Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Saturday, March 28, 2015

Rand Paul Jumps on the Anti-Marriage Equality Crazy Train




How does a Libertarian get away with this?



"Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Thursday told a group of pastors and religious leaders that the debate over gay marriage was a symptom of a "moral crisis" in America and said he hoped for "another Great Awakening." 

 “Don’t always look to Washington to solve anything," Paul said during a private prayer breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club. "In fact, the moral crisis we have in our country — there is a role for us trying to figure out things like marriage — there’s also a moral crisis that allows people to think that there would be some sort of other marriage.” 

Paul said earlier this month that allowing gay marriage "offends myself and a lot of people." He said he would prefer that homosexuals had an alternative "contract" that gave them "equivalency before the law," while preventing same sex nuptials. 

 “I've said this before, we need a revival in the country,” Paul said on Thursday, as several in the room murmured in approval. “We need another Great Awakening with tent revivals of thousands of people saying, ‘reform or see what’s going to happen if we don’t reform,'" he said. ---Talking Points Memo


Here's the thing, Rand Paul, it's DIVORCE that should "offend" you and the people who are so concerned about the sanctity of marriage, not two people who want to marry and share a life together.  Divorce destroys marriage, not more marriage.  So you and your friends should be wringing your hands and clutching your pearls over that.  Divorce breaks up families.  Marriage--even marriages between teh gaiis!-- creates families.  Your sense of "offense" is predicated on a religious book (which, BTW, found interracial marriages offensive not too long ago, and which justified slavery, not too long ago.)

It looks like Rand Paul is just another run-of-the-think-tank panderer.  He knows he needs the folks who've gone all ga-ga over Ted Cruz, and so he'll go all Libertarian "offended" to let them know he's "one of them."

I understood Libertarianism to be about "I'll mind my own business, and you stay out of mine!"  But here's a guy who believes this country needs another "Great Awakening," a religious revival.  Does he also want whichever religion comes out of this new Great Awakening to be the impetus for new religious laws?  And has he lost his mind?


BTW, someone needs to bring this to Paul's attention:



NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll 3/1-5/15 

"Do you favor or oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter into same-sex marriages?" 

Strongly / Somewhat favor = 59% 
Strongly / Somewhat oppose = 33%





Also, Paul reversed himself on defense spending.  Is he trying to keep up with Mittens on the Flip-Flop Olympics?





8 comments:

C. Johnson the 3rd said...

This is a good reminder that when most people claim to be 'libertarian' what they really mean is that they support the politics of reactionary, theocratic Republicans, but are just too embarrassed to admit it.

Or a Libertarian is a reactionary Gooper who likes to get high.

Infidel753 said...

The most politically-active libertarians can give you a blizzard of rationalizations for why personal freedoms that offend the Christian Right aren't part of the real freedom they claim they're defending. There are still some rank-and-file libertarians who don't much care about social issues, but they aren't the ones who become politicians.

He knows he needs the folks who've gone all ga-ga over Ted Cruz, and so he'll go all Libertarian "offended" to let them know he's "one of them."

That's what's really going on, of course. The hard-core libertarian cult is fanatical, but it's a relatively small rubber room within the overall Republican asylum. To have a real chance at the nomination, he's got to appeal to the nationalists and the fundies too.

Jerry Critter said...

Perhaps he is not as libertarian as he wants one to believe.

Henry Walrus said...

Cruz, Paul, these TeaPublitarians don't need to be consistent as long as they get their base to vote for them. This explains Ted "The Anointed King" Cruz's appeal to the people who said lefties thought Barry was The Messiah (no lefty ever claimed that). See they'll ignore this maniacal statement by Cruz's pastor father because he's one of them and it's okay to claim messiah-hood if you're a Bible-thumper.

As for Rand Paul getting offended by gay marriage? When did this Libertarian morph into Ted Cruz-lite?

Clearwater, Florida said...

The people who believe Ted Cruz will be the next president are the same nuts who thought Sarah Palin was qualified to be vice president. They didn't have the brains to see through her grifter con and now they can't to see "brilliant" Teddy "The Anointed King" Cruz for what he is either.

The baggers keep supporting these types as though they had a chance of winning national elections. The country isn't going to vote for a guy who see marriage equality as an evil, who says the earth isn't getting warmer, and whose father proclaims him an anointed king. That's just nuts.

Ahab said...

The country is in a "moral crisis"? Ugh. Paul is using a well-worn Religious Right tactic here. By insisting that the country is fallen and depraved, he's encouraging right-wing voters to become politically active in order to change the perceived situation. Expect more rhetoric like this until November 2016 arrives.

Infidel753 said...

Concerning the "anointed" graphic at the top, Ted Cruz is so blatantly unqualified to be President that if God has chosen him for that role, then God is unqualified to be God.

Les Carpenter said...

I thought god had chosen Dr. Carson. Maybe he changed his mind? Of course with 20 potential GOP (Grand Old Poop) candidates perhaps the omnipotent one will again change the all
knowing mind.

Tis the season for popcorn.