BUT ONLY A 2.5 FROM THE EAST GERMAN JUDGE FOR THAT BACKFLIP:

Kerry, in 1996: Traditional view of marriage a 'caste system,' marriage bans 'echo bigotry' (Michael Foust, May 7, 2004, BP news)

Although Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry now says he is against same-sex "marriage," in 1996 he came close to embracing its legalization, comparing bans on homosexual "marriage" to past bans on interracial marriage and calling the traditional view of marriage a "caste system."

Writing for the homosexual-themed magazine "The Advocate," Kerry's column explained his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act, which passed the Senate 85-14 and was signed into law in 1996 by President Clinton. The law prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex "marriage" and also gives states the option of not recognizing another state's same-sex "marriages."

"Echoing the ignorance and bigotry that peppered the discussion of interracial marriage a generation ago, the proponents of DOMA call for a caste system for marriage," Kerry wrote in the first-person column, which was published Sept. 3, 1996, and recently posted on the magazine's website.
"I will not be party to that. As Martin Luther King Jr. explained 30 years ago, 'Races do not fall in love and get married. Individuals fall in love and get married.' This is the essence of the American pursuit of happiness and the core of the struggle for equality."

Kerry also asserted that DOMA was unconstitutional and that the U.S. Constitution's full faith and credit clause requires states to recognize the marriage licenses of another state -- a position Kerry has since reversed.

What did he really say? (Chris Bull, June 23, 1998, The Advocate)

John F. Kerry was furious. A May 13 wire report had quoted the Democratic senator from Massachusetts as saying he had little patience with advocacy for same-sex marriages. Gay men and lesbians "are not parents by definition," the quote read. "They are parents by law, but they're not parents by biology. The battle in America right now is not over the nontraditional family. The battle in America right now is over whether or not we can even save the traditional family. So let's fight the real fight and not be sidetracked by these lowest-common-denominator, purposely sought-out arguments."

Charging into the office of his openly gay communications director, Jim Jones, Kerry asked him to "get Elizabeth on the line," referring to Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay and lesbian political group. Birch was out of town, so Kerry asked Jones to prepare a strongly worded press release clarifying his position on gay rights.

"I have never said that gay people. cannot or should not be parents," it read. "The quotation in the story was taken wholly out of context. I have personal friends who are gay parents. I draw no distinction--as the reporter would have you believe--between people who are parents `by law' and `by biology.'" The statement pointed out that Kerry supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and was the only senator up for reelection in 1996 to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act, a stand that earned Kerry the "honest man in politics award" from Time magazine. Still, Kerry, who is considering running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000, stops short of endorsing same-sex: marriage. According to Jones, the senator "thinks marriage is a state issue. He supports loving relationships for same-sex couples, but I don't know if he would go down to the floor and vote for same-sex marriage."

John Kerry's car trouble (US News)

The Republicans have done it again when it comes to Sen. John Kerry's flip-flopping statements on owning an SUV. In the latest installment, the GOP has found video of Kerry telling environmentally conscious New Hampshire voters that he sold his gas guzzlers to buy fuel-efficient autos and just one month later, in Michigan car country, giving a long list of big-engine vehicles he owns–including two SUVs, one imported.

Ed Gillespie, the Republican Party chairman, is to unveil them tonight during a speech in Sheldon, Iowa. His point: Kerry says whatever he thinks voters want to hear. It's the latest twist in the SUV saga. First Kerry denied having one; then he said it was his wife's. Now he's saying he sold his gas hogs only to brag a month later about owning a "big Suburban."

Kerry's just parroting his speechwriters (Mark Steyn, May 9, 2004, Chicago Sun Times)

John Kerry said something amazing the other day. He was talking to the Wall Street Journal and was asked about his many attacks on ''Benedict Arnold CEOs'' -- for example: ''We will repeal every single benefit, every single loophole, every single reward for any Benedict Arnold CEO or corporation that take American jobs overseas and stick you with the bill.'' (Kerry in Virginia, Feb. 10)

Senator Flippy has now decided this line is nonoperative. As he told the chaps at the Journal, ''You know, I called a couple of times to overzealous speechwriters and said 'Look, that's not what I'm saying.' Benedict Arnold does not refer to somebody who in the normal course of business is going to go overseas and take jobs overseas. That happens. I support that. I understand that. I was referring to the people who take advantage of noneconomic transactions purely for tax purposes -- sham transactions -- and give up American citizenship. That's a Benedict Arnold. You give up your American citizenship but you want to continue to do business.''

Got that? When Kerry talks about ''any Benedict Arnold CEO or corporation that takes American jobs overseas,'' he's not referring to someone who ''takes jobs overseas.'' Perish the thought! He's all in favor of taking jobs overseas. It wasn't him who attacked all those ''Benedict Arnold CEOs,'' just his ''overzealous speechwriters.'' And the minute he discovered it was going on, he called them to say, ''Look, that's not what I'm saying.''

I mean, OK, it was what he was saying in the narrow technical sense of words emerging from between his lips, day after day, night after night, all through primary season.

A man with no core principles never knows where he stands, does he?

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 8, 2004 3:25 PM