Clark Bends Over and Takes One for the Other Team
HEFL
It has been more than 10 years since a Democrat from Little Rock, Ark., first took on the militaryâs ban on gay service members, winding up with a compromise that was quickly dubbed âdonât ask, donât tell.â Now another Democrat from Little Rock is tackling that compromise, saying it clearly doesnât work and must be dismantled. As president, Gen. Wesley Clark is prepared to fix what his former commander in chief, Bill Clinton, left broken.Q. I know your son was married recently. If your son had been born gay, would you want him to have the same rights that he enjoys today?
A, I would want him to have the right to have a stable relationship. But whether you call it marriage or not is up to the church or the synagogue or the mosque. And itâs up to the state legislatures. I think marriage is a term of art. Itâs a term of usage. But the legal side of it is not: Itâs not negotiable.
Q. So you support Massachusettsâs calling it marriage?
A. Yeah, absolutely. I personally donât have a problem with the idea of gay civil unions - so my apologies to any gay readers out there, but IMHO, this is a HUGE tactical mistake by Clark. While this issue will pull some of the centrists to the left, even gay readers will have to acknowledge that this idea is so unpopular with the general public, that the democrats will lose a huge chunk of their base over this issue. The Republicans are right, this is a hand grenade and Clark just committed suicide by pulling the pin and throwing it in the Democrats lap. How, you ask, does this relate to the war on terror? Clark just assured Bushâs reelection.
Posted by: B 2004-01-22 |