Republican attended gay son's wedding days after voting against same-sex marriage

Is this your succinct way of saying you missed his point?

 

I’m a conservative but I side with the liberals on this. He should absolutely support his son but he should also support the rights of other gay people to get married.

 

Have you ever disagreed with something your kid did, but still unconditionally love them?

This is different than a lawmaker that is against same sex marriage and then it is revealed that he or she or they was personally involved in a same sex relationship.

I think that is the nuance people are arguing. I could be wrong.

 

Maybe, but the law maker is not just saying his son made a bad personal decision, he saying that what his son did is so bad that it shouldn’t be legal.

 

So you couldn’t answer my question.
Gotcha bud.

 

Maybe the guy is just a much better father than he is a politician?

Maybe he didn’t have a temper tantrum because his party lost the vote, and didn’t hide in his room punching holes in the wall because he didn’t get his way?

Maybe he likes his son more than he likes his vote?

Regardless, the only story here is that the guy voted against people living their life freely without big government telling them how to live their life. Keep track of his voting record. But the fact that he attended his son’s wedding, even if he disapproved, tells me nothing.

 

That’s quite a workaround to avoid the blatant hypocrisy at play.

I’m glad the guy was at the wedding. Good for him.

But I wonder how his son (and his son’s partner and gay friends) feel about his dad casting a vote against gay marriage in the name of politics, though.

His showing up at the wedding isn’t principle, it’s love.

And his voting against the same rights for others isn’t principle either, it’s pure-play politics, and what makes him a hypocrite.

 

It just seems like some of you guys don’t understand politics or the unconditional love of a parent.
Sometimes politicians have to vote for shit that they don’t like. And sometimes you love your kid when they do things you don’t like.

 

I think you're just mistaken. The slogan "Don't Tread on Me" in its current usage has the clear subtext "Tread on those "Others" Instead!"

 

Fair enough, but without getting into the definition of marriage, I think he is taking a position that a large number of people agree with.

Although I disagree with his vote, I do respect him for having the conviction to be consistent with his position even though it affects him personally.

 

Ask Dick and Liz Cheney how the creation of that dichotomy worked out for the child/sister they loved, and ultimately for them.

I think you don’t understand that some things are above politics, like the unconditional love of a child. Thompson chose to make them mutually exclusive, not me. I’m the one who chose to support my gay sister in laws same sex relationship rights in the 1980’s notwithstanding the impact of that support on the other aspects of my life. He should have done the same thing instead of putting politics first on voting day and family first on wedding day.

 

Ok, but acting against your public outspoken convictions in your private personal life is textbook hypocrisy, which is what the thread is about.

 

I don’t think the issue is criticizing his attendance at the wedding. That and more is the right thing to do. He should unequivocally support his son.

Nor is it mere hypocrisy. It’s part that, but that’s not a strong enough concept.

It’s the fact that he can see the humanity of his son and the dignity of his son’s relationship and understand why being able to solemnize his son’s love in a formal recognized relationship with legal rights is an important part of who his son is, while still using his official power to deny that to others and deny their humanity.

 

Evidently, the father/son bond here is stronger than politics. Good for them. From what I've read, Rep. Thompson doesn't go around denouncing gay marriages as abominations, so that probably helps. Still, a whiff of hypocrisy can be detected. Eau de "I support my son's gay marriage, but no one else's."

 

I think the question on everyone's mind is would he bake the cake for his son's gay wedding? This, I'm told, is the ultimate test of one's Christian beliefs.

 

I’ll mark you down for the I don’t understand how politics work. We are not politicians and unfortunately this is how it works. It’s why most sane people don’t go into this field.

 

You can "mark me down" for whatever you want, I could truly care less.

But here's the bottom line. Politics works to make him a hypocrite. Period. So I'll mark you down as someone who accepts double standards if it fits your narrative.

I'm sure you gave Gavin Newsom the same hall passas your giving this guy (instead of calling him a hypocrite, as I did) for attending a birthday bash at French Laundry weeks after issuing a mandate disallowing the rest of the state of California from doing so because that's "how politics work".