I'm going to stop talking about Senator Portman's "evolving" on Gay Marriage but we should pause to ask the question if his critics are being too rough on him. William Saletan, a writer I usually respect, makes a weak (to me) case that Portman isn't as hypocritical as some of us think. Yes, Portman's two positions are on the surface not all that different from Barack Obama's…but some of us also thought Obama's were disingenuous, too. The key difference is that Obama was never a militant opponent of Gay Rights as was Portman, a man who usually got 0 (zero) ratings from civil rights groups on the issue. And Saletan doesn't address the aspect of this I mentioned, which is that for Portman to have an openly gay son and to still oppose Gay Rights would be an awkward position that might make him look like a champion of principle to some but would make him look like an uncaring father to others. Even Dick Cheney, who clearly shrugs off a lot of pretty insulting characterizations, didn't want to be in that position.
Cheney wasn't pilloried by the right-wing for his stance because they could say, "He doesn't really support Gay Marriage. It's just something he has to say because of his daughter." And indeed, I don't think there's any evidence of Cheney actually doing anything to advance the cause of Gay Marriage in this country or to impede those who seek to quash it. Will Senator Portman actually now do anything besides his statement to help make Gay Marriage a reality in more states? His editorial practically promises he won't. So that's a big difference from President Obama, who's out there crusading for the cause, albeit a bit late.
Still, a couple of folks have written me as did Ted Herrmann to say — this is what Ted wrote — "Doing the right thing for self-serving reasons, or for any reasons whatsoever, is still doing the right thing. Remember, Orson Welles directed Citizen Kane mainly to get a date with Rita Hayworth." True. And I'm of the mind that most politicians, including those I vote for, do most of what they do for self-serving reasons. I just think it's becoming too much the norm with the right-wing to carry this to personal extremes; to look at everything in terms not of how something will benefit all or the majority but just their own immediate needs. I'm surprised we even have fire departments in most cities given how few politicians' homes are on fire at any given moment.
That's it for now on this topic. The next few posts here should be about more important stuff like comic books and Creamy Tomato Soup.