Theodore Olson
If you’re waiting for the punch line, there isn’t one.
Ted Olson is the man who stood before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Bush administration and defended things like terrorist detention at Gitmo. He’s on the board of the American Spectator (a magazine so conservative that I’m linking you to the Wikipedia article and not their site)! He helped Paula Jones’ attorneys prepare to sue Bill Clinton. Given a dark ally, this isn’t really a man that I would have WANTED on my side! Some of the things he defended are so unjust and repugnant that I cringe to be associated with him now. Given that, listen to what he has to say about this lawsuit:
It is our position in this case that Proposition 8, as upheld by the California Supreme Court, denies federal constitutional rights under the equal protection and due process clauses of the constitution. The constitution protects individuals’ basic rights that cannot be taken away by a vote. If the people of California had voted to ban interracial marriage, it would have been the responsibility of the courts to say that they cannot do that under the constitution. We believe that denying individuals in this category the right to lasting, loving relationships through marriage is a denial to them, on an impermissible basis, of the rights that the rest of us enjoy… I also personally believe that it is wrong for us to continue to deny rights to individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Yeah, now I’m sure Hell has frozen over.
Here’s the interesting question: if a hardcore conservative hack like Ted Olson is taking the State of California to Federal Court in support of Same-Sex Marriage, what is Barack Obama waiting on? This indicates to me that there is a sea change in how America views its LGBT citizens. Mr. President, I think the time to repeal DOMA and DADT has come.
