(75) Republicans Sign Brief in Support of Gay Marriage

[Newsjock]

Source: New York Times

Dozens of prominent Republicans — including top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress — have signed a legal brief arguing that gay people have a constitutional right to marry, a position that amounts to a direct challenge to Speaker John A. Boehner and reflects the civil war in the party since the November election.

... Among them are Meg Whitman, who supported Proposition 8 when she ran for California governor; Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Richard Hanna of New York; Stephen J. Hadley, a Bush national security adviser; Carlos Gutierrez, a commerce secretary to Mr. Bush; James B. Comey, a top Bush Justice Department official; David A. Stockman, President Ronald Reagan’s first budget director; and Deborah Pryce, a former member of the House Republican leadership from Ohio who is retired from Congress.

... Some high-profile Republicans who support same-sex marriage — including Laura Bush, the former first lady; Dick Cheney, the former vice president; and Colin L. Powell, a former secretary of state — were not on the list as of Monday.

But the presence of so many well-known former officials — including Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey, and William Weld and Jane Swift, both former governors of Massachusetts — suggests that once Republicans are out of public life they feel freer to speak out against the party’s official platform, which calls for amending the Constitution to define marriage as “the union of one man and one woman.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/us/politics/prominent-republicans-sign-brief-in-support-of-gay-marriage.html

[Nanjing to Seoul]

1. Gutless wonders. In power, lock and step with the fascists. . .out of power, jump on a bandwagon

BTW, fuck you Dick Cheney! Just wanted to say that! Fuck you Laura Bush!

[TDale313]

2. This is good. n/t

[Hekate]

3. Come gather round people where ever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown...

... Come senators, congressmen please heed the call... For the times they are a-changin'.

That just came into my mind and I am smiling from ear to ear. So the GOP upper echelon is populated by the rankest hypocrites and it shows. I really don't give a damn as long as they come along and do the right thing now that they are in defeat.

Baby, this is progress, by whatever means.

Hekate

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Hey, get out of my head!

I was humming that song as I read the article.

[Chemisse]

12. Great post.

And doesn't Bob Dylan look like little more than a boy there?

[AllyCat]

4. While I am glad to see them go public with this, I cannot resist screaming

You F*cking Cowards!!!!

Crawl into your holes and leave us alone.

[blkmusclmachine]

6. 'Bout damn time; still, 2 little, 2 late.

Political expediency?

[Arkana]

8. HERETICS! TRAITORS! BURN THEM!

[global1]

9. Are They Jumping On The Bandwagon Now Because They Know It Is Inevitable And.....

when it happens they will say it was their signed brief that made it happen? Is this a way the Repugs will try and take credit for gay people getting a constitutional right to marry? Is this how they are re-branding themselves? Will the American People see through this ploy?

[goclark]

10. You are probable right

Let's hope that their brains a finally opening to reality.

For them, it'd all about being in control of this country.

[Metro135]

11. Hilarious

This is what I find so hilarious about conservatives and their whole movement. Progressives fight all the battles, and when we've finally made so many inroads that the majority of the population starts to agree with us, then conservatives hop on the band wagon and start harumphing all over the place that suddenly this is the right way to proceed.

Mark my words, in about 15 years Ann Coulter will drag her wrinkled horse face onto some news show and state that Republicans were for gay marriage before Democrats. She said the same thing about civil rights some years ago, as if it wasn't a Democrat who pushed the Civil Rights Bill through Congress.

[obama2terms]

13. Wonderful news

The thing is with democrats if you take a different position than the majority of the party it's what ever. But when you're a republican and you do that, they go after you and it spreads like wildfire. ( Chuck Hagel is a good example) So by doing that ( if any are still in office now, I haven't seen the full list yet) they showed a lot of bravery knowing what could happen if they go against the party's platform. It must suck to be part of a party where you can't think for yourself.

[Javaman]

14. Johnny come latelies...

jumping on the band wagon when they saw it was leaving them in the dust.

fine.

but I hope they don't think their suddenly enlightenment equals votes. They will be very disappointed.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

15. The irony never ends

Who signed the DOM Act? BILL (I did not have sex with that woman...Ms. Lewinsky) CLINTON...

What strange times these are - may we all live through them.

[Wyattbw09]

16. I guess I tend to look at it this way

If we condemn people for doing the right thing, irrespective of where they stood before, then we don't really give them a lot of incentive for anyone else to change their course of action and do the right thing either. It becomes a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation. I applaud anyone who does the right thing irrespective of if they were late to the party.

P.S. I never really understood the hate toward Laura Bush.

[behrstar]

17. I am supposed to be happy about this, but, you know,

I'm NOT.

Where were these people a few years ago? Why have their views "evolved"? Meg Whitman ran AGAINST same sex marriage and now she SUPPORTS it?? I smell a hypocrite...a big, stinkin hypocrit.

President Obama too. So glad his view has "evolved".

These people will say ANYTHING when they are running for office, anything they think will get them elected.

Now, here's the question: What else are they saying TODAY that they will do a 180 on tomorrow??? Think about it.

[Andy Stanton]

19. Meaningless

As long as the Rethugs who actually have power oppose every effort made by Democrats to end discrimination against gay men and women.