When Dobbs was issued, Justice Thomas said in his decision that Obergefell might also be reconsidered.
I agree that in the current political climate, targeting gay people is a higher priority than targeting black people. But both are on the Republican to-do list.
When gay people began receiving their rights, a lot of court cases cited precedents when black people began receiving their rights. Unfortunately, the process will work in reverse. The decisions that take away rights from gay people will later be cited to take away rights from black people.
It’s generally been the legal equivalent of dropping the atomic bomb. A current Supreme Court overturning a decision made by a past Supreme Court is declaring that past court made the wrong decision. And acknowledging that any Supreme Court decision is wrong is something justices have generally been reluctant to do.
It’s also a dangerous precedent that conservatives should worry about. If the current court can overturn Roe, what’s stopping a future liberal court from overturning Heller or Citizens United? Or Dobbs for that matter.
I have no doubt that this person is a reactionary nut job. But saying that his opposition to the Respect for Marriage Act means “HE WANTS TO CRIMINALIZE INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE” is unnecessary hyperbole. It only helps these people when we try to paint them as more extreme than they are.
Can you come up with a plausible reason why somebody would oppose a law the prevents the criminalization of something other than wanting to criminalize that thing? If somebody said they want to repeal the Second Amendment, it’s no stretch to think they also want to enact some gun control laws afterwards.
Now I will note that this law protects both same-sex couples and interracial couples. So maybe Pautsch only wants to target gay people and has no particular plans for targeting black people. But while Pautsch has said he opposes the Respect for Marriage Act, he hasn’t said he’d like to replace it with a law that gives protection to interracial marriages but not to same-sex marriages.
Pautsch has gone on record saying he opposes the protection of interracial marriages. If that doesn’t mean he opposes interracial marriages, he’s needs to go on record saying that. Otherwise people are going to come to the obvious conclusion.
And finally, I’ll point out the other obvious conclusion. Even if Pautsch goes on record and says he’s okay with interracial marriages and it’s only same-sex marriages he wants to criminalize, he’s still an asshole. Gay people are entitled to their rights just like black people. Every American is entitled to their rights and not just the people that the Republican party recognizes as “Real Americans”.
And finally finally, I’ll point out that even if David Pautsch has no chance of getting elected, he’s still serving the right wing and hurting America. He’s a chosen sacrifice to make a right wing candidate like Mariannette Miller-Meeks look acceptable in comparison.
Maybe not outside his hometown, Davenport, IA but in the Quad Cities, where I live, signs are all over the place. They usually share yards with signs that say things like “Trump 2024 - Take Our Nation Back.”
Be careful what you wish for; you might get it, folks.