During the LOGO forum on LGBT issues that occurred yesterday, Hillary Clinton made a gaffe that made me cringe. She was questioned about DODT and DOMA, as to be expected, since these controversial acts were enacted under her husband's administration. During the DOMA question, Hillary dropped the ball.
Part of her defense of DOMA hinges on the fact that it was a shield against a Constitutional ban on gay marriage. This is a really weak argument and DOMA is a terrible piece of legislation, but that's not even the issue at hand here. The issue at hand is how she phrased it. She said if the gay marriage ban passed, it would be the first time discrimination was "enshrined in the Constitution."
.....
Oh really?
From Article One, Section Two, Paragraph Three of the Constitution:
"Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons."
Forgetting that the 3/5's compromise existed is unacceptable. Slavery and segregation far and away are the worst chapters in our country's history, and to forget or ignore the most infamous section of our country's founding document is in very poor form. Obama may have gotten a Prime Minister mixed up with a President in the heat of the moment, but this is on a different level.
Disclosure: Now that I believe that Gore will not run, I am undecided. If HRC is the nominee in the general, I will vote for her.