There is a lott of Mitt-miss-information out there, but with all the people in these groups, with all the possible Mitt supporters, I think we could respond to a good portion of the missleading post.
For instance, from :
http://republicanbydesign.com/wordpress/2006/05/2008-mitt-romney-for-president"The investigative report continues. Mitt Romney is sometimes touted as a pro-life conservative. Given the right forum, he will even claim to be pro-life. But like other chamelons previously covered in this blog, Romney's record deserves closer scrutiny."
"Romney on Marriage. Romney's positions here are clear-cut. He refused to support Massachuetts' 2003 Protection of Marriage act. He has been backed by Log Cabin Republicans and other gay groups; he even met with them before the Massachusetts Gubernatorial election. He brought gay activists onto his camp and into his team early on in the process."
"In his 1994 race challenging Ted Kennedy for U.S. Senate, Mitt Romney told the Massachusetts Log Cabin Republicans that " as we seek to establish full equality for America's gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent." When competing with Ted Kennedy for the endorsement of the Massachusetts Log Cabin Republicans, Romney received the endorsement."
"Don't let Romney's recent attempts to soften his image (saying that he thinks marriage is one man and one woman) full you. Romney actively supports gay rights."
Could this be someone's honest opinion? I don't think so. I think they don't like Romney, and so they are willing to lie or at least be blatantly dishonest, in order to harm him. Lying is not a good republican principle.
Going to the Wikipedia site, this is what I find on Romney and Marrage. Why would a republican blogger be more anti-mitt than Wikipedia?
Same-sex marriage
Romney has strongly opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions . He has continually stressed the need to protect the institution of marriage while denouncing discrimination against gays and lesbians. "Like me, the great majority of Americans wish both to preserve the traditional definition of marriage and to oppose bias and intolerance directed towards gays and lesbians," said Romney in a 2004 interview. [26]
Romney was heavily involved in attempts to block implementation of the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that legalized same-sex marriage in 2003. Romney criticized the decision as harming the rights of children:
"They viewed marriage as an institution principally designed for adults. Adults are who they saw. Adults stood before them in the courtroom. And so they thought of adult rights, equal rights for adults ... Marriage is also for children. In fact, marriage is principally for the nurturing and development of children. The children of America have the right to have a father and a mother." [27]
In 2004, he backed an amendment in the General Court that would have banned same-sex marriage and established civil unions. The amendment passed the legislature in 2004, but Romney changed his mind and opposed the same amendment (which needed to be passed by the legislature twice and then approved by voters in a referendum to go into effect) in September 2005, claiming that the amendment confused voters who oppose both gay marriage and civil unions. The amendment was defeated in the legislature in 2005 when both supporters of same-sex marriage and opponents of civil unions voted against it. In June 2005, Romney endorsed a petition effort by the Coalition for Marriage and Family that would ban gay marriage and make no provisions for civil unions. [28]
The Romney Administration resurrected the "1913 law", which prohibits non-residents from marrying in Massachusetts if the marriage would be void in their home state and had not been enforced for several decades. Some legal experts have argued that the original purpose of the legislation was to block interracial marriages and have noted that the law was enacted at the height of public scandal over black heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson's interracial marriages [29] [30] , while Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly has stated that the law had nothing to do with race. [31] In March of 2006 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court declared the statute legal under the state's constitution. [32] Romney applauded the decision, saying that the "ruling is an important victory for traditional marriage." He also stated that "It would have been wrong for the Supreme Judicial Court to impose its mistaken view of marriage on the rest of the country. The continuing threat of the judicial redefinition of marriage, here and in several other states, is why I believe that the best and most reliable way to preserve the institution of marriage is to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution." [33]
Romney also testified to the U.S. House of Representatives, urging it to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment.
When he ran for governor in 2002, Romney declared his opposition to both same-sex marriage and civil unions. [34] He also voiced support for basic domestic partnership benefits for gay couples. Romney told the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts (a Republican gay-rights group) that he did not support same-sex marriage, but would fight discrimination against gays and lesbians. He also opposed an amendment, then before the Legislature, that would have banned same-sex marriage and outlawed all domestic partnership benefits for gay couples. As a result, the Log Cabin Club endorsed Romney in the gubernatorial election. [35]. When campaigning in 2002, Romney's stated position was that "all citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of sexual orientation" and that "homosexuals should have the right to a domestic partnership status that affords them the potential for health benefits and rights of survivorship." [36]
During his 1994 campaign against Senator Edward Kennedy, Romney said that same-sex marriage "is not appropriate at this time" [3] but supported Federal legislation that would prohibit discrimination in the workplace against homosexuals. [4]
- Further information: Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts
Next, our scholars over at "republicans by design" say the following:
Romney on Abortion. Romney has stated in various sources that he is "personally pro-life" and personally things abortion is impermissible except in cases of the
life of the mother, rape, and incest. But when we look beyond the rhetoric, we see an entirely different story.
Let's say it directly. Mitt Romney defends a woman's so-called "right to choose."
In his 1994 Senate campaign, he told Joe Battenfield of the Boston Herald that he became firmly committed to legalized abortion after a relative died in an illegal abortion. He stated that this made him see "that regardless of one's beliefs about choice, you would hope it would be safe and legal."
He spoke about the incident in a 1994 debate with Ted Kennedy when he was challenging Kennedy for the Senate. He said: "'Many years ago, I had a dear, close family relative that was very close to me who passed away from an illegal abortion. It is since that time my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter. And you will not see me wavering on that."
In his 2003 race for Governor of Massachusetts, he stated: "Let me make this very clear: I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose."
When he ran for Governor of Massachusetts, he promised that he would not change abortion laws either to restrict or to facilitate abortion.
In his response to a NARAL questionnaire during the campaign, he said: "I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose. This choice is a deeply personal one. 'Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not mine and not the government's."
And though Romney opposed federal funding of Abortion in 1994, he supported it in 2002-2003.
Once again, here is the truth from Wikipedia:
Abortion
Romney has identified himself as a pro-life politician. He does not support abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and when the life of a mother is threatened. [45] Romney has been a vocal opponent of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, criticizing the "one size fits all" statute created by the ruling. [46] The Governor believes each state should have the right to determine its own abortion laws, voicing support for efforts in states such as South Dakota to regulate abortion within its borders.[47]
Prior to his run for governor Romney told a newspaper in Salt Lake City Utah that he did not want to be classified as a "pro-choice" politician.[48]
During the 2002 governor's race, Romney voiced his personal opposition to abortion, but promised to maintain the Massachusetts abortion laws if elected. Romney's platform stated, "As Governor, Mitt Romney would protect the current pro-choice status quo in Massachusetts. No law would change. The choice to have an abortion is a deeply personal one. Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not the government's." [49] Although he told voters that he was personally opposed to abortion, Romney said that he would respect the will of the pro-choice majority in Massachusetts. Referenceing the established abortion laws in Massachusetts, Romney said that he would "preserve and protect a woman's right to choose...I will not change any provisions in Massachusetts' pro-choice laws."[50]
Romney has said that his views on abortion have "evolved" and "changed" since 2002 such that he now considers himself a "pro-life governor" who wishes "the laws of our nation could reflect that view." [51] [52]
In 1994, Romney also said that he was personally opposed to abortion. He also said that he became committed to legalized abortion after the death of a family friend in an illegal abortion made him see "that regardless of one's beliefs about choice, you would hope it would be safe and legal."
"Many years ago, I had a dear, close family relative that was very close to me who passed away from an illegal abortion," Romney said in a televised debate opposite Senator Edward Kennedy. "It is since that time my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter. And you will not see me wavering on that." The person Romney was referring to was a teenage girl engaged to marry a member of Romney's extended family. Romney's sister Jane has said that the girl's death changed the family's perspective on the legality of abortion. "With my mom, that was a personal thing because we had a tragedy close to us -- not in our immediate family, but a young girl who actually was engaged and had an illegal abortion and died." "She was a beautiful, talented young gal we all loved. And it pretty much ruined the parents -- their only daughter. You would do anything not to repeat that." [53]
Romney has said he has kept his campaign promises. Romney vetoed an emergency contraception bill in July 2005, claiming that allowing it to pass into law would violate his "moratorium" on changes to the abortion laws. [54] Romney's critics accuse him of grandstanding for the purpose of polishing up his pro-life credentials, for a possible run for the presidency in 2008.
Stem cell research
Although Romney has stated that he supports the use of surplus embryos from fertility clinics for stem-cell research, he vetoed a Massachusetts bill to fund stem-cell research because the legislation allowed the cloning of human embryos. "I am not in favor of creating new human embryos through cloning," said Romney, calling the practice a "a matter of profound moral and ethical consequence." Romney also opposed the legislation because of its assertion that life does not begin until an embryo is implanted in a uterus. "It is very conceivable that scientific advances will allow an embryo to be grown for a substantial period of time outside the uterus," Romney said in an interview with the Boston Globe. "To say that it is not life at one month or two months or four months or full term, just because it had never been in a uterus, would be absurd." [55][56] The state legislature overrode Romney's veto, with many legislators feeling that stem-cell research will be important in the future to the state's biotech industry. [57].
He ends his post with this: "My take on Romney: This
Massachusetts Mormon is a completely unacceptable option for conservatives." I guess he is one of the many people in this country that says that a Mormon has no right to hold Government office in this country, or am I reading more into his statement than he said?
I'm reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran". It is a book about someone who taught banned books from the west when Iotola Humany took over. She lived threw the hostage thing up until the 90's. She lived in a world were people got their positions based on their religious beliefs. And their reasoning or ability to defend their beliefs with logic was not necisary to advance withing the political landscape. The most important thing was the extremism with which you fealt your beliefs, the more extreme the better. It is a great book. It says that what happened to Lolita is what happened to all Iranian wemon--their lives were taken away, to fullfill an impossible dream of a madman.
I like the quote:
- It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong. G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936)
I believe Mitt Romney has questioned his own beliefs about Abortion. The author of the blog calously mentions the fact the someone in Romney's family died of a back ally abortion. Wouldn't you have second thoughts? Romney described himself as pro-life, but told the people of Taxachusets that he would not impose his beliefs. In essence he was giving his belief that each state should decide. Proving that Romney respects those with different beliefs, and respects their ability to choose for themselves. He isn't going to impose his beliefs on the state of taxachusets, but he will advocate his position, and push to let the people decide for themselves. Let the states decide!
I don't know. I don't have enough time to give it a better effort than this, but stop by his site, and give him your opinion, if you can...
MSNBC.com
Okay, so the safety of Gay and Lesbian teenagers everywhere depends on having a parade every year? Call me crazy but I have a hard time believing that a single gay, lesbian, or transgendered teenager would commit suicide if an organization like this were to be shut down. This post seems a little harsh to me."