October 17, 2004
SO WOULD JOHN KERRY SPEAK WERE HE MORALLY COHERENT:
The EU man for freedom … unless you’re a gay single mother (Angus Roxburgh, 10/17/04, Sunday Herald)
Rocco Buttiglione cut a shambolic, apelike figure as he ambled into his hearing before the European parliament committees that will oversee his work as the EU’s commissioner for justice, freedom and security. Perhaps he was underprepared for the ordeal.He coped well enough with tough questions on the detail of his brief, but when it came to the sensitive area of where personal views might impinge upon a politician’s ability to carry out the job, he erred fat ally on the personal side.
Out came the views of a devout Catholic and adviser to the Pope – views on homosexuality and a woman’s place that left his audience of MEPs gaping in disbelief. To many they seemed as antediluvian as his caveman appearance.
Homosexuality, he said, was a sin. The family, he said, “exists to allow women to have children and to have the protection of a male who takes care of them”. In the words of Peter Mandelson, a fellow commissioner-designate, he might have been better to keep such arguments for an academic seminar .
To make matters worse, Buttiglione added that, while he could separate his moral views from his legal positions, he would oppose a commission proposal if it was contrary to his moral principles . Yesterday, to add a touch more controversy, single mothers bore the brunt of his criticism.
“Children who don’t have a father but only a mother are children of a mother who is not very good,” he was quoted as telling a conference in Italy.
When the idea that law should conform to moral principles becomes controversial your society is toast. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 17, 2004 12:33 PM
Children who dont have a father but only a mother are children of a mother who is not very good
He should have added "and a father who is even worse". Though I think that single parentage is not a good thing to encourage in society, I'm not in favor of bashing single mothers as bad mothers. A worse situation for society would be single women who abort their children rather than raise them alone. At least these women are willing to reproduce the species. Absentee fathers are the real culprits here, lets bash them.
By the way, I just started my own blog, "The Daily Duck". Check it out!
Posted by: Robert Duquette at October 17, 2004 12:54 PMThey also failed to quote his homosexuality response. That's because he offered it in the course of saying that personal beliefs don't have to and shouldn't interfere with enforcing the law. He said "I may think that homosexuality is a sin; this has no effect on politics unless I say that homosexuality is a crime."
Of course, expecting MEPs or journalists to understand the subjunctive is probably asking too much.
Posted by: John Thacker at October 17, 2004 1:14 PMChildren who dont have a father but only a mother are children of a mother who is not very good ...
A couple women in my well-to-do neighborhood now have children without a father.
The women are excellent mothers, the fathers are assholes.
Since when is being a misogynist admirable?
Posted by: Jeff Guinn at October 18, 2004 4:54 AMHow does that justify being a misogynist?
Putting the blame where it belongs would leave out women at least half the time, if not far more.
You would never know it from listening to this guy.
Posted by: Jeff Guinn at October 18, 2004 10:29 AMYou've listened to him more than this once?
Posted by: oj at October 18, 2004 10:59 AMNo, but this astonishingly one-sided quote doesn't bode well for the rest of him.
Posted by: Jeff Guinn at October 18, 2004 9:05 PM