Washington, D.C. -
Rep Barney Frank (D-Mass) accused the president Thursday of using gay marriage as a smokescreen in a callous attempt to divert attention from rising unemployment and other issues.
"Faced with bad news on virtually every important policy front -- Iraq, North Korea, Liberia, the deficit, unemployment, congressional deadlock on prescription drugs -- President Bush has taken the advice of his chief advisor, [Karl]. Rove, and tried to change the subject, even though it means repudiating a position taken by vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney at the height of the presidential campaign.
Wednesday, as reported first by 365Gay.com, President Bush said White House lawyers are looking at legislation to prevent states and the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage. (365gay.com story) Although the president did not specifically say he was supporting a constitutional amendment in the House that would bar same-sex couples from marrying, the comments were taken as an endorsement, winning praise from the far right of the GOP, angering gay activists, and dominating TV coverage for the next 24 hours.
Yet, earlier this month Bush said he did not believe an Amendment was necessary in light of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In 1999, during the presidential campaign, Vice President Dick Cheney during a debate said that marriage is the responsibility of individual states. Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter said that "we ought to do everything we can to tolerate and accommodate whatever kind of relationships people want to enter into."
Frank called the administration's reversal a shell game.
" As with the war in Iraq, we are now told that Mr. Cheney's campaign assertion is to be filed under the heading of "never mind," and the American people are to be persuaded that repelling the threat of same-sex couples rivals unemployment, trillions in new debt, and a quagmire in Iraq as problems facing the nation."
The Massachusetts gay Democrat, one of the most articulate members of the House accused Bush of using a tried and proven GOP "diversion tactic."
"If the tactic seems familiar, it's because it is. In 1996, faced with Bill Clinton's popularity, the Republicans rolled out the Defense of Marriage Act, asserting -- wholly falsely it is now clear -- that a tidal wave of gay marriages was about to surge out of Hawaii and engulf America.
"With President Bush's popularity dropping and the serious problems confronting America worsening, the Administration seeks to divert attention by demagoguing on the issue of same-sex unions," the Congressman said.
"Incredibly, Mr. Bush is trying to persuade the country that instead of persistent high unemployment, one trillion dollars in new federal debt over the next two years, continued American deaths in Iraq, unhindered progress towards a North Korean nuclear capacity and a bogging down on his agenda in Congress, Americans should be seriously worried about the prospect that two men who love each other might be allowed to become legally and financially responsible for each other."
A White House spokesperson denied attempted to highjack Wednesday's media briefing in the Rose Garden saying only that the President was responding to a question posed by a reporter.
by Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau Chief
©365Gay.com® 2003
Post Your Take: Gay Marriage
"Faced with bad news on virtually every important policy front -- Iraq, North Korea, Liberia, the deficit, unemployment, congressional deadlock on prescription drugs -- President Bush has taken the advice of his chief advisor, [Karl]. Rove, and tried to change the subject, even though it means repudiating a position taken by vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney at the height of the presidential campaign.
Wednesday, as reported first by 365Gay.com, President Bush said White House lawyers are looking at legislation to prevent states and the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage. (365gay.com story) Although the president did not specifically say he was supporting a constitutional amendment in the House that would bar same-sex couples from marrying, the comments were taken as an endorsement, winning praise from the far right of the GOP, angering gay activists, and dominating TV coverage for the next 24 hours.
Yet, earlier this month Bush said he did not believe an Amendment was necessary in light of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In 1999, during the presidential campaign, Vice President Dick Cheney during a debate said that marriage is the responsibility of individual states. Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter said that "we ought to do everything we can to tolerate and accommodate whatever kind of relationships people want to enter into."
Frank called the administration's reversal a shell game.
" As with the war in Iraq, we are now told that Mr. Cheney's campaign assertion is to be filed under the heading of "never mind," and the American people are to be persuaded that repelling the threat of same-sex couples rivals unemployment, trillions in new debt, and a quagmire in Iraq as problems facing the nation."
The Massachusetts gay Democrat, one of the most articulate members of the House accused Bush of using a tried and proven GOP "diversion tactic."
"If the tactic seems familiar, it's because it is. In 1996, faced with Bill Clinton's popularity, the Republicans rolled out the Defense of Marriage Act, asserting -- wholly falsely it is now clear -- that a tidal wave of gay marriages was about to surge out of Hawaii and engulf America.
"With President Bush's popularity dropping and the serious problems confronting America worsening, the Administration seeks to divert attention by demagoguing on the issue of same-sex unions," the Congressman said.
"Incredibly, Mr. Bush is trying to persuade the country that instead of persistent high unemployment, one trillion dollars in new federal debt over the next two years, continued American deaths in Iraq, unhindered progress towards a North Korean nuclear capacity and a bogging down on his agenda in Congress, Americans should be seriously worried about the prospect that two men who love each other might be allowed to become legally and financially responsible for each other."
A White House spokesperson denied attempted to highjack Wednesday's media briefing in the Rose Garden saying only that the President was responding to a question posed by a reporter.
by Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau Chief
©365Gay.com® 2003
Post Your Take: Gay Marriage
This article originally appeared on 365gay.com. Republished with permission.
