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Jeb Bush: Kim Davis Is ‘Sworn to Uphold the Law’
National Review ^ | 9/4/2015 | Joel Gehrke

Posted on 09/03/2015 9:43:23 PM PDT by VinL

Former governor Jeb Bush said that Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk jailed for contempt of court after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, doesn’t have the authority to defy the courts.

“She is sworn to uphold the law, and it seems to me that there ought to be common ground, there ought to be big enough space for her to act on her conscience and — now that the law is the law of the land — for a gay couple to be married in whatever jurisdiction that is,” Bush told reporters in New Hampshire.

Davis’s case and Bush’s response are emblematic of a tactical question that has divided Christian conservatives since the Supreme Court invalidated traditional-marriage laws, with some activists adopting a posture of limited acquiescence and others calling for outright defiance of the judiciary.

With the presidential primary season under way, it’s a debate that could affect the allegiances of the social conservatives who tend to dominate the Iowa Republican caucuses. Davis, in an attempt to resist the Supreme Court’s ruling while avoiding accusations of discrimination, is refusing to issue marriage licenses to anyone in Rowan County, Ky., and she is refusing to allow her assistants to do so as well.

“The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order,” U.S. District Court Judge David L. Bunning said. “If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems.”

Senator Ted Cruz, whose presidential prospects depend largely on attracting the evangelical voters who propelled George W. Bush to victory in 2000 and 2004, issued a stentorian endorsement of Davis. “We are a country founded on Judeo-Christian values, founded by those fleeing religious oppression, and seeking a land where we could worship God and live according to our faith, without being imprisoned for doing so,” he said Thursday. “I call upon every believer, every Constitutionalist, every lover of liberty to stand with Kim Davis.

Stop the persecution now.” Former Governor Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses, was similarly strident. “Kim Davis in federal custody removes all doubts about the criminalization of Christianity in this country,” he tweeted.

Bush refused to endorse such characterizations of the case: As I said, I think a big, tolerant country ought to be able to forge a consensus. This doesn’t have to be all resolved in Washington. This ought to be resolved at the local level where you find common ground, where a person, clearly based on her religious convictions, should be able to act on her conscience and have people not be discriminated against.

Bush has the political misfortune of using the same rhetoric that Hillary Clinton and Democratic proponents of gay marriage are using to denounce Davis. That’s a mainstream, though hardly unanimous, attitude among social conservatives. “A religious accommodation, like religious liberty in general, is not absolute,” the Heritage Foundation’s Ryan Anderson, one of the most prominent traditional-marriage advocates, wrote Thursday. “There are ways in which public policy can create a win-win situation: where all eligible couples can receive a license and where as many employees as possible can be accommodated.” And yet, Bush has the political misfortune of using the same rhetoric that Hillary Clinton and Democratic proponents of gay marriage are using to denounce Davis. “Marriage equality is the law of the land,” Clinton tweeted. “Officials should be held to their duty to uphold the law — end of story.”

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/423555/jeb-bush-hillary-clinton-denounce-kim-davis


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Arkansas; US: California; US: Florida; US: Iowa; US: Kentucky; US: Louisiana; US: New York; US: Texas; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: 2016election; arkansas; bobbyjindal; bush; california; carlyfiorina; election2016; fatpantsuit; florida; gaykk; hillary; hillaryclinton; hitlery; homosexualagenda; iowa; jebbush; jebbushisamaricon; joelgehrke; kentucky; kimdavis; louisiana; mikehuckabee; nationalreview; scottwalker; tedcruz; texas; wisconsin
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To: VinL

The man who murdered Terri Schiavo has to take this Nazi line in order to avoid convicting himself of murder.


61 posted on 09/03/2015 11:10:53 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan (Beau Biden's funeral, attended by Bp. Malooly, Card. McCarrick, and Papal Nuncio, Abp. Vigano.)
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To: chris37

I couldn’t have said it better. The Bushes would be behind a bush if it weren’t for Reagan.


62 posted on 09/03/2015 11:14:24 PM PDT by Steelfish
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To: chris37

Jebby is all vinegar and water. He is guilty of practicing douche-baggery.


63 posted on 09/03/2015 11:19:52 PM PDT by WMarshal (“A man’s rights rest in three boxes. The ballot box, jury box, and the cartridge" - F. Douglas)
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To: Secret Agent Man

You’re right.....the GOP elite has become more detestable than the left. As impossible as that sounds.


64 posted on 09/03/2015 11:23:59 PM PDT by LongWayHome
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To: VinL

OK, that just put the nail in coffin for me for Jeb. Anyone without the moral backbone to stand against immoral laws is a lost cause. To believe that public servants cannot exercise freedom of conscience in a non-life threatening situation is un-American.


65 posted on 09/03/2015 11:29:05 PM PDT by fidelis (Zonie and USAF Cold Warrior)
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To: VinL
Stinking big government coward like he was in the Terri Schiavo case.

He speaks of the law like it still means anything in this country right now.

Persecute a lowly county clerk for being Christian and having morals, but let high treason happen every stinking day in Washington.

Up yours Yeb.

66 posted on 09/03/2015 11:46:47 PM PDT by The Cajun (Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Mike Lee, Louie Gohmert....Nuff said.)
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To: DaveyB

Thank you for the referenced source for further reading. Thoughtful of you to include it. There is much to consider. Well done on the post.


67 posted on 09/04/2015 12:02:52 AM PDT by chulaivn66 (They're in the wire!)
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To: VinL

Oh Jeb! So eager to follow in the footsteps of Romney ... and McCain ... and Dole ...


68 posted on 09/04/2015 12:03:15 AM PDT by so_real ( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
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To: VinL; Norm Lenhart; MeshugeMikey
But there is actually no law in place regarding this situation, ¡Cheb! There is only an illegitimate Supreme Court ruling.
69 posted on 09/04/2015 12:07:14 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Democrats and GOP-e: a difference of degree, not philosophy)
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To: VinL
“The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order,” U.S. District Court Judge David L. Bunning said. “If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems.”

The "law", in this case, is the usual twisted interpretation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, which actually would apply something roughly like this: if two white men can marry each other in a state, then two black men should be able to, also.

70 posted on 09/04/2015 12:10:03 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Democrats and GOP-e: a difference of degree, not philosophy)
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To: VinL
The fourteenth amendment, which is the only conceivable basis for the supreme court rulings on same sex "marriage", clearly specifies its own method of enforcement:

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

It is silent on any other body or branch being granted power of enforcement.

Granting, for the sake of argument, that the other articles really do somehow mean states need to recognize same sex marriages, it still seems to this layman that the only proper way to force the clerk to issue licensees against her conscious would be if the federal legislature passed legislation compelling her.

71 posted on 09/04/2015 12:13:44 AM PDT by AndyTheBear
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To: VinL


Don't worry honey, Jeb Bush will save you.

72 posted on 09/04/2015 12:30:01 AM PDT by Democratic-Republican
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To: Yogafist

Great post!


73 posted on 09/04/2015 12:30:51 AM PDT by trustandobey
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To: Democratic-Republican

That was all I needed to know about Jeb. Jeb is dead to me. He gave up his humanity when he should have affirmed life. This alone was sufficient for him to never run for office again.


74 posted on 09/04/2015 12:46:37 AM PDT by PA Engineer (Liberate America from the Occupation Media. #2ndAmendmentMatters)
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To: VinL

Wrong answer, Yeb.


75 posted on 09/04/2015 12:50:00 AM PDT by z taxman (Trump: “I’ll find a guy!” - we should elect that guy instead then)
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To: WTFOVR

SCROTUS!


76 posted on 09/04/2015 12:52:03 AM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra (Don't touch that thing Don't let anybody touch that thing!I'm a Doctor and I won't touch that thing!)
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To: AndyTheBear

Interesting point.

There’s so much room for interpretation in the law that I think a lot can be accomplished through sheer willfulness. All law is ultimately political and subject to political pressure. The only reason the 14th amendment is being interpreted as it is currently is that the left has outhustled us politically. There’s nothing in the law itself that requires this new interpretion.


77 posted on 09/04/2015 1:32:32 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: VinL

do you have any core beliefs there Jeb?
Are you a Christian when convenient ya dope?


78 posted on 09/04/2015 2:21:24 AM PDT by Joe Boucher ( Obammy is a lie, a mooselimb and pond scum.)
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To: VinL

Jeb - STFU


79 posted on 09/04/2015 2:59:24 AM PDT by broken_arrow1 (I regret that I have but one life to give for my country - Nathan Hale "Patriot")
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To: VinL
Who asked Señor Yeb Boosh for his opinion?
80 posted on 09/04/2015 3:13:43 AM PDT by Mmmike
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