Republican strategist Hogan Gidley and New York Times correspondent Josh Barro were guests on Now with Alex Wagner. They debated marriage equality and the recent Supreme Court refusal to take up appeals to any of the lower courts’ rulings on them.
GOP will use fear to mislead about what marriage equality really means
This week the Supreme Court announced that it would not hear any of the cases from the federal appeals courts where same sex marriage (marriage equality) was deemed constitutional. While many in the conservative leadership attempted to ignore it giving the shifting support for marriage equality in America, some on the Right Wing fringe like Ted Cruz went into hyperventilation mode.
It is obvious the fight is not over. GOP strategists like Hogan Gidley are using a narrative they hope will work to return Americans to an intolerance modal. The video above is probative.
Hogan Gidley starts by stating that support for marriage equality has fallen a few points since its rapid growth in acceptance. What he did not say is that there are still more supporting than opposing marriage equality.
He them attempts the narrative that marriage equality opponents hope will scare Americans back into intolerance.
“If you are going to tell me you can force people who take wedding pictures,” Hogan Gidley said. Take pictures of a gay wedding, force them by law, then why can’t I force an African American bakery to bake a cake for a white supremacist group? or a Jewish group to handle meat in an un-kosher manner for another function. It just doesn’t work that way.”
Alex Wagner’s answer was rather amusing. “If you want a special carve out for bigotry,” Alex Wagner said. “We can have that discussion.”
The best response however came from Josh Barro. “Hogan, if this is the advice you are giving your clients you are doing them a disservice,” Josh Barro said. “The difference between this issue and abortion is there is no generational divide on abortion. Young people and old people have roughly the same view and public opinion on it has been static for decades. On gay marriage there is this enormous generational divide including the majority of young Republicans in favor of gay marriage. The people on your side of this issue literally are dying everyday. So that’s why it is not going to be like Roe v Wade,. It’s not going to be something we’re discussing forty years from now because it is not going to be something where there is a viable political coalition on the anti side during an election.”
In a changing America fear induced bigotry will become less effective with time.
