Palin’s Attempt to Weigh In On DOMA Move Falls Flat
The latest from Sarah Palin, a response to the National Organization for Marriage about President Obama’s decision not to defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, is pouring over with confusion.
“I have always believed that marriage is between one man and one woman. Like the majority of Americans, I support the Defense of Marriage Act and find it appalling that the Obama administration decided not to defend this federal law which was enacted with broad bipartisan support and signed into law by a Democrat president. It’s appalling, but not surprising that the President has flip-flopped on yet another issue from his stated position as a candidate to a seemingly opposite position once he was elected.”
Unfortunately for Palin, polls starting over this past summer are showing that the majority of Americans support marriage equality. A larger percentage, one could presume, support overturning at least the portion of the law that bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages legally conducted in a state.
Moreover, her reference to the Democratic president who signed the bill into law fails to mention that the man, Bill Clinton, now supports marriage equaliity or, as Kevin Nix writes, “That’s true, but that was 14 years ago.”
Finally, as to Obama, the president’s stated position as a candidate was that he supports the repeal of DOMA. In fact, it was his defense of DOMA caused some of the strongest rebukes he’s received from any of the left during his presidency. If Palin wants to make an accusation of “flip-flopping,” it should be of his Justice Department’s defense of the law during his first two years in office to his decision on Feb. 23 no longer to defend Section 3 (although Attorney General Eric Holder gave an explanation for the change in position). Additionally, it should be noted that the government continues to enforce the law while challenges move through the court system.
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