July 13, 2004
John Cornyn: Gays = Box Turtles
By Byron LaMasters
Occationally, you have to give Andrew Sullivan a little credit. He found this gem about our Junior Senator in Texas:
"It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle. But that does not mean it is right. . . . Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife."
-- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), advocating a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in a speech Thursday to the Heritage Foundation.
That's right. In 2004, it's men marrying men and women marrying women. In ten years, it'll be men marrying goldfish and women marrying box turtles. Really, can anyone take these nuts seriously?
Update: As noted in comments, Cornyn did not use the "box turtle" line in his speech, although it was in the prepared remarks.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at July 13, 2004 12:43 AM
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The comparison of "undesirable" classes of persons to animals is a page right out of Facism 101. The comparison of Jews to dogs was a cornerstone of the propoganda piece of the Nazis in the 1930s. At first, it is passed of as benign, but as it progresses, it is an attempt to dehumanize people. After all, it is hard to gas a human, but less so an animal.
The public must condemn Cornyn and the rest of his neo-Facist crew for the comparison and remind us all of the historical context for such human/animal comparisons.
Apparently Cornyn didn't get the message - Lawrence v. Texas.
First we get Santorum's "man-dog" comments, now Cornyn and his box turtles. Do some of the GOP senators have hidden animal fetishes?
I saw a little of Cornyn on CNN this morning trying to spin the fact the GOP won't bring the Hate Amendment up for a vote (cowards). He is such an empty suit. He's the ideal Bush senator though, because he's a mindless foot soldier without an original thought in his head. He does whatever the party leadership tells him to do. Does that mean the box-turtle comment was vetted?
Cornyn needs to get his facts straight. Laura Bush married a post turtle, not a box turtle!
John Cornyn is probably one of the most radical and bigoted people in the United States Senate...at least poor Jesse Helms could attribute his bigotry to ignorance.
Only problem is, Cornyn never said that remark about turtles. The Post ran a correction the next day, and Andrew Sullivan retracted it. Read a clarification here.
The Washington Post quoted this from an advance copy of prepared remarks by Cornyn.
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2004_07_11_lloydletta_archive.html#108967008884290127
For what it's worth, Sen. Cornyn did not, in his speech to the Heritage Foundation, use the 'box turtles' quote. The Post was given a copy of remarks 'as prepared,' but Sen. Cornyn did not like that passage, and did not use it. The Post, which did not attend the speech, reported the quote nonetheless. Sen. Cornyn said that he did not think that statement appropriate, that's why he didn't use it. I've advised the Post of this fact.
