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As I'm sure many of you know by now, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker - who apparently thought he hadn't pissed off enough people by screwing over union workers - has managed to make himself look like an even bigger asshole by asking the court to allow the state to stop defending a law that allows same-sex couples to register as domestic partners for certain rights such as the right to hospital visitation (link to news article).
The idea that Governor Walker is actively taking steps to prevent same-sex couples from having the right to be with their loved ones in hospitals is vile and disgusting and the idea should provoke outrage.
However, there is a slight problem.
When the Obama administration announced they would stop actively defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court we all cheered. I didn't think much of it beyond that and didn't notice the news about the House of Representatives hiring a private law firm to defend DOMA or that firm's decision to drop out of the defense. I didn't notice it until I came across an opinion piece discussing lawyer Paul Clement's decision to leave the firm the House had originally hired and keep defending the law under a new firm. The piece I read (if I can ever find it again I'll put a link in here) was pretty unkind to Mr. Clement, including mockery of statements in his resignation letter (the letter is reproduced here) that walking away from a client you'd already begun to represent because their position was unpopular was unethical and dishonorable.
Honestly? I agreed with Paul Clement and I thought the attacks on him were really unwarranted.
Now less than a month later we are outraged that Governor Walker is trying to do pretty much exactly the same thing the Obama administration decided to do. The idea of what Walker wants to achieve is appalling but we can't have it both ways. We either think our government is obligated to defend unpopular laws or we don't.
The idea that Governor Walker is actively taking steps to prevent same-sex couples from having the right to be with their loved ones in hospitals is vile and disgusting and the idea should provoke outrage.
However, there is a slight problem.
When the Obama administration announced they would stop actively defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court we all cheered. I didn't think much of it beyond that and didn't notice the news about the House of Representatives hiring a private law firm to defend DOMA or that firm's decision to drop out of the defense. I didn't notice it until I came across an opinion piece discussing lawyer Paul Clement's decision to leave the firm the House had originally hired and keep defending the law under a new firm. The piece I read (if I can ever find it again I'll put a link in here) was pretty unkind to Mr. Clement, including mockery of statements in his resignation letter (the letter is reproduced here) that walking away from a client you'd already begun to represent because their position was unpopular was unethical and dishonorable.
Honestly? I agreed with Paul Clement and I thought the attacks on him were really unwarranted.
Now less than a month later we are outraged that Governor Walker is trying to do pretty much exactly the same thing the Obama administration decided to do. The idea of what Walker wants to achieve is appalling but we can't have it both ways. We either think our government is obligated to defend unpopular laws or we don't.
