It’s nice to know that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is telegraphing his priorities for the country early on as he prepares to jump in and fasten his seatbelt to ride in the 2012 GOP Clown Car.
He kneels before the gay-hating Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association and talks about GOProud attending CPAC, his views on “traditional marriage” and other bootlicking maneuvers to please the fundie listeners. (Right Wing Watch):
Fischer: Now the Left, and homosexual activists and organizations like GOProud, one of their stated agendas is to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that defines marriage in federal law and for federal purposes as a union of one man and one woman. The Obama administration has made a tepid and pretty ineffective defense of that law – if you become president and that law faces a challenge under your administration, how vigorously will you defend DOMA? What will you do to make sure it’s defended?
Pawlenty: I believe strongly in traditional marriage. I was co-author of the law in Minnesota that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. I’ve been a vocal supporter of an amendment in Minnesota that would put that into our constitution. I hope that the day comes when it is put before the voters of Minnesota. And it’s not just a legal issue; it’s also an important cornerstone for our society and our culture. I mean, families and traditional marriage is so important to that and I don’t believe all other domestic relations should be on the same platform as traditional marriage, I just don’t buy and so I’ve been a strong supporter of traditional marriage. I also think who you appoint to courts in this regard is important and we don’t have litmus tests, so to speak, but we want strict constructionists and people who take a conservative view toward the interpretation of our laws.
…Fischer: One last question, got about forty five seconds left, put you on the hot seat one more time: we just saw the ban on homosexual service in the military repealed, overturned. Conservatives will be working over the next couple of years to see that that ban is reinstated. If you become president in 2012, will you work to reinstate the prohibition on open homosexual service in the military? Would you sign such a prohibition if it got to your desk?
Pawlenty: Bryan, I have been a public and repeat supporter of maintaining Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. There’s a lot of reasons for that, but if you look at how the combat commanders and the combat units feel about it, the results of those kinds of surveys were different than the ones that were mostly reported in the newspaper and that is something I think we need to pay attention to. But I have been a public supporter of maintaining Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and I would support reinstating it as well.
