Bush goes back on promise to never again lobby gay marriage ban

President Bush addressed the nation this morning to endorse a constitutional amendment that would override the power of the states and ban gay marriage nationwide.  The event was supposed to take place at the White House Rose Garden.  But at the very last minute, the White House switch things up by moving the "gay marriage press conference to a less prominent location," CNN explained.  At the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the President criticized who he called "activist judges" for bringing this issue into the forefront.  As expected, he was very selective when it came to choosing his audience:

Speaking to an audience he described as "community leaders, scholars,family organizations, religious leaders, Republicans and Democrats,"Bush said he was proud to stand with the group on its support of theFederal Marriage Amendment, which defines marriage as a union between aman and a woman. He urged Congress the pass the amendment, againinvoking the specter of "activist judges," a threat he referred to morethan a half-dozen times in the 10-minute address.

But according to the Washington Post, in January of 2005 the President made a promise not to lobby senators for the amendment.  What a contradiction!:

Bush has given the appearance of a reluctant supporter of banningsame-sex marriage. In an interview with The Washington Post in January2005, he said he did not plan to lobby senators for the amendmentbecause it did not have much chance of passing, infuriatingconservative supporters.

It is almost a done deal that the amendment would not pass this year either, prompting just about every political analyst, both liberal and conservative alike, to conclude that Bush is once again guilty of engaging in divisive cultural pandering in an election year.  Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman and host of MSNBC's Scarborough Country, told host Ann Courie on Monday's edition of the Today Show that "everybody knows the President is pandering -- including the President's base."  Even Lou Sheldon, the founder of the right-wing Traditional Values Coalition, does not like the idea of this amendment.

It remains to be seen whether conservative Evangelicals will allow themselves once again to get duped by this cheap political trick.  As the saying goes: "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me!"
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