The American Spectator : Liberals Pillory Portman on Gay Marriage

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Liberals Pillory Portman on Gay Marriage

By Aaron Goldstein on 3.18.13 @ 6:08AM

That’s the thanks he gets for coming over to their side.

While it is true that Ohio Senator Rob Portman’s about face on gay marriage has not been embraced by conservatives; liberals aren’t giving him any love either.

Portman’s change of heart came on account of his 21-year old son Matt who revealed his sexual orientation to him two years ago. He detailed this in an op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch:

Knowing that my son is gay prompted me to consider the issue from another perspective: that of a dad who wants all three of his kids to lead happy, meaningful lives with the people they love, a blessing Jane and I have shared for 26 years.

Matt Yglesias of Slate takes Portman to task for his reasoning:

Remember when Sarah Palin was running for vice president on a platform of tax cuts and reduced spending? But there was one form of domestic social spending she liked to champion? Spending on disabled children? Because she had a disabled child personally? Yet somehow her personal experience with disability didn’t lead her to any conclusions about the millions of mothers simply struggling to raise children in conditions of general poorness. Rob Portman doesn’t have a son with a pre-existing medical condition who’s locked out of the health insurance market. Rob Portman doesn’t have a son engaged in peasant agriculture whose livelihood is likely to be wiped out by climate change. Rob Portman doesn’t have a son who’ll be malnourished if SNAP benefits are cut. So Rob Portman doesn’t care.

Meanwhile, over at the Huffington Post, Kenneth M. Walsh sings a remarkably similar tune:

While I would like to say that it makes me happy to have the first Republican senator come out in support of marriage equality, I am having a difficult time getting past the whole “I need this EXACT situation to affect me PERSONALLY before I can do anything” mentality that seems to persist in the halls of Congress.

Do I need to have a close relative have Parkinson’s disease to think there should be government funding for a cure? Does a member of my family need to be African American for me to think the Voting Rights Act needs to be renewed? Does my house have to be destroyed by a hurricane to vote for emergency relief funding? The utter lack of empathy displayed by so many elected officials sickens me to the point that if and when some of them finally see the light, I almost hate them more… for showing a complete lack of conviction.

Yet consider what President Obama told Robin Roberts of ABC News last May right after he reversed his own view on gay marriage:

You know, Malia and Sasha, they’ve got friends whose parents are same-sex couples. And I — you know, there have been times where Michelle and I have been sittin’ around the dinner table. And we’ve been talkin’ and — about their friends and their parents. And Malia and Sasha would — it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them. And — and frankly — that’s the kind of thing that prompts — a change of perspective. You know, not wanting to somehow explain to your child why somebody should be treated — differently, when it comes to — the eyes of the law.

OK, so neither of the President’s daughters has said they are openly gay. But that doesn’t matter here. When it came to changing his position on gay marriage, Obama credited his daughters just as Portman credited his son for helping him to see things from a different perspective. Did Ygeslias or Walsh take Obama to task for the influence of his daughters in changing his views? What do you think?

As I have argued previously, the Left doesn’t really care about gay marriage except if a white, Christian Republican opposes it. Barack Obama did not support gay marriage in 2008 and would not have done so in 2012 if not for the loose lips of Vice-President Biden. Liberals would have supported President Obama last year, gay marriage or no gay marriage.

The great late 18th century, early 19th century English poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge put it succinctly when he said, “I have seen great intolerance shown in support of tolerance.” The bottom line is that liberals do not care if a Republican supports gay marriage. As far as liberals are concerned, it makes no difference if Portman supports same sex marriage or calls homosexuality a sin. In Walsh’s own words, “when they finally see the light, I almost hate them more.” As long as Portman has a capital R affixed to his name, liberals will have as much contempt for him today as they did yesterday. Portman can change his perspective but liberals can’t change theirs.

Photo: UPI

About the Author

Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (66) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

Virtue| 3.18.13 @ 6:57AM

Portman and Obama both governing on lessons learned from children. Where have all the adults gone? We are doomed.

alice921| 3.18.13 @ 12:26PM

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Bandido| 3.18.13 @ 7:07AM

Portman made himself look bad. Yglesias is right. Either Portman supports gay rights on principle or he doesn't. To change his view because of his son is as intellectually incoherent as it is hypocritical.

loulou| 3.18.13 @ 10:26AM

I agree. Is he afraid his son won't love him anymore?

JD| 3.18.13 @ 12:14PM

It all makes sense now!

Every liberal has a child who is stupid and incompetent (hereditary traits, BTW). That's why they favor policies to take from the smart and competent and give to the stupid and incompetent!

Jack in Wi| 3.18.13 @ 4:52PM

Portman is another Bush Republican. They have destroyed the conservative movement and Republican Party.

TLP| 3.18.13 @ 7:40AM

I'm wondering what Mr. Portman would be if favour of, if his Kid liked having Sex with Little Boys? What about Animals? Dead Bodies?

Would he be for Legalized Drugs, if his Kid was a Drug Addict?

Would he be against Laws that punish Bank Robbers, if his Kid liked to Rob Banks.

Would he be against Laws that punish Rapists, if his Kid was a Rapist?

What Law will he push for, should his Kid decide that he wants to be Miss America? Or, if he should stomp his 6inch Heels on the ground and demand to be allowed in the Women's Locker Room at the Health Club?

The list is endless.

Instead of pushing for his Homo Kid's right to be somebody's Wife? He should be Resigning his Position, as he has been COMPROMISED, and no longer supports the Will of his Constituents.

Kwan| 3.18.13 @ 8:39AM

Good points. Which leads to the question what's going on in Ohio? First the Republican Governor decides to be a sap and accept the expansion of Medicaid in accordance with ObamaCare guidelines. Now this moron Portman decides that because his kid has a mental problem we should change the definition of marriage to include homo marriage. Which leaves us with the rather unsettling possibility that had Portman's son been a sheep farmer that wanted to marry his prize ewe, Portman would inform us that we should take a second look at this form of marriage because he wants his son to have a happy and meaningful life. Question is have these two retards been living under a rock since January 21, 2009? We have an internal enemy trying to destroy the country, and Kasich and Portman decide to join the party and be stooges for the nation's leftist enemies.

TLP| 3.18.13 @ 9:22AM

If he really wants to make his Kid happy?

I know a guy in New Mexico with a coupla Balls he can play with.

Kids still play with Balls, don't they?

Hey Pesco!

Do ya still have those balls hangin around the Barn?

(Okay. Maybe "Hanging Around" was a poor choice of words)

Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.18.13 @ 9:39AM

I’m still kind of confused on when marriage became an option to anyone who loved someone else. If I fall in love with a woman and ask her to marry me, and she says no, is my fundamental right denied? Suppose the woman I love says yes, but my current wife objects, can I sue my wife for suppressing my fundamental rights and concurrently enjoin her from charging me with adultery? Would it have violated Jerry Lee Lewis fundamental right to marry his 13 year old second cousin if she was his first cousin, or would that only have been if she was 12? Suppose, in”The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, Hallie agreed to marry both Rance Stoddard and Tom Doniphan; could bloodshed have been avoided, or would the slaying of Valance been a selfish instead of selfless act?

Perhaps a contest could be held, where the best answers to these questions could win a prize.

Chazael| 3.18.13 @ 11:03AM

Yes the "equality argument" (which is usually full of equivocation and piggy backing off of civil rights) usually devolves into "But they should have the same right to marry the one they love."

Which means a lot of married men and women are havings their "rights" violated.

A second choice in marriage, is still a marriage.

Not to mention if rights endowed by a creator is true, and establishing justice is also true.... marriage could not be defined by what two (or more) people wanted... but rather by what the creator wanted, the standard that justice requires.

Going against that standard would be unjust (as would any immorality).

Al Adab| 3.18.13 @ 3:13PM

Equivalency not equality. Moral or cultural equivalence is the watchword of the left. A rat is a cat is a dog is a boy remember? It is the Lefts mindless pursuit of equivalence as a goal that is leading the entirety of Western Civilization down a suicidal path.

Chazael| 3.18.13 @ 3:51PM

Exactly!

CJW| 3.18.13 @ 11:22AM

These are the questions raised by Rick Santorum when he defended the right of states to have marriage laws.

If states cannot restrict a marriage to one man/one woman and must allow for one man/one man, or one woman/one woman, then we have the slippery slope argument of where to stop. Why not one man, two or more women, or one woman, two or more men, or some combination thereof.

And why stop there, why the age of consent at 16 or 18, and why the restrictions on cousins and other relatives? What about muslims who marry child brides at age 9, are their religious rights being violated?

The argument is does the constitution prohibit the states from restricting marriage to one man/one woman. There is nothing in the constitution about marriage, and family law has always been regarded as a function of the states, except when Janer Reno and Bubba want to kidnap a child with federal marshals to send him to Fidel's worker's paradise.

The argument before the Supreme Court will be that the states cannot use gender as it cannot use race to restrict marriage, and the right of privacy as emanating from the penumbras of the Bill of Rights. It is not law, but politics.

It will turn out that Jerry "Killer" Lee Lewis was ahead of his time. Wasn't Ashley Judd his young bride in the movie about the Jerry Lee? Great music.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.18.13 @ 12:50PM

I think it was Winona Rider, another confused soul (but not, as far as I know, contemplating a political career; she steals directly from the owner of property rather than seek a government office from which to accomplish this goal).

7-08| 3.18.13 @ 9:44PM

Paint your wagon?

Kwan| 3.18.13 @ 10:01AM

I think the kid's name is Purp Portman.

Bandido| 3.18.13 @ 10:11AM

Aha, the Purpetrator gets snagged!

loulou| 3.18.13 @ 10:28AM

What IS going on in Ohio?

I have driven through Ohio and never have I seen a more dreary state.

Great analogies, TLP and Kwan!

GobBluthe| 3.18.13 @ 12:31PM

So you think consenting adults of the same sex is the same as child rape or a class A felony?

TLP| 3.18.13 @ 1:00PM

So, according to You, a Father can Marry his Daughter. A Mom can Marry her Son. A Brother can Marry his Sister. And One Guy should be able to Marry as many Men or Women or a Combination of both that he wants to, as long as they Consent, and are of Legal Age.

Is that what you're saying?

Of course it is.

Joellen| 3.18.13 @ 8:02AM

IF Portman is a follower of GOD, then he should remember who he serves first and

IF Portman truly believes in GOD and GOD's laws, then he should instruct and direct his son to the greater glory.

But for Portman, who is to love his son not just for this life but for the next, and to take Tim's thought further on his position to compromise,

he should rethink the COMPROMISE he made with their souls.

That is if they believe in GOD's authority.

Remember in JESUS's words,

LOVE THE SINNER, HATE THE SIN.

Not worldy law, GOD's law.

crankitup| 3.18.13 @ 8:09AM

Sounds like an obamanation to me. moral decline is the politics of the day. homosexual marriage,abortion on demand, divorce, legalization of drugs, pedophiles in the clergy. barney fwank, maxine waters, sandra flucke, jan schakowski, the bloomer, pelosi, biteme, obama- jdingo, and the decay continues. At this point what difference does it make we owe trillions $$$. What me worry ? Hey you didn't build that.

junkyard infidel| 3.18.13 @ 11:53AM

don't forget lil' berry hussein's "fisting czar", kevin jennings !

Derek Leaberry| 3.18.13 @ 8:19AM

Democrats know a political prostitute when they see one. And Portman is one.

SUBVET| 3.18.13 @ 5:37PM

Ya.......it takes one to know one

Bob K| 3.18.13 @ 8:31AM

Do you really think that the opinion of a no talent, 2 bit blogger like Matt Yglesias is worth anything? No one would have ever heard of him if his grandfather and father were not famous novelists and screenwriters.

You guys must take turns giving each other publicity.

Let's wait and see if the people in the media that the voters pay attention to start attacking Portman on this basis! But don't count on it happening.

Huffpo and Slate get read by them about as much as AS here does.

TLP| 3.18.13 @ 9:28AM

He may be a no talent 2 bit blogger, Now?

But he, and his Dad used to be great Singers, and isn't this one still married to Anna Kournicova? (The most beautiful woman who ever lived)

Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.18.13 @ 9:41AM

To all the Girls ♪♫ I've Loved ♪♫ Before...

Bob K| 3.18.13 @ 12:15PM

The guys grandfather, Jose, was a com/symp movie critic for the daily worker, a novelist and admirer of Castro, he wrote for the NY Times and was a leader in the anti-vietnam war movement.

His father Raphael was a novelist and screen writer.

Matthew is a Harvard Graduate. His wife's name is Helen and the only thing he sings about is the wonders of Socialism!

The guy probably never saw "peasant agriculture" where peasants "livelihood" is likely to be "destroyed by climate change" or worked to help poor people whose children have "pre-existing conditions."

He is your classic "red diaper, doper baby."

I think Aaron knows all that too!

Bob K| 3.18.13 @ 12:18PM

Daily Worker, in the first sentence above, should have been capitalized.

Al Adab| 3.18.13 @ 9:28AM

One of the major errors we often commit is expecting those who will never support us politically to back us when we happen to agree with them. Additionally, all to often we waste political capital engaging the opposition, including them in the debate and policy making groups only to discover that their support still goes to others.

Whatever Portman may do regarding this issue, he will never receive the thanks from his political opponents. All of us should learn that lesson.

Joellen| 3.18.13 @ 10:03AM

Al Adab "he will never receive the thanks from his political opponents", No he wont. He is being used and again I state he compromised not only his soul but his son's.

As for arnie, he posted something downward, didnt go into it, however his last comment "no mention of Christianity or JESUS anywhere", nor would I expect any.

But arnie doesnt get it. He doesn't understand that's why there is a division in the Republican party. Unlike the dems who walk lock step, someactually have a mind of their own and use it and refuse to be led. You call it choice when it suits your agenda.

Hey arnie - any problems with Judeo and Muslim tenets who follow the same Christian tenets on the sacredness of marraige between man & woman? Or is it just your blatant hatred for Christianity?

Tim did I spell HYPOCRITE correctly?

Arnie| 3.18.13 @ 11:33AM

Joellen, this article is overblown, like most everything written here on AS.

I'm proud of Portman. It's nice to see that a man at that age still has the ability to change his mind. So THANK YOU Rob Portman. I wish him and his son a bright new future.

Arnie| 3.18.13 @ 11:40AM

And honey, the Dems are HARDLY ever in lockstep. Heck, for most of the last 30 years it's been the bluedogs and corporate Democrats that tell the progressives in the party what to do. We have greens, and we the coal democrats. We have the labor democrats and we have the "free market" democrats. We have the guys closer to Wall Street, and we have the progressive caucus which despises Wall Street. We have atheists, Catholics, protestant Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, pagans.etc.. We have Midwest farmers, blue collar workers, tech geeks, cosmopolitan east coast liberals, and real Midwest progressive liberals. We have pro-gun rights democrats, and gun control democrats. We have West country civil libertarians, and urban progressives. And all these groups disagree about a lot. Virtually no group is ever really satisfied, if only just a little. But we do believe in compromise and finding common ground.

Lock step, we are not.

And yes, I have a problem with any religion that seeks to deny anyone else their happiness. That includes the Jews (although they really don't need any convincing) and especially the Muslims.

I only bring up Christianity because I don't think there are too many Muslims on this site....

You say you have a mind of your own. How about you start using it without any Christian tenets you were taught and start thinking for yourself. I dare you. Go read a random book from the philosophy section of the book store.

JD| 3.18.13 @ 12:15PM

Straw. Men.

Quartermaster| 3.18.13 @ 12:32PM

Beat me to it. His post is risible. Not the part about being in lock step. he's right about that. They just stand back and let the others rave and keep voting for the idiots they keep sending back to state capitals and Congress.

Theologians are among the most accomplished of Philosophers and we do think on our own. It's the leftist that refuses to think and shape their thinking to teh facts as they are on teh ground. I'd dare him to use his head for soemthing other than a hat rack, but that would crediting him with more than he has.

Arnie| 3.18.13 @ 12:43PM

Oh facts on the ground....you mean like Bible facts?
Like the earth is 6000 years old and evolution never happened?

Whatever dude.....

Here's one for you. All that is happening is part of God's plan. There's nothing any of us can do about it. It's simply arrogant to think any of us can influence the way of the world, because it's all up to Him. He wanted Democrats to win! Get it?
He's screwing with you. So you can sit back, or you can participate, because it will all be in vain. Don't worry, because he will take care.

Quit voting.

ejp| 3.18.13 @ 3:16PM

Uh, first off Arnie, you need to stop drinking the Dicky Dawkins Kool-Aid regarding what the Bible actually says and what Christians actually believe about life's origins. Very few have ever believed in the notion of a young Earth, including evolutionary critics (for which there is a lot of peer releated scientific reasons for questioning; unlike the junk science resorted to by the left to promote their pet social engineering causes rooted in fraudulent concepts like Global Warming). Second, even assuming macro-evolution has any validity, what does that have to do with the existence of God or the reality of the New Testament Gospels, for which there is *greater* historical reliability based on all accepted methdological standards than there is for people like Alexander The Great? The answer is none. In true Dicky Dawkins fashion, embrace of Evolution has little to do with 'science' and everything to do in hoping to find an excuse to glorify sinful conduct without any "guilt".

Al Adab| 3.18.13 @ 12:51PM

Arnie seems to miss (or purposely ignore) the question of where do we derive our cultural morals and norms? No matter what we as a culture may think or may prefer for the ordering of our lives it nonetheless remains a fact that there do exist moral absolute which proper government is established to recognize, not to impose.

Morals are not decided by majority vote or the fad and fashion of the day. They exist aside and apart from any recognition we might give them. A secular morality has escaped every society in history and only the stoics ever came close to devising one. There are universal truths and the sooner we remember them the better our future may be.

Arnie| 3.18.13 @ 1:02PM

So Al Adab, WHERE do we derive our cultural morals and norms? And WHAT are they?

Riddle me that.
And please, actually tell me what they are.

Al Adab| 3.18.13 @ 1:52PM

Part of the point Arnie is that once there was a cultural consensus about what it was to be an American. There was a cultural consensus an accepted pattern of belief and behavior which marked one as a member of the society. When that began to break down, when we began to see values and truth a relativistic rather than immutable, we started turning to political leadership to define the norms. Ambitious men were able to fill that vacuum with their own preconceptions and values separate and apart from what were once the common currency of our national value system. If there are no accepted universal truths, no accepted standards of behavior, of right and wrong, of what it means to be a patriot for example, then every man becomes a god and every truth a convenience.

Have a great rest of the afternoon.

Arnie| 3.19.13 @ 5:44AM

Al Arab, I asked you to be specific. And all you did was wax on about a mythical American figure, and yet you can't even describe this character.

The fact is, there has always been first rate a-hole Americans, and first rate virtuous Americans. And I could say the same thing about Danish, Brazilian, Turkish, Chinese, Ethiopians etc...The point is, it doesn't matter really which country you come from. It simply takes education, and the collective will to fight for justice and equality.

Slavery was once considered ok and good in America, so in that context your comments make no sense.

Bandido| 3.18.13 @ 1:27PM

Calling her 'honey' is objectifying her. It is condescending and misogynistic. Show some respect.

Arnie| 3.18.13 @ 1:39PM

Oh, I'm sorry Bandido, I was under the false impression she wasn't being respectful towards me....hmm. Oh, I just reread her comments. I was right. But I'll be the better person. I'll make it up.

Dear Joellen,

CJW| 3.18.13 @ 2:28PM

Purpie/arnie the Village Idiot posted:

1. "Hurricane Sandy and Chris Christie was the Lord's way of pressing his thumb on the scale to tilt in the direction of President Obama. It was His punishment of Republicans for their lying and trying to cheat (Voter Suppression) their way to political victory, while espousing faith, freedom and constitutional credentials."

2. purpie believes God killed over 100 persons and destroyed millions of dollars of property to help Obama win.

3. In Sept Purpie wrote that Amassador Stevens was at fault and caused his death.

4. Purpie also wrote that the unborn are biological entities not deserving of protection until God allows them to be born.

5. purpie believes that a 20% cut in the tax rate will INCREASE his 0% rate to 8%.

6. purpie also posted one of the female bloggers here should just lay back and enjoy the rape.
He enjoys calling women here "HONEY"

7. purpie is a racist who posted that "You can't even beat a black man....haha," implying blacks are inferior.

Purpie/arnie is a racist and misogynist.

Purp-arnie represents the Loon Left that should be mocked and ridiculed, and not engaged in debate

CJW| 3.18.13 @ 12:51PM

Troll Alert. Purpie the Village Idiot trolling as arnie.

ejp| 3.18.13 @ 1:59PM

Arnie the quintessential anti-Christian bigot hath spoken. The real amusing thing though is that if I go to the "philosophy" section what do I find but some of the greatest traditional Christian minds there ever were in Aquinas, Augustine etc.

Of course it takes a (village) idiot who doesn't know the first thing about Christianity 101 to think that Christianity is about "denying happiness" to anyone when it simply fulfills the calling of Christ to spread the Good News to others. Since the ultimate aim is to, out of only the highest principle of Christian love (a love that is greater than the kind Senator Portman speaks of) to bring others to Christ so they might know and receive the measure of the ultimate happiness in eternal salvation, the notion that the intent is to "deny happiness" is based on an absurd premise. By your silly reasoning, you must have a problem with an AA counselor or a drug rehab counselor who is out to deny the "happiness" experienced by the user when he puts himself int a booze or drug-related stupor.

Arnie| 3.19.13 @ 5:36AM

Ejp, oh come on. There are way more philosophers out there that aren't Christian than are. Seriously, you guys should try some that aren't.

And you also show your conservative ignorance right through. You compare someone being gay to a drug addiction. You are a goddamn bigot.

tell me, are you addicted to your wife as a heterosexual? You guys just can't get it through your thick dumb skulls. Being gay isn't some choice. Gays are actually attracted to their own sex. Get it?!?!? You can't change that you morons.

loulou| 3.18.13 @ 10:31AM

Will the groveling hand wringers never learn?

Arnie| 3.18.13 @ 9:42AM

Did you guys see the RNC Growth Plan?

http://growthopp.gop.com/RNC_G.....k_2013.pdf

There's no mention of Christianity or Jesus anywhere.

You guys are being shutout. Ouch!

JD| 3.18.13 @ 2:35PM

You have to give Arnie credit. He's REALLY invested in his lies!

He's so invested in the lie that we want Christianity enshrined in government that he's trying to tell us that we should be upset when it isn't!

Actually, he's not that special. Many Leftists are so invested in their straw men that they call us "hypocrites" for saying or doing things that clash with their straw man notions of our beliefs.

Al Adab| 3.18.13 @ 3:20PM

Eric Hoffer described this type, which Arnie represents so well, as The True Believer in his book of the same title. They find meaning and purpose in being part of something larger than themselves, of following the leader or crowd to gain acceptance.

Arnie| 3.19.13 @ 5:46AM

You mean like Christians?

Arnie| 3.19.13 @ 5:53AM

JD, what do you think of your straw man argument?

Rick Santorum:

Unlike Islam, where the higher law and the civil law are the same, in our case, we have civil laws. But our civil laws have to comport with the higher law. … As long as abortion is legal—at least according to the Supreme Court—legal in this country, we will never have rest, because that law does not comport with God’s law. . . The idea that the only things that the states are prevented from doing are only things specifically established in the Constitution is wrong. Our country is based on a moral enterprise. Gay marriage is wrong. As Abraham Lincoln said, the states do not have the right to do wrong. … As a president, I will get involved, because the states do not have the right to undermine the basic, fundamental values that hold this country together.

Arnie| 3.19.13 @ 5:56AM

Michele Bachmann:

American exceptionalism is grounded on the Judeo-Christian ethic, which is really based upon the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments were the foundation for our law. That’s what Blackstone said—the English jurist—and our founders looked to Blackstone for the foundation of our law. That’s our law . . . I have a biblical worldview. And I think, going back to the Declaration of Independence, the fact that it’s God who created us—if He created us, He created government. And the government is on His shoulders, as the book of Isaiah says.

Need I remind you JD, these were presidential candidates of yours, and one of the came in second for the nomination.

JP| 3.18.13 @ 9:58AM

I was all for indentured servitude until I actually bought a couple of servants...

JP| 3.18.13 @ 10:01AM

Seriously. Portman made a political dressed as a personal, moral statement. It's not just that the Left hates him for being a Republican (that's a given. Something the likes of Portman will never understand). It's that his decision was so obviously political that it fooled no one.

Mick Lee| 3.18.13 @ 10:38AM

Whatever Portman's thinking had been, the larger object lesson here is that in one way or another the Left will use a conservative's "growth" as a new (albeit short lived) hammer to hit the rest of the conservative movement over the head. You think the Left just has it out for Portman? Read their statements more carefully. Conservatives are just plain evil. And, if a conservative agrees with them on a particular issue, that conservative did so for the wrong reasons.

Conservatives beware. You will have no new friends from the Left if you suddenly become "enlightened". They won't have you over at the clubhouse. They will use you and then throw you away.

Who Knows?| 3.18.13 @ 11:54AM

Liberals are always liberal with other people’s money, but NOT liberal with the changing of their own policies, or even compromising much.

I’m old enough to have lived through the “coming out of the closet” of gay sex, as a subject for polite company consideration. And, here we are, in 2013, with it being one of the dominating arenas for debate. Wow. A couple of percent of the population is running the show, somewhat!

This morning, a dream broke through into the waking state.

It’s all about break through!

Being bodily born is to arrive, through your mother’s break.

Dying can be understood as breaking on through to the other side.

In war, you can break through the enemy defenses.

In business, you can break through the clutter, and succeed with a new product.

In science, a Newton can break through, by standing on the shoulders of the giants who came before him, with new math.

In music, you can break through as a revolutionary, like Beethoven, or Schonberg, and shatter the “old guard”.

In diet, you can break through the standard American diet = SAD, and restore the body to health.

I can break through on the comment’s section, with this missive.

I brake THIS threw.

GobBluthe| 3.18.13 @ 12:33PM

Gay Marriage is totally over blown as an issue. In a few years there will be gay marriage in every state and only a infintesimal number of gays will actually marry. Most people wont know a single legally wed gay couple.

TLP| 3.18.13 @ 1:04PM

Really?

Can you name all of the States that have actually Passed Gay Marriage, when it was offered up on the Ballot?

I'll wait.

crankitup| 3.18.13 @ 1:36PM

You spelled weight wrong !!

TLP| 3.18.13 @ 2:40PM

You spelled "Height" wrong.

And, thanks for coming to The Contest, whoever you are.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.18.13 @ 3:52PM

That shouldn't be Hard to figure out, but you could always card him to find out (though you would be accused of suppressing him if you did).

ejp| 3.18.13 @ 1:51PM

So the liberals won't embrace him? Good, then that means once a real conservative can take him on next time and send him packing, the Charlie Crist option can be closed off to him.

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Assessing a Week of Scandal

Matt Purple|114 comments

Oops, Maybe Government is Tyrannical

Marta H. Mossburg|50 comments

Soros Funds Anti-‘Torture’ Report

Mark Tooley|92 comments

Treasure State Treasury

Bill Croke|3 comments

My Generation’s Disease

Benjamin Brophy|49 comments

The View From the Other Side

George H. Wittman|14 comments

USPS: Radical Surgery Needed

Peter Hannaford|19 comments

The Spectacle Blog

Elijah Harper, R.I.P.

Aaron Goldstein | 1:07PM

If Only the Tsar Knew!

F.H. Buckley | 11:14AM

Low-Level IRS Staffer: No, We Didn’t Mastermind This Entire Thing

Matt Purple | 5.17.13

UPDATED: IRS Acting Chief Apologizes, But Defends His Actions

Kaylin Bugos | 5.17.13

Voter Fraud Affected Election Results in Missouri