Ted Cruz appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America," today during their town hall and was asked a question by Todd Calogne, a married gay man who is a registered Republican and owner of a pizza parlor in New York City, who wanted to know what Cruz would do to protect his right to gay marriage against the onslaught of religious right bills trying to strip away his rights.
Calogne asked, "I'm a lifelong Republican and I've been married for two years now and my question is, I've noticed a lot of religious freedom laws and somewhat institutionalized discrimination laws happening around the country. What would you as president do to protect me and my husband from that institutionalized discrimination?"
Here's where Ted Cruz' strengths show up as a debater because he makes a bogus case that supports the "institutionalized discrimination" that Todd Calogne is railing against, but makes it appear that he's sympathetic to his concerns at the same time.
Cruz said, "Well, listen. When it comes to religious liberty, religious liberty is something that protects everyone of us; it's the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. And religious liberty applies to Christians, it applies to Jews, it applies to Muslims, it applies to atheists, and all of us, we want to live in the world where we don't have the government dictating our beliefs. Dictating how we live. We have a right to live according to our faith, according to our conscience. And that freedom ultimately protects each and every one of us."
This is complete bullsh*t. Ted Cruz is making the argument to strip his rights away because the Pat Robertson's and Tony Perkins' are homophobic.
The Supreme Court federalizes laws to protect Americans from discrimination, period. Without them, this country would be a very dark place to live in.
If Cruz doesn't believe in gay marriage, that's fine, but he can't discriminate against another person for his religious beliefs. What Cruz is arguing for in a veiled and wordy way is that by the Supreme Court upholding gay marriage, it's telling him that he can't abuse their rights by masking it in a religious liberty towel.
He then comes back with more mumbo-jumbo that the court is dictating faith to people.
Cruz continued, "And we shouldn't have the right to force others to knuckle under and give up their faith and give up their beliefs. And I think keeping government out of the way of your lives protects the freedom of everyone of us."
The Supreme Court is not making one person knuckle under or change their faith. if it wasn't for the court decision, Calogne's marriage would be null and void in many states across this country and his rights would be infringed upon.
Host Robin Roberts, interjected about equal rights for all and he once again didn't answer Calogne's original question, but filibustered on a topic that had nothing to do with religious people discriminating against gays.
When George Stephanopoulos asked him what would happen to gay married couples if the law was overturned, Cruz again did not comment what Cruz actually wants to happen, but made his case for state's rights when it comes to marriage.
"If someone wants to change the marriage laws, I don't think it should be five unelected lawyers down in Washington dictating that."
Civil rights and civil liberties are not a state by state issue, Ted.
He knows this, but he's a very crafty mis-informer.
Sorry, Todd. Your question was never answered by Senator Cruz.
(h/t Mediaite)
(corrected after post was published)
