Tag Archives: Topic: Politics

Jena McGregor at Washington Post: It’s also not leadership. The abrupt surge of officials trying to follow political winds is the opposite of the sort of courageous, principled way most of us hope our officials will lead. Rather than speak out about their true beliefs — it’s impossible to believe at least some of these 14 senators didn’t privately support gay marriage before — they waited until they had the political air cover of Hillary Clinton, one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party.

NBC Chicago: The African-American Clergy Coalition, a group founded to fight the same-sex marriage bill in the General Assembly, has spent only $11,250 on radio ads, but so far, it’s been enough to keep the bill bottled up in the state House.

Out.com has published the list here. Many conservatives will be surprised to see that Matt Drudge is identified as number 21.

The Hill: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) argued in a speech to activists Thursday night that robust opposition to abortion rights is crucial to the GOP’s political chances.

Illinois Review: As for evangelicals, a failure on Saturday won’t push them to leave the ILGOP. Instead, it will likely confirm to evangelicals that the Illinois Republican Party has left them.

Prague Daily Monitor: The European Human Rights Court has stopped dealing with a complaint by the dissolved Czech Workers’ Party (DS) and its former chairman Tomas Vandas, the Justice Ministry has said on its website, saying this means the party’s dissolution can be considered definitive.

Washington Post: Some social conservatives are threatening to decamp from the Republican Party if officials do not recommit to their issues.

Tufts Daily: Tufts Democrats and Tufts Republicans last Thursday joined the leaders of 49 other collegiate Democrat and Republican organizations in a statement supporting marriage equality for LGBTQ couples.

Politico: Since 1948, every president except for Obama has had at least one of his nominees confirmed to the court. Obama cannot tolerate a filibuster of Srinivasan. If Republicans filibuster, he should break it. After the hearings, Obama should nominate a judge for each of the court’s remaining three vacancies.

CBN: Senator Rand Paul: “I think it’s important that people know that for the country to get better it needs more than just politicians. Politicians aren’t enough and it needs resurgence through churches, through revivals through a spiritual cleansing of the people.”

News9.com: Two freshman Democratic senators from conservative states, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, have joined the growing chorus of lawmakers who say they support gay marriage.

Newson6.com: The House approved the resolution Monday on an 84-0 vote. House Democratic Leader Scott Inman and openly gay Rep. Kay Floyd of Oklahoma City were among more than half of the chamber’s 29 Democrats who walked out of the chamber instead of voting.

CNSNews: Sen. Rand Paul (R- Ky.) said keeping the same-sex marriage debate at the state level will allow supporters of traditional marriage to turn public opinion that he said is shifting to the other side.

Jonathan Capehart at Washington Post: “I’m a lot, like other people said, my views have evolved on this. But my state has a very strong constitutional amendment against gay marriage, and I think I have to honor that,” Landrieu said. Wait. So, she believes that same-sex couples should be able to marry, but because her state has etched discrimination into its Constitution, she cannot be on the right side of the issue and of history? She can’t show some leadership?

5 News Online: I am opposed to gay marriage,” he said in an e-mail. “In the interview with KFSM done on April 5, I also discussed whether gay couples should receive benefits if they work for the federal government. On the benefits issue, I said to ‘put me down in the undecided category.

Huffington Post: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is not joining the ranks of his fellow senators who have come out in recent days and endorsed marriage equality. But he is backing civil unions for same-sex couples, saying he believes it could be a way to preserve “traditional marriage” for heterosexual couples.

Chicago Tribune: State Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. of Mundelein said Sunday he will support a bill to allow gay marriage in Illinois, becoming the second House Republican to do so and first among leadership.

AP: South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson says he now supports legalizing gay marriage.

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has filed a lawsuit against a Michigan university for denying funds to a pro-life student group because of its “very controversial” views.

The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty together with the Archdiocese for the Military Services recently uncovered a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief that expressly identified “Evangelical Christianity” and “Catholicism” as examples of “religious extremism” like al-Qaida, Hamas, and the Klu Klux Klan.

Yahoo News: “The Republican Party is going to be torn on this issue. The bulk of the party is going to be very resistant and is very supportive of traditional marriage, and parts of the party are going to flake off. Parties do that,” Gingrich told a group of reporters at a breakfast meeting at National Review magazine’s Washington, D.C., office. “The country is gradually evolving. The country is thinking this thing through. It creates complexities.”

Indian Congressman Marlin Stutzman has issued this press release that includes this: “Regardless of any ruling, referendum, or law, marriage is the union of one man and one woman,” said Stutzman. “Washington cannot redefine marriage any more than it can govern gravity. As the cornerstone of society throughout history, marriage is a unique institution and the safest environment for raising children. My commitment to marriage is matched by my abiding commitment to the civil rights of all individuals—every American must be treated with dignity and respect. However, marriage is neither a civil right nor a political platform . . . ”

Aaron Blake at Washington Post: Priebus: Media is covering up Planned Parenthood’s support for infanticide

Houston Chronicle: This leaves just seven Democratic senators and 11 House Democrats opposing gay marriage. The trend of flip-flopping on the issue hasn’t hit Texas. Of those 11 House Democrats, three are Texans.

LifeNews: The chairman of the Republican Party is challenging Democrats who support taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood to condemn the abortion business for its recent stance in favor of infanticide.

The Hill: Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) has won his House primary runoff, setting up a high-profile special election against businesswoman Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D), the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert.

Washington Post: Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk on Tuesday became the second Republican senator and the fourth GOP Member of Congress to support gay marriage. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), and Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) are the other three. Here’s a closer look at each of them — and their reasons for breaking with their party’s long-held position on marriage.

Huffington Post: That leaves just seven Senate Democrats against gay marriage: Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). Two among that list, Landrieu and Pryor, face tough reelection battles in 2014 in conservative states.

Oregon Live: The controversy centered on House Concurrent Resolution 6, which would reaffirm a woman’s right to make reproductive decisions. “It is vital to women’s health and well-being that abortion remain a safe and legal medical procedure for a woman to consider, if and when she needs it,” the resolution reads.

Gay Politics: The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today announced its endorsement of openly gay Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino in a likely special election to replace Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

Politico: “There is a split,” said Santorum, on the views of younger Republicans on gay marriage and abortion. “But the marriage issue is still a very new issue in America, and people said in the 1970s it was just a matter of time before everybody became pro-choice. So, I think we’ll see the pendulum swing back once young conservatives see the real consequences to the destruction of marriage.”

Politico: Sen. Bob Casey became the latest Democratic senator to announce his support of same-sex marriage and the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act on Monday.

Volokh Conspiracy: Three unsuccessful applicants to the Department of Justice’s Honors Program sued the federal government alleging  they were rejected on political grounds.  The district court in D.C. rejected their claims.  Last Friday, however, in Gerlich v. U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed . . .

Washington Examiner: Not even a million dollars could convince Lady Gaga to perform at last summer’s Republican National Convention.

Politico: Conservatives watching this week’s gay marriage arguments at the Supreme Court are wondering if it will happen again: Unelected justices ignoring the will of legislatures and high-handedly imposing their own wishes on one of society’s most divisive moral issues. In political circles in Washington and elsewhere, a good number of these conservatives will also make a surprising confession: They are strongly rooting for that outcome exactly.

Washington Post: Agema on Wednesday posted the text of an article titled “Everyone Should Know These Statistics on Homosexuals,” that is attributed to Frank Joseph, M.D. The article states that students need to be informed about the negative effects of homosexuality in order to “preserve their health and avoid cutting off about 15-20 years of their life span.”

The Hill (includes video): Republican Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) said Sunday it was “inevitable” a GOP presidential candidate will one day support same-sex marriage, and that he would have no problem backing that candidate.

The Hill: Dr. Ben Carson on Friday apologized for remarks he made earlier in the week linking homosexuality to bestiality.

The HIll: Eleven House Democrats are on record as opposing gay marriage, even as support within their party for the issue builds. Another nine haven’t taken definitive positions in support of or against gay marriage.

Pat Buchanan at Human Events: What killed the New Majority? First, there was mass immigration . . . Second came party acquiescence in dropping half the nation off the income tax rolls, while making half dependent on government . . . Third, to accommodate its K Street bundlers, the GOP embraced globalism, empowering Corporate America to shed its U.S. labor force . . . Fourth, rather than bringing the troops home after our Cold War triumph and telling our allies the free rides were over, Bush I and II went crusading for a “New World Order” to “end tyranny in our world.” . . .

Reuters on Yahoo: On the Republican side, former Boston U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan was the one candidate to express opposition both to abortion and gay marriage – the latter issue the topic of Supreme Court arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Eastern Echo: Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal ministry, filed a lawsuit against EMU on March 19 on behalf of Students for Life. ADF’s lawsuit said EMU officials have denied Students for Life funding for mandatory student activity fees. The fees would be used to fund a pro-life exhibit called the Genocide Awareness Project. The display is a traveling exhibition that shows photos comparing abortion to genocide.

National Journal: There’s been an “evolution” in their thinking. There’s also a lot of money on the table.

AP: North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan said Wednesday she backs marriage rights for same-sex couples, joining a growing number of Democratic Party politicians ahead of her re-election race next year.

David Hacker appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the case. | MP3 audio 8:10 mins

LifeSiteNews: “I’m a Republican,” he said in rising cadences. “Let me say to my party: If you bail out on this issue, I will leave the party, and I will take as many people with me as I possibly can!” His speech seemed to take aim at the assessment of Republican strategist Karl Rove, who said on Sunday that he could see the next Republican presidenital candidate supporting gay “marriage.

AP: South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson was expected to announce his retirement Tuesday, making the state the fifth where Democrats will have to defend a seat without an incumbent seeking re-election.

Politico: Republican fundraisers say the changing views of gay marriage in their party could unlock big money from GOP donors in places like New York, California and Florida — where some Republicans have kept their checkbooks closed over what they saw as misplaced priorities, at best, or intolerance, at worst, at the highest ranks of the party.

USA Today: The Missouri senator joins President Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to publicly state support for marriage equality.

USA Today: Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, a Democrat up for re-election next year, publicly announced his support Monday for gay marriage in a post on Facebook.

Baptist Press on Opposing Views: Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious liberty legal group based in Arizona, filed a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University on behalf of a student group that was denied university funding for an exhibit that compares abortion to other historically recognized forms of genocide, according to a report on the Detroit Free Press website.

Yahoo News: Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush and current Fox News contributor, says he can envision a candidate in the 2016 Republican presidential primary supporting gay marriage.

Ypsilanti Carrier: Eastern Michigan University has been sued by the Alliance Defending Freedom after a student group was denied funding to create an exhibit comparing abortions to the Holocaust, according to a Detroit Free Press report. Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group in Arizona, filed the lawsuit Tuesday.

NRO: Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, acknowledges that reforming the GOP’s presidential primary is one of his top priorities. But he doesn’t want to be heavy-handed about it, he says, in a briefing at National Review’s Washington, D.C., office. “Making those decisions and amending the calendar is a decision the entire RNC has to make,” he says. “That takes 75 percent of the voting body.”

Turtle Bay and Beyond: The following is a Statement to the Congressional Record made by Congressman Daniel Webster (R-FL) in support of the March for Marriage to be held next Tuesday, March 26 in Washington DC. The March is being organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and is joined by a large coalition of pro-family organizations, state partners, African-American, Latino, Catholic and Protestant leaders.

LifeSiteNews: The Republican Party of Ohio has appointed as its executive director a registered lobbyist actively campaigning to redefine marriage in the state, deepening the conflict between voters and the party elite. The move triggered swift backlash, as a coalition of 80 conservatives from across the state issued a letter warning party bosses they “will not support them” in the future.

LifeSiteNews: Universities should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker in a statement. “The university funded the advocacy of other student organizations but singled out Students for Life for exclusion based purely upon its viewpoint.”

Fox News: “Universities should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said David Hacker, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom. “The university funded the advocacy of other student organizations but singled out Students for Life for exclusion based purely upon its viewpoint.”

Newsmax: The group’s campaign, dubbed “Keep Scouting Free of Sex and Politics,” is sure to grab the attention of BSA CEO Wayne Brock and BSA National Commissioner Tico Perez, who will be attending the town hall gathering.

Charisma News: “Universities should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker. “The university funded the advocacy of other student organizations but singled out Students for Life for exclusion based purely upon its viewpoint.”

Dennis Prager at NRO: A final note to parents of gays: Parents who believe in the man-woman definition of marriage do not owe it to their gay child to support the same-sex redefinition of marriage — any more than gay children owe it to these parents to oppose same-sex marriage. Parents and children owe each other love and respect, not abandonment of convictions.

LifeNews: Sen. Rand Paul has clarified controversial comments he made in a recent CNN interview, during which he described “thousands” of exceptions to a potential ban on abortion.

9and10News (AP): The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defending Freedom on Tuesday filed the lawsuit in federal court in Detroit against the Ypsilanti school . . . David Hacker, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, says: “Universities should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas.” | See also Detroit Free Press: EMU sued over denial of funds for anti-abortion display

Catholic Register: As the Supreme Court prepares to consider the issue, some prominent Republicans publicly support a redefinition to include same-sex unions.

Desert Sun (source: Detroit Free Press): Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona group that says it works to defend the civil rights of Christians and conservatives, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit . . . “Universities should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said David Hacker, attorney with the alliance.

David Limbaugh at Newsmax: For the first time, I am wondering about the long-term viability of the Republican Party. I say this not as an advocate of its demise or restructuring but as an observer of troubling signs.

LifeNews: Universities should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker. “The university funded the advocacy of other student organizations but singled out Students for Life for exclusion based purely upon its viewpoint.”

CNSNews: As for Senator Portman, his announcement hasn’t exactly been popular with either Ohio party, so far. Reports suggest that the calls flooding into his office are 60 percent opposed to the Senator’s new position.

Christian Science Monitor (includes video): House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday he cannot imagine ever supporting gay marriage even though Sen. Rob Portman, his friend and fellow Ohio Republican, very publicly reversed his opposition last week.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Eastern Michigan University on behalf of a pro-life student organization. University officials denied the group funding from mandatory student activity fees based on its “political or ideological” views even though the university funds other groups involved in political and ideological speech.

LifeSiteNews: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has decided that the way for his party to win over voters is to parrot the Left’s policies,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. By courting young voters, he said, “Priebus would be betting the future of the GOP on a bloc who barely votes, while alienating the millions of social conservatives who do.”

The HIll: If the Republican party “abandons marriage evangelicals will either sit the elections out completely — or move to create a third party,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. “Either option puts Republicans on the path to a permanent minority.”

Daily Caller: Why are GOP presidential hopefuls agreeing to meet for a debate hosted by an outlet like MSNBC, a cable network that has increasingly grown hostile to Republicans as it self-identifies as a liberal news network?

Selwyn Duke at American Thinker: In another case in the annals of conservative “adaptation” to yesterday’s liberal innovation, Ohio Republican senator Rob Portman has just announced that he now supports faux marriage. The change was motivated, he said, by his son having come out to him and his wife as a homosexual. Well, it’s a good thing his son didn’t announce that he was involved in bestiality.

Washington Post: Democrats are calling on Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II to condemn the comments of a major financial backer who recently compared abortion to slavery. “There’s a point when you become culpable in the killing of other people, because of what the government is making you do,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the antiabortion Susan B. Anthony List, which last month pledged at least $1.5 million to the Republican Cuccinelli’s campaign for governor.