history lessons

Bill Clinton Was Just Declared a Constitutional Violator. Is There A Worse Sin?

Is everyone still digesting yesterday’s news about DOMA’s Section 3 being declared unconstitutional? Me too! And it got me thinking: When federal Judge Joseph L. Tauro in Boston struck down the federal law — passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996 — he was also declaring that guy who got a beej from his intern violated the Constitution.

That’s, uh, kind of a big deal.

We’ve all gone after Clinton — and his useless minions, like Richard Socarides — for all his gay “compromises,” like Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and DOMA.

But what we have here is a federal court saying what lawmakers and the president colluded to do — deny federal recognition of same-sex marriages when the federal government isn’t supposed to be in the marriage business — went against the very principles the United States was founded on. Bill Clinton, and the Democrats and Republicans in the House (with a vote of 342-67) and the Senate (85-14), neglected their duties as elected officials to protect and uphold the Constitution.

It’s political malpractice, really. And this is just confirmation of the shameful stain that will forever linger over Clinton’s presidency.

Neither lawsuit that Tauro ruled on touched upon the language in DOMA that, notes the Times, says “states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. But if the cases make their way to the Supreme Court and are upheld, gay and lesbian couples in states that recognize same-sex marriage will be eligible for federal benefits that are now granted only to heterosexual married couples.” It’ll only be further confirmation that with one signature, Clinton broke his presidential oath.

Now it’s just a matter of time to see whether Barack Obama‘s Justice Department appeals the ruling. And continues Clinton’s anti-equality legacy.

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