Some people still don't appreciate why Rick Perry's remark to Republican fat cats condoning the New York Legislature's vote to approve same-sex marriage should disqualify him from consideration for the Republican presidential nomination.
Here's an example of one quizzical letter I received on the topic: "Logically, how is Rick Perry's response on gay marriage incorrect? Regardless of how anybody feels about it, marriage isn't addressed in the Constitution. So it is supposed to be left to the states, right?"
Perry had told a group of high rollers in Aspen that New York state's action was "fine with him," and there was nothing Washington could do about it because of the 10th Amendment.
Many conservatives have swallowed this idea – either in their misguided enthusiasm over Perry or because they don't understand why conservatives are always losing ground in the culture war.
Imagine if a Republican presidential candidate said: "The Constitution doesn't say anything about abortion, so it is reserved to the states to decide."
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Technically, both of these statements are absolutely true. However, there's something missing – the context in which the federal government deliberately nationalized both issues. In the case of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court took no notice of the 10th Amendment in declaring abortion to be not a matter of life and death for an unborn baby but a matter of "privacy" and women's rights. In the case of same-sex marriage, federal judges have intervened to overrule popular ballot propositions affirming marriage as an institution between one man and one woman.
Apparently, in the eyes of Rick Perry, the 10th Amendment only offers protections for social radicals to redefine marriage and life at the state level, not to guard 6,000-year-old social institutions and the most innocent and vulnerable of human life.
I know. I know. After my criticism, Perry attempted to do damage control. He explained how he actually favors amending the Constitution to protect the institution of marriage.
Let me tell you what I would have said if I were thinking about running for president and someone asked me about New York state's decision on same-sex marriage:
"New York lawmakers took the cowardly way out in passing a law redefining the institution of marriage. They could have left the matter up to voters in the state, as 31 other states have done. Each and every time a state has allowed voters to have their say, they have overwhelmingly affirmed marriage for what it is and always has been – the union of a man and woman, a God-ordained institution since the Garden of Eden. It's not a state matter or a federal matter. It's a God matter. And no man should attempt to put asunder what God has created.
"Furthermore, I will do everything in my power, now and in the future, to defend and protect the institution of marriage. Yes, I will support a constitutional amendment. Yes, I will appoint judges who will uphold the institution of marriage when it is challenged. And, yes, I will always speak out affirmatively for marriage – using whatever pulpit I have, including the big bully pulpit of the presidency."
That would have been the kind of unequivocal and strong statement I would expect from someone thinking about running for the GOP nomination for the presidency.
Even with all the backpedaling Perry has done since his gaffe, he still has not even remotely approached that kind of affirmation of the most important institution in American society.
It has forced me to look deeper into Perry's worldview and character. I have come to the recognition that he is not up to the challenge of succeeding Barack Obama – a position that will require a very strong leader of conviction and determination.
Too often throughout Perry's public life his brand of "conservatism" has been nuanced, ambiguous or worse – on illegal immigration, globalism, political alliances, TSA groping, the TARP bailout, mandatory vaccinations, parents' rights, the role of the federal government in education, eminent domain, the homosexual agenda, hate crimes, etc., etc., etc.
Cross Perry off your list of acceptable candidates to oppose Obama in 2012.