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05/17/2011
Maggie, in respite from faulting those who won't hush equality support, faults he who hushed his equality support
Writing for the Huffington Post, Jonathan Miller, former State Treasurer of Kentucky (1999-2007) and current Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, comes out for marriage equality:
"Yep, I'm for gay marriage.
I've lived a lie for most of my adult life. As a statewide elected official in Kentucky -- an inner notch of the Bible Belt -- I understood that coming out of the closet for gay marriage was tantamount to political suicide: an overwhelming majority of my constituents opposed it."
...
Some will castigate me for waiting until it was too late to make any difference. I plead guilty.
But while such a gesture might have been noble and potentially educational, I determined that, on balance, it wasn't worth political hari-kari. There were too many battles on too many other fronts that I wanted to fight. Gay marriage is important, but so are poverty reduction, educational opportunity, environmental protection and so on. I'd be giving up on all of the latter to simply make a statement on the former."
FULL PIECE(I encourage you to read it all!)I'm a Bible Belt Pol Coming Out for Marriage Equality -- Will Obama Join Me? [HuffPo]
So naturally, professional person who keeps marriage discrimination alive in this country, Maggie Gallagher, has to come out against this. And in typical Maggie fashion, the net effect is about as hypocritical as it can get:
Over at HuffPost, Jonathan Miller, who was once Treasurer of the state of Kentucky and recently left an appointive post as Secretary of Finance and Administration, comes out of the closet as a gay marriage supporter--after he left office, naturally.
He admits to being a little bit ashamed he did so only after leaving office. But he doesn't confess any shame at all about repeatedly lying to Kentucky voters in order to get elected.
Another Dem Politician Admits He Lied to Voters About Gay Marriage [NOM Blog]
So wait -- here have have someone who chairs a group that literally -- LITERALLY! -- vows to unseat politicians solely on the basis of his or her marriage vote. Someone who has probably spilled more ink on same-sex marriage than any other syndicated columnist working today. Someone who, during the time that Ms. Miller served in elected office, actually worked on President Bush's payroll for the purpose of keeping same-sex marriage issues in the public sphere. Someone who has forced us all to waste time, energy, and resources that could've been responsibly spent fixing any of the dire issues of our day. Not to mention someone who's never expressed an ounce of shame for the hyperbolic claims that her own organization and allies routinely make in order to support their "protect marriage" fears. And yet she has the nerve to fault a red state elected official for feeling stymied by the 21st century marriage climate that she's so willingly and indefatigably rain-maked into existence?!? Simply unreal!
It is clear, if you actually read the piece, that Mr. Miller has deep regret for how this had to play out for him. But if Maggie wants to understand why Mr. Miller had to stay quiet if he wanted to maintain his career, then she need look no further than her own mirror. And if she wants to find the real shame here, she can looktot the National Organization For Marriage and the discriminatory mindset it cultivates everyday.
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