General: December 2006 Archives

THE ORIGINAL 1994 INTERVIEW WITH MITT ROMNEY

Romney in 1994

On LGBT civil rights
“When I speak of free agency, I don’t just mean that each person can do what they want to do, I mean that our society should allow people to make their own choices and live by their own beliefs. People of integrity don’t force their beliefs on others, they make sure that others can live by different beliefs they may have. That’s the great thing about this country: it was founded to allow people to follow beliefs of their own conscience. I will work and have worked to fight discrimination and to assure each American equal opportunity.”

On President Bill Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy against openly gay service members
“I believe that there will be change over time as the military establishment and the rank and file become more comfortable with the realities of sexual orientation in the military. I will support progress being made in that area as time progresses and the military and society becomes more accepting.”

On former Sen. Jesse Helms’s attempt in 1994 to pass an amendment to an education bill that would have prevented the portrayal of homosexuality as “a positive lifestyle alternative”
...it is “a dangerous precedent. I would have opposed that. It also grossly misunderstands the gay community by insinuating that there’s an attempt to proselytize a gay lifestyle on the part of the gay community. I think it’s wrong-headed and unfortunate and hurts the party by being identified with the Republican Party.”

On the Republican Party
“There’s something to be said for having a Republican who supports civil rights in this broader context, including sexual orientation. When Ted Kennedy speaks on gay rights, he’s seen as an extremist. When Mitt Romney speaks on gay rights he’s seen as a centrist and a moderate. It’s a little like if Eugene McCarthy was arguing in favor of recognizing China, people would have called him a nut. But when Richard Nixon does it, it becomes reasonable. When Ted says it, it’s extreme; when I say it, it’s mainstream. I think the gay community needs more support from the Republican Party, and I would be a voice in the Republican Party to foster anti-discrimination efforts.”

Romney in 2006

BOSTON, Nov. 19 -- Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said Sunday that he will ask the state’s highest court this week to order a ballot question on same-sex marriage if legislators fail to vote on the matter when they reconvene in January.

Romney said he will ask a justice of the state’s Supreme Judicial Court to direct the secretary of state to place the question on the ballot if lawmakers do not vote directly on the question Jan. 2, the final day of the current session. Romney’s term as governor expires Jan. 4. (source)

And finally, this...

“The truth of the matter is that politicians may take different positions on issues based on political realities. Does that make them bad or cynical or corrupt or whatever? The answer is no. That’s the nature of electoral politics, is that you have to fine tune and finesse your positions and that’s the case with Mitt Romney.” - Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University (source)

Actually, yes it does make you cynical and corrupt. It also makes you a person without honor or integrity. You know, sometimes in life, beyond all the excuses, a duck is really just a duck.

Mitt Romney is that duck. He’s a two-faced bigoted liar who would sell his own Mother and the three wives he’d love to have (if the law allowed him) down the creek... just for a few lousy votes, just exactly like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and all the rest of them.

This is exactly what is wrong with this country today. We have lots of politicians, and pretty much all of them will say anything they have to say to win our votes. Do we know what any of them really think?

One thing is for sure. Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter who stood by her father so closely, will soon find out what it’s like to be on the receiving end of Virginia’s new constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, and same sex parental adoption rights, which means that her partner will be a legal stranger to the baby that Mary Cheney is now carrying. You see, Mary and her partner live in Virginia. Is that justice or what?

What goes around comes around, eventually. Aside from all the nasty policies our current government has endorsed against certain minorities.... I wish Mary and her partner well in their quest for equal rights. They are going to need it.

Sources
Old Remarks On Gay Marriage Bite Romney
Romney Asks Court To Order Anti-Gay Amendment Put To Voters
Romney is a big fat liar