Posted on 05/10/2012 12:38:27 PM PDT by torchy
..."I am gratified that the president has thrown his personal support and the authority of the presidency behind the goal of justice, equality, and decency for all citizens," said Ted Olson, founder of the Federalist Society and former Bush administration solicitor general..
I called Olson on Wednesday to get the conservative legal leader's take on the North Carolina gay-marriage ban at the ballot and the way it sets up a Supreme Court showdown, possibly as early as 2013--no matter who is president.
Olson has stern words for his fellow conservatives who flooded the polls on Tuesday, making North Carolina the 30th state to enshrine a ban on gay marriage in its state constitution.
"It is very sad to me that people who belong to the party of Abraham Lincoln are resisting so strenuously the equality and decency and integrity and treatment of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters," Olson said. "This seems to be one of the last major civil-rights battles of our country. And for people in our country to come out in numbers like this and say, ‘Well, we don't want the persons next door--who are decent, God-fearing, taxpaying, obeying-the-law citizens who simply want to have happiness like the rest of us'--to say ‘No, I have that right and you can't have it.' That just seems mean to me."..
This is a profile-in-courage moment for President Obama, but it comes with considerable political risks. The decision recalls a moment of White House history that came to light in the fourth volume of Robert Caro's LBJ biography. When cautioned by advisers that advancing civil rights might be moral but would not be politically pragmatic in 1964, the new president leaned back in his chair and said, "Well, what the hell's the presidency for?"...
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
http://www.cocktailhag.com/blog/holy-singers/the-belated-education-of-john-avlon/
“Conservative”? (”Scholar”?)
After the decisive rejection and ejection of GOP moderate statesman Dick Lugar,
IMHO the definition of “conservative” no longer includes the word “moderate.”
From now on, conservatives will not want to go along to get along. Why should we? We’re calling the shots.
P.S.
I miss Barbara Olsen very much. She was so smart, and she was also a fellow Freeper.
I also enjoyed listening to her on TV.
Pathetic!!! thanks for that info
He sees David Boies and wishes he had that kind of juice. So he decides he has to join the other side. It’s what will happen to everyone in the next generation if the socialists complete their takeover. You will have to acquiesce in their agenda or be shut out of power and wealth. Those with ambition will have to go along. Unless we win now.
Does this sound like the founder of the Federalist Society, or an 8-year old girl?
It’s such a shame that Ted wasn’t in that plane instead of his wife.
I’ve lived in Manhattan and I’ve lived in Washington DC.
Both places have a very strong “culture.” The people in both places, especially the upper classes and elitists, have a surprisingly uniform and lock-step thinking.
I’m convinced that if you are living there, and soaking in this culture long enough, there is immense pressure within one’s own mind to find ways to conform and “be accepted.”
For Ted Olson (who I will guess probably still calls himself “conservative”) the gay issue does this for him.
Please ... tell us more about your definition of "conservative".
Olson has lost my respect.
A conservative legal scholar’s take.
###
Legal scholar? I suppose.
Conservative? Not even close.
He is probably hooking up with homo supporter Ann Coulter!
Agree. I thought the same.
Proof positive ladies & gentlemen that there is NO difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.
It sounds like Ted might have “evolved” too! Evolution is in the wind. We need a Chuck Darwin Day.
He was so overshadowed by Barbara’s intellect and personality that I don’t think too many folks saw the real idiot Ted.
I think you are right, but isnt that what the so called “Log Cabin” republicans are?
It’s amazing how calling oneself a conservative, and then taking very pro-liberal stances, gets one noticed in the national media (e.g., Ted Olson, Meghan McCain).
Not so much, methinks.
Doesn't mean that states can't vote it in, as New York did recently. But the notion that "it's (gay marriage is) already IN the Constitution" is preposterous.
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