and Santorum under the bus, and move back towards the center (I hope).
I don’t mind electing candidates with strong religious views. I do mind when they get re-elected on the basis of their faith and their advancement of the RR’s agenda and not on legislative perfomance on substantive issues.
Tommy,
As far as Brownback’s religion is concerned you might want to read this, this and this.
Kim,
I agree about the moderate Republicans switching parties being a good thing. I didn’t mean to give any other impression.