Alaskan Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller — who was just outed for lying about using government computers for political activity, and whose one-time advisor Terry Moffitt runs the “gay cure” website Hope For Homosexuals — finally granted Rachel Maddow the interview she’s been looking for. Granted, it was a Law & Order-style on-the-move chat in his home state, but Maddow did get Miller to discuss The Gays. It was a nightmare.
His views on LGBT equality legislation can be summed up as: He’s against it, but such bills fall in the “state’s issue” category. Except the Defense of Marriage Act — a federal piece of legislation — is a law “I support.” Huh!
Miller also supports a federal Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, which he acknowledges voters would have to approve, but it’s something he’s in favor of. Which doesn’t sound like a move that would leave the power to the states, no does it?
And what about this homosexuality being a “choice” thing? Miller — who told Alaskan voters in a July letter that he supports “the traditional Christian view” that “homosexuality is a sin, and therefore immoral” — says it “really is a state issue,” which, uh, is a ridiculous thing to say. So he follows it up with: “I think it’s up to an individual, so an individual has to make that decision.” Which, uh, means each person must decide whether each person believes homosexuality is a choice. OKTHX!
How about we take this to the next level?
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“We’re an increasingly diverse country,” he tells Maddow during their brief exchange. “I wanna be straight with you. And as a diverse country, I think it’s important that we recognize there are different approaches to different values. And I think that it’s best for states to be able to make those choices.”
Jesus
wtf dude. stop using my book like that. i’ll even autograph a copy it helps.
GaryG
This is the state that elected Sarah Palin, is anyone surprised???
B
What’s really going on in the video is that this guy wants to talk about something else, which is why he seems so muddled. His idea of a “diverse country” seems to be to let states pass repressive legislation so the “undesirables” move somewhere else.
Sarah
You know, if someone is stupid and ignorant, then that’s one thing. But Miller graduated from West Point with honors and has a law degree from Yale, so he obviously has an IQ higher than 90 and has met a good number of gay people in his day, so he has no real excuse. I doubt he even really believes what he’s saying. He’s just pandering to win votes. Sick, sick, sick.
peteNsfo
It’s unfortunate. If Rachel and her team had been trying to reach them for weeks, why wasn’t she better prepared for the moment?
Granted, it was far less than an ideal situation, far from ideal… but it comes across as so… amateur.
Law
I keep reading about how the republicans are more motivated this year and expected to show up in greater numbers than democrats – yet, registered democrats make up the majority in the states. How does the idea of seeing people like Joe Miller, Sharon Angle, Christine O’Donnell and Pat Toomey in the senate not motivate you to get to the polls and keep them out? The democrats are far from perfect, but in a two party system – they’re the best shot we’ve got.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@peteNsfo: The only direct contact they would agree to is him basically attempting to run away from Rachel and her questions. That was the interview….Am sure Miller Lite was sweating bullets that his car would be there waiting for him, so he could duck into it and not have to actually stand still for any amount of time to look Rachel in the face to actually answer a question………
He proved that his is absolutley unqualified for the position of United States Senator. He has zero grasp of the basic ideas of how our government works. It is an absolute disgrace that the tea party whom proclaim they are attempting to set this country back to its roots of “representive government for the people” are attempting to elect a slate of candidates who refuse to speak to the media, answer questions, nor meet with anyone who is not a die hard supporter. They are all basically running stealth campaigns. Angle, McConnell, Miller et all are all pulling the same shamefull act…………
GlacierGuy
Being from Alaska, this is such an embarrassment! As if it wasn’t bad enough having Sarah Palin at the helm at one point, now this guy jumps onto the polar express of catastrophe! What is going on Alaska? Can’t you find more diverse and open-minded people to take office? What is really a shame here is Alaska has so many different walks of life, yet somehow these “Christian Conservatives” always get the spotlight. It’s the same ‘ol song and dance up there. Alaska seriously needs to be shaken out like a dirty rug so all the crap gets out. Maybe then someone more supportive of gay rights will step in! Good grief…
the crustybastard
@Law wrote “The democrats are far from perfect, but in a two party system – they’re the best shot we’ve got.”
Your statement that we should vote for merely lousy candidates rather than bugfuck crazy ones is less an argument on behalf of Democrats than it is an indictment of the two-party system.
And we will not break this crappy two-party system that reliably presents us a choice of “useless or crazy?” until we start voting for third-parties.
It’s possible that Greens, once elected, will shank us in the back just like Democrats did; however, I’m positive that if we keep voting for Dems, we’re going to keep getting the same result — nice speeches, nothing else.
I’m definitely definitely sick of that shit.
Cam
Anybody who thinks being gay is a choice, please tell us when you decided to be hetrosexual
peteNsfo
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: Do you guys all suspect that I somehow agree with this guy, or don’t have a grasp of t-party baloney, or politics in general???
Take your ‘gay’ blinders off for a moment and try and see the broader perspective that the rest of the country likely sees. Unless they have a gay person in their lives, then ‘we’ are an abstract, mostly defined by all the crazy ads put out there by people that think we are dangerous freaks and sinners.
If, Rachel, knows she’s only got a second w/ a reluctant interviewee, then she should have sharp, succinct, inescapable questions for this guy. She’s one of our own, and she needs to do it better than anyone. That’s all I’m saying- I like, Rachel, but step out of the gay-media-vacuum & try and see a bigger picture.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@peteNsfo: You need to put yourself in Rachel’s position. She clearly was in hostile territory. Miller nor anyone within 500 feet of him wanted anything to do with her or her questions. She was basically running behind him reading off her notes trying to get him to answer a simple question. He began bobbing and weaving all over the map with his “answers”. I doubt very much any person could squeezed any more sharper response from him. He simply did not want to do the interview, he gave the absolute minium he could get away with…………..
Jeffree
Miller has a Law degree? Hard to tell! He is supporting *both* DOMA and “states’ rights” at the same time. Two of the primary equalizers between same-sex marriage and opposite-sex marriage are a) federal taxation–married couples benefit, non-married don’t b) Social Security—and a host of others.
Leaving it to the states’ decisions/votes is a recipe for chaotic disàster with SSMarriages in one state being unrecognized in other states or offering different legal/tax benefits.
Not too swift, Miller!
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I think Maddow made good use of her time: she got him to spout *contradictory* answers to different question and exposedd his overal lack of information or common sense. I think it may have been her strategy to show that he has no clear clue on the topic of SSM,
Soupy
Let’s not forget Ken Buck in Colorado. Come on people, don’t let the ignorant outvote you!
Hi - its me
???????
You can’t consider gay marriage to be a state’s rights issue and be for a federal bill taking the rights away from the state.
Is he that ignorant or is he just hoping the people are that ignorant?