Where were all the presidential candidates* as the vote to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was nearing? The collective silence was loud. Only Rush Limbaugh brashly called the repeal, “gays in the military, show and tell”. But at the end it was largely a GOP candidates no-show and no-tell.
Before the recent votes in the lame-duck session of Congress repealing DADT (a policy that dated back to the Bill Clinton administration), I called on politicians to come out and announce their positions. Former governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson wrote a piece for the Huffington Post saying he was against DADT, while 2008 nominee John McCain spoke in the Senate to retain it. Otherwise, I was mostly ignored. In fact, I was completely ignored (Does anybody but me really think Johnson or McCain announced because of me?) But I digress.
Speaking of surprises, we shouldn’t be surprised when candidates without principles stick their fingers in the wind and change their votes as often as President Obama changes batteries on his teleprompter. But when candidates like Ron Paul claim their position is a principled one (based on the U.S. Constitution), their changes in position almost certainly mean one of two things: Either the candidate has not been candid all along, or he or she is going soft.
Ron Paul previously supported DADT. His recent vote to repeal it is one more thing that shouldn’t surprise us, however. Though Paul professes Christianity, years ago he said he does not even think homosexuality is a sin. He says this because he is a doctor, not because he can find support for his position in the Bible. As I have pointed out elsewhere, without the Word of God as a standard, there could be no successful stand against moral degradation. I believe abortion has become established in the USA, partly because Christians have been afraid to use the Bible as the Sword of the Spirit. Homosexual “marriage” may be next.
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*Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Tim Pawlenty. Some have spoken plainly in favor of the DADT in the past (Huckabee and Santorum), one has flip-flopped (Guess Who?), and one has punted (Sarah Palin). But none made an issue of it during the lame duck session. Is this a portent of things to come? Will they join Ron Paul?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_krYcGZhJk
Cross-Posted on Race42012