To which Rep. Byron Rushing, D-Boston said:Gov. Mitt Romney, renewing his support for a ballot question banning gay marriage, said Wednesday it's the job of voters -- not the courts or lawmakers -- to define what constitutes a civil right.
Who's going to tell us what a civil right is and what's not? Well, the people will," Romney said at a news conference calling on lawmakers to allow a vote on a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriage here. That vote is scheduled for July 12.
"He's absolutely wrong when he says the definition of civil rights is a definition that is made by all the people," Rushing said. "It is not reasonable to ask all the people to decide what a civil rights issue is. If it was left up to popular referenda in the 1950s and 1960s, we would not have had any of the civil rights laws passed."Of course Romney, when away from the Cardinal in the Brown Robe and Mass "Family" Institute spokeswoman, calls the AP back to back track on his remarks and blame the courts again:
Yeah Governor Idiot, and the courts stopped segration from Governors like you who didn't want their white kids to be next to black kids. It was the court that reversed those wrong decisions NOT the people, just like the courts in Massachusetts. GET A CLUE!"I'm not saying that civil rights should be up to a popular vote," (even though he did say that exact thing) Romney said, although he added, "The Constitution does not prohibit the people from making any decision. The Constitution allows for the people to overrule the judiciary, the executive or the legislative" branches.
Romney cited instances in the past where he said the courts have been on the wrong side of key moral and social issues.
"Interestingly, it was the courts who made bad decisions to protect the evils of slavery," he said. Amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- and the Civil War -- ended slavery, Romney said, adding, "It was the courts that messed that up, not the
people."
All I can say is THANK GOD we won't have him as Governor soon (not that he's acting like a governor now)
3 comments:
I just love how these folks would like to pretend that LGBT people and our supporters are not among "the people."
"The Constitution does not prohibit the people from making any decision. The Constitution allows for the people to overrule the judiciary, the executive or the legislative" branches, said Governor Romney. And he's dead wrong again. The Massachusetts Constitution specifically prohibits using the initiative process to overturn judicial decisions, which is precisely what the VoteOnMarriage.org petition does. This is why the SJC or the Legislature should stop the petition now. The only legal way for the SJC to be overruled in the Goodridge case is for the process of amending the state constitution to start in the legislature. This has already been done, and that failed, so Romney is just pandering to the right wingers who are against same sex marriage here and in other states.
Steven nailed it. Today's Globe has an article about Romney's involvement in the South Carolina gay marriage fight.
I wish we could get a governor who actually represents this state.
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