Why are Sarah Palin (with Maggie Gallagher echoing her words,) and Mike Huckabee lying about Barack Obama’s position as a presidential candidate on DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act?
You’d think there were a secret Republican playbook that tells everyone in the GOP what to say, because all of a sudden, conservatives are lying (well, that part isn’t all of a sudden,) by saying that Obama has changed his position on DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act. Some are suggesting he did it to get elected, some are even suggesting impeachment.
The record is very, very clear. Obama has always said, (always, after the letter he wrote supporting same-sex marriage in 1996, that is,) that he opposes DOMA and supports civil unions.
This is not news. This is fact.
But it’s not fact to those who make up their own, like Maggie Gallagher, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Pat Vaughn, general counsel of the certified hate group the American Family Association, all of whom are echoing the false concept that Obama has changed his position on DOMA.
Sarah Palin told NOM’s Maggie Gallagher, “It’s appalling, but not surprising that the President has flip-flopped on yet another issue from his stated position as a candidate to a seemingly opposite position once he was elected.”
Um, nope, no flip-flop, no change.
Mike Huckabee last month said Obama “himself didn’t take this position [against DOMA] when he ran for president. I think if he had, he wouldn’t be president,” adding, “I think he owes the people of America an explanation – was he being disingenuous and dishonest then, is he being dishonest now, or did he change his view and if he did, when and why?”
Sorry, Mike, you’re lying. Just like you lied about Obama being raised in Kenya.
And CBS News agrees, writing, “the former Arkansas governor is incorrect in suggesting that Mr. Obama did not oppose DOMA as a candidate. In August 2007, campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said, “He supports the complete repeal of DOMA which is the same position he has held since early 2004.”
Pat Vaughn, too, of the AFA — who just recently said he believes DOMA is unconstitutional — said “Obama, when he ran for office, told people that he supported the Defense of Marriage Act, so he’s flip-flopped on that, so he lied to people when he ran.”
Sorry, Pat, you’re the one who’s lying, along with Palin and Huckabee.
Here’s even more proof:
On August 9, 2007, presidential candidate Barack Obama at the HRC/Logo presidential debate, said, “That’s why I opposed DOMA in 2006 when I ran for the Senate. That’s why I am a strong supporter not of a weak version of civil unions, but of a strong version, in which the rights that are conferred at the federal level to persons who are part of the same sex union are compatible.
“When it comes to federal rights, the over 1,100 rights that right now are not being given to same sex couples, I think that’s unacceptable, and as president of the United States, I am going to fight hard to make sure that those rights are available.”
Need I say more?
Stop the lies.