Alan Simpson Denounces Homophobes and Hypocrites In The GOP

Former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson was on Harball yesterday, ostensibly to talk about the Ryan plan and the upcoming budget battles, but he spent the first five minutes or so talking about the state of his political party:

Alan K. Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming known for being an outspoken centrist, laid into his party on Monday during an appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball, criticizing conservative Republicans’ position on abortion and homosexuality.

“Who the hell is for abortion?” said Simpson.”I don’t know anybody running around with a sign that says ‘have an abortion, they’re wonderful.’ They’re hideous. But they’re a deeply intimate and personal decision and I don’t think men legislators should even vote on the issue.”

“Then you’ve got homosexuality — you’ve got ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,'” said Simpson, “We’ve got homphobes in our party. That’s disgusting to me. We’re all human beings, we’re all God’s children.”

Simpson went on, criticizing former senator and presidential hopeful Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) for saying “some cruel things — cruel, cruel things about homosexuals.”

“If that’s the kind of guys that are going to be on my ticket — you know, it makes you sort out hard what Reagan said, ‘stick with your folks,’ but I’m not sticking with people who are homophobic, anti-women — moral values, while you’re diddling your secretary, while you’re giving a speech on moral values. Come on, get off of it.”

Video:

This is, of course, classic Alan Simpson. When he was in the Senate he was known for not taking much nonsense from either side of the aisle. He was a conservative, but more in the Barry Goldwater mode than what passes for conservatism today.   More importantly, he’s absolutely right, which is why I expect the usual suspects on the right to denounce him soon enough.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Jay says:

    I agree with Simpson’s sentiments. Few can claim to be more fiscally conservative than I, but I had to leave the GOP when socons took over the party and started trying to use the government as a means to impose their social agenda on the country.

  2. another john galt says:

    “…socons eco-libtards took over the party and started trying to use the government as a means to impose their social agenda on the country.”
    Why I left the Dem Party, Jay. See? we agree on something!

  3. jfoobar says:

    Let me preface by saying that overall I am a Simpson fan. I also lean pretty firmly to the pro-Choice side of the abortion debate. But Doug, he is dead wrong on abortion.

    His statement is little more than yet another variation of the “abortion of a women’s issue” abortion fallacy. It is so common it should be formerly documented in the tomes of logical fallacies.

    If you earnestly believe that abortion is *murder*, as a great number of anti-abortion folks do, how on earth can it be a women’s issue? How is a man, be it a legislator or a roofer from Saginaw, unqualified to express a view over whether a certain type of murder should be legalized or even, arguably, receive indirect Federal funding?

  4. Jay says:

    Well, good to know you saw the light, John. The only worse part of thepolitical spectrum than the big government-loving socons is the political Left. The best thing the Democrat Party could do for the future of our country would be to disappear into oblivion.

  5. jfoobar,

    Well my personal opinion on the issue isn’t that far from Simpson’s. I find the practice distasteful but I am not willing to use the power of the state to tell a woman that she cannot make the choice when she feels it is necessary.

  6. ej says:

    Doug,

    think about that logic for a moment.. You would’t say the following:

    I find the practice of rape distasteful but I am not willing to use the power of the state to tell a man that he cannot make the choice when he feels it is necessary.

    If you are a person who thinks abortion is murder, than just like giving the state power to stop murder (or rape), the state should be given the power to stop abortion.

    The question at hand is whether the fetus is alive, human, person, whatever is relevant, to have that kind of legal protection. It isnt about allowing people to chose to murder or not – the question is about whether is it is in fact muder or not.

  7. ej,

    Except I don’t think abortion is morally wrong in all circumstances. So your analogy doesn’t apply.