In 1996 Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, in both houses, by a wide margin. Bill Clinton was president at the time, and he was a strong advocate of the law. So was his wife, the former Hillary Rodman (sic).
Several events have taken place since then. In 1999 the Vermont Supreme Court, falling short of legalizing same-sex marriage, ruled that same sex couples were entitled to the same legal protections as all other couples. The gay world celebrated. A giant victory for civil rights, the demand for gay marriage stayed along the fringe of the gay community. Howard Dean was governor at the time.
When asked, Barney Frank stated that gay marriage was not a good idea.
In 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled as a matter of law under the state constitution that no law could bar same sex marriage.
Throughout all these breath-taking events the people of the several states, by a 70%-30% margin, have voted, when allowed to, to ban gay marriage from their states. The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted primarily to reflect this overwhelming public sentiment by stating that is is the national policy of the United States that marriage is between a man and a woman, but moreover to protect states from having to give full faith and credit to marriages or unions in other states, as required by the Constitution.
In a total volte- face, this week both Bill and Hillary Clinton came out for gay marriage in Obama-like fashion, almost matter-of-factly, after having been the architects of DOMA just 17 years ago. And Barney Frank got hitched just a few months ago (whattaya bet he got a pre-nup?).
Democrat-duplicity, politics as usual? Well yes and no. We all know the 17-24 year old crowd are almost obsessed about gay marriage. They are all for it. (Your public school tax dollars coming home to roost.) And of course, they are a big reason for the political turnaround, including Congressional consideration of repealing DOMA, even as the Supreme Court considers if it is a constitutional right.
But the really interesting number there is in fact those 17-24 year old numbers. You see, when the Clintons and whole Democrat Party was fist-pounding loudly against gay marriage in 1996, those kids were somewhere between six years old and a gleam in daddy’s eye. (If you’re over 50 it’s hard to think of the Clinton Administration as ancient history, but it is for fully 25% of the population, and shortly, as the Boomers start to drop like flies, they and their kind will become a majority. So get used to the new reality.)
And what we know about these “stupids” hereinafter known as low-information voters” is that Bill and Hillary Clinton can stand up today and say he’s for gay marriage and every one of them will believe that was his first statement on the subject.
It isn’t just that the information these kids receive is so slanted, it is also narrowly received. They won’t even see this NBC report that tracks Hillary’s “evolution” without so much as a smirk. They will only see her and Bill’s statement in the context of a very narrow framework, courtesy of the very few news sources they use, most likely social media (Twitter and Facebook).
Unlike old lefties, these young LIV’s are still largely without guile. They are gullible, not cynical. They react to new information in a different way than a trained left-wing operatives. So, instead of tweeting sweet thoughts or the outrage of the day to your friends, maybe you should enter the game by trying to point out the real truth of “recent history” these average 20 year olds are just too young to relate to.
Who knows, a few may actually pick up a book, or at least look at Wikipedia for a broader context. It’s been known to happen.
A few may even be willing to take a look at just what an unalienable right really is. Marriage of any kind doesn’t fall within those parameters, let along gay marriage. Do those kids know that?
Open that door and you may have saved a soul. Save a million of them and you may have saved America.
They just won’t come find you. You have to go find them.
