Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) suggested Tuesday that a Kentucky clerk who is refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples was “making a stand” and “an important part of the American way.” But he argued the whole situation could have been avoided if states stopped processing marriage licenses entirely.
“I think people who do stand up and are making a stand to say that they believe in something is an important part of the American way,” Paul told Boston Herald Radio, according to The Washington Post.
He made the statement after he laid out his broader theory on how to deal with those with religious objections to same-sex marriage.
“I think one way to get around the whole idea of what the Supreme Court is forcing on the states is for states just to get out of the business of giving out licenses,” Paul said. “Alabama has already voted to do this, they’re just no longer going to give out licenses. And anybody can make a contract. And then if you want a marriage contract you go to a church. And so I’ve often said we could have gotten around all of this also in the sense that I do believe everybody has a right to a contract.”
Not really, Senator Paul. But then again, the Right Wing is very good at sitting there, whining up a storm when they don’t get their way on something, and doing their best imitation of a two-year-old. Backing this woman and pushing the idea of just getting the government out of marriage is not going to get you any more support with the Evangelicals than you’re already getting. Then again, if the Right Wing doesn’t get its way, it would rather create chaos and destruction than change with the law.
Imagine the outrage if the nut job county clerk was citing her Islamic faith as her reasons for not doing her job.
"“Alabama has already voted to do this, they’re just no longer going to give out licenses. And anybody can make a contract. And then if you want a marriage contract you go to a church.”
Sorry, but that won’t work. While I agree that the entire matter should have been decided on the constitutional right to form private contracts, Alabama can’t escape this by pretending it’s simply no longer a matter of state action. Nobody will support giving up the tax benefits and other rights attendant to a marriage contract…rights recognized both by the federal gov’t and every single state, including Alabama. Setting up a system where the only way to get a state-recognized marriage contract is through a religious institution will be just as discriminatory and just as much a violation of the fundamental right to form such a contract as is the state refusing to give out the licenses to some people based on sexual orientation. The end-run hits a brick wall.
As to the American Way: Indeed. Self-declared moral superiority and the bigotry it births is one of the most fundamental and resilient fibers woven into our national identity. Where it is the warp, discrimination is the weft.
Clown Boy Rand making one of his typically ignorant arguments… she isn’t upholding any ‘American Value’…
an ‘American Value’ is to obey the law… people supporting her ridiculous stand are the same people that rail against illegal aliens…
they MUST be deported because they break the law being here illegally… its a misdemeanor…
if she thinks its a ‘heaven or hell’ choice she’s making then she’s really liable to find out what real hell is if she’s put in the slam… on the other hand maybe she’ll find the real love of her life when her celly turns her out…
Your mouth to God’s ears. We’d never hear the end of the yammering about Sharia Law in that context.