var addthis_config = {“data_track_addressbar”:true};Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and President George H.W. Bush Responsible For ‘Activist Judge’ Who Struck Down Kentucky Marriage Ban
You can thank virulently anti-gay Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senator from the great state of Kentucky, for today’s ruling that found a portion of the Bluegrass State’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
Yes, Mitch McConnell.
You can also thank the not-homophobic former Republican president George H.W. Bush for today’s ruling.
Why?
U.S. District Court Judge John G. Heyburn II was “appointed to the bench by Republican president George H.W. Bush—at the recommendation of GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)!,” reports Jeremy Hooper at Good As You.
Heyburn once served as McConnell’s general counsel, apparently.
Moreover, Judge Heyburn has twice been appointed to judicial committees—appointments given to him by conservative Supreme Court Chief Justices William Rhenquist and John Roberts!
Apparently, this is news to the likes of anti-gay hate group leader Tony Perkins.
Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council and possible candidate for Congress, just said in a press release that Judge Heyburn’s ruling — which says that Kentucky’s ban on recognizing same-sex marriages from other states is unconstitutional — is a “deep betrayal.”
In fact, let’s look at that entire statement shall we?
“This ruling is another example of the deep betrayal of a judicial system infected with activist judges who are legislating from the bench. If these judges want to change duly enacted laws passed by the people and their representatives, they should resign their life-time appointments to the bench and run for the state legislature or Congress. Judge Heyburn is elevating his own ideology over that of three-quarters of Kentucky voters who voted to preserve marriage in their constitution as it has always been defined [sic]
“This ruling comes at a time when the consequences of marriage redefinition are mounting. Increasingly, Americans are being forced to finance and celebrate unions that not only step on free speech and religious liberty but also deny children a mom and a dad. Rather than live-and-let-live, this court by redefining marriage will create a level of inequality that has never been seen in our country as people are forced to suppress or violate the basic teachings of their faith,” concluded Perkins.
National Organization For Marriage president Brian Brown issued a similarly ludicrous statement, lamenting that “yet another federal judge has entered the competition for lawlessness on the marriage front.”
“Today’s decision emphasizes the need for Congressional action to prevent our states’ marriage laws from spiraling further into chaos. Congress needs to explicitly reinforce the sovereign right of the states to make their own determinations regarding marriage, and to have those determinations respected by the federal government-which would include having those determinations protected from coerced modification through dubious readings of the 14th amendment such as we have here.”
You know, when every judge rules against your position, time after time after time — as in Section three of DOMA by the U.S. Supreme Court, California’s Prop 8 (also by a judge appointed by a Republican), “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and recently, marriage bans in Utah, Oklahoma, and now Kentucky — maybe it’s not the judges who are the “activists”?
Maybe, Tony, and Brian, maybe it’s you.