GOP Senator openly denounces the idea of a gay Supreme Court nominee

[Hellataz]

Thune: A gay Supreme Court nominee ‘would be a bridge too far right now.’
Since Justice David Souter announced that he plans to retire from the Supreme Court, speculation kicked off about whether President Obama could potentially appoint the first openly gay Justice. Though Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the newly ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, says he would consider a gay nominee, Steve Benen points out that another GOP senator, John Thune, is adamantly opposed to the idea:

onservative leaders have warned the nomination of a gay or lesbian justice could complicate Obama’s effort to confirm a replacement for Souter, and another Republican senator on Wednesday warned a gay nominee would be too polarizing.

“I know the administration is being pushed, but I think it would be a bridge too far right now,” said GOP Chief Deputy Whip John Thune. “It seems to me this first pick is going to be a kind of important one, and my hope is that he’ll play it a little more down the middle. A lot of people would react very negatively.”

Benen calls Thune’s declaration “transparent bigotry,” arguing that “Thune, as a practical matter, is establishing a litmus test — qualifications and merit are important, but homosexuality, regardless of any other factor, is more important. Why? Because Thune says so.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/06/thune-gay-nominee/

I personally think, if he can find a intelligent, progressive, qualified nominee and they happen to be gay, then we're all the better for it and it would be the logical next step to help this country take a large leap forward.

[rurallib]

1. What if it was Larry Craig or Mark Foley?

[baldguy]

4. They are NOT GAY!

They're Republicans, after all!

:sarcasm:

[msanthrope]

8. Really, really, not gay. Really. Truly. n/t

[MichiganVote]

2. Do Americans really have to go through this? Get a clue: We don't care who is gay or who is not.

[Hepburn]

3. What a shock....a GOP pol that is a bigot...

...I wodda never thought...:sarcasm:

[usregimechange]

5. I say appoint them and expose as many bigots as possible

[DrToast]

6. Jeez...it's just the Supreme Court...

It's not like they're applying for a marriage license.

[Thrill]

7. I guess the gays aren't normal Americans

lol. These guys are disgusting, "bridge too far right now" wow just wow

[agentS]

17. These folks are cut from the same mold of people who opposed Desegregation

Some of them may have actually marched against Deseg many decades ago. A la Karl Rove.

These guys have not evolved in the slightest.

I hope Obama's nominee is tough because that person will be run thru the gauntlet.

[liberal N proud]

9. Watch their heads explode

:nuke:

:popcorn:

:nuke:

:popcorn:

[CEDAWrocks]

10. Sessions would consider a gay nominee...

Now that is a progressive thought coming from Alabama!

[firedupdem]

12. He'll probably take it all back tomorrow. n/t

[genna]

23. No he is not progressive by any means

What part of his comments to a DOJ attorney being a traitor to the white race sounds progressive to you?

Or how about him calling the NAACP a communist organization?


He speaks with a forked tongue.

[bullwinkle428]

24. Maybe a gay Klansman, as long as he wasn't into smoking pot.

ZING!

[chollybocker]

11. Closet Cases have always been 'welcomed' by Repugs.

It's honest, self-respecting, 'out' gay people that are supremely off-limits. Thus, all the more reason....

[pangaia]

13. email thune

I just e-mailed John Thune and told him what I thought.
Here's his senate home page where you can email him, if anyone else is interested.
http://thune.senate.gov/public/

[SeattleGirl]

14. Hey Senator! Bite me!

A bridge too far, my arse. Many people have crossed that bridge, and see nothing "wrong" or "perverted" or anything else negative in being gay.

Crap, why don't these neanderthals just GO the FUCK AWAY????? Leave the rest of us alone.

[Patsy Stone]

15. "A lot of people would react very negatively.”

So what?

Are you trying to scare us, Johnny?

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LiberalFighter]

18. I was thinking that since Thune is from South Dakota that maybe he was one of those ranchers.

With all those livestock being so handy on the ranch.

But his resume indicates he has always been a weasel involved in politics

[ErinBerin84]

19. Racist homophobe Jeff Sessions was on Morning Joe today

and, even though he dodged a little, it was clear that he wouldn't approve a judge with, as he called it, "gay tendencies". Gay Tendencies? WTF.

[bunnies]

20. isnt discrimination illegal?

:shrug: Theres a poster in my break room makes it pretty clear.

[JayMusgrove]

25. Senator Thune isn't really caught up on all this anti-discrimination ..

stuff in the law. In his neck of the woods, white men still run the show, and there's no reason to give women, blacks, gays, or anyone not white male a chance..

[Supersedeas]

21. a focus on anything but creditials and the law -- any farfetched reason to for the Party of No Ideas

to say No.

[genna]

22. The one thing which burns me up about the way this writer states his/her shock

is the statement itself is entirely predictable. I understand the need to keep an eye on people who express prejudice, but the literal shock over these expressed beliefs irritates me.

Republicans go to great lengths to state their opinion and become aggravated with the PC police. It doesn't matter how ignorant, short-sighted, and half cocked their opinion is. They want everyone to accept, embrace, and be at peace with their prejudice.

It is a country free enough to have free expression of belief but is not always free enough to embrace people whom we disagree with.

Opinion numbers for Obama are up. Why to a GOP bigot? There are far too many black people represented in the sample size for the poll. Since black people like Obama overwhelmingly, if we refuse to include them in the poll THE numbers will be much more representative of what non Blacks think. This is just how they feel 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement kicked in to give AAs equal access to every right enjoyed by nonAA.

What could possibly be shocking about that? The prejudice itself has been known and knowable for the last 50 years. What has been shocking is how the prejudice is being outgrown by later generations as time goes on. Maybe our grandchildren will hear some tales about the deeply held hatred but be unable to understand where the distrust originated.


Thune is saying what he really thinks. He doesn't want gays on the court. Perhaps it would be the start of the constitutional right for every citizen to marry whomever they choose with regards to gender (maybe in the future there is a group who will want to change the number of people we can marry at one time or some other agreement for consensual adults). If gays get on the court perhaps Thune thinks the world will end. Whatever he or conservatives are worried about, why is it so shocking?


Existing is enough to be offensive to these people's sensibilities. If conservatives don't like blacks, blacks doing anything conservatives deem unfit or too lofty a goal will upset them. If conservatives don't want gays anywhere around them or their households, then anything gays do to gain conservative attention is too much. 'Practicing your lifestyle' is the same thing as breathing air for everyone else.


I'd prefer that the new routine for bad conservative speech be the Bachman approach. There is rare shock anymore. Now, commentators list exactly what she has said, dispute her opinionated fact free statements, and ridicule her continued declarations. Whenever she tries to make a point on the right wing, her credibility is at issue.

The setbacks are similar to what Michael Moore experiences whenever he tries to draw attention to a particular issue. For those of us who believe his spotlight is needed, we accept his mode of declaring truth will be bombastic and demonized. For everyone else, the right wing declarations from years past stand as a fence for anyone who want opinion over substance.

The shock, the outrage, or anger have to be mitigated in favor of earnest cataloging and fence building. All poutrages aside, these Conservative spent 40 years making us a right wing nation. They spread their brand of conservative around the world due to our economic stature. If we don't hold the line against them, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan will continue to be the storyline for the rest of the world.