The last couple of weeks have been good times for political hypocrisy.
One group of political hypocrites is local: Arizona's GOP legislators—a group of folks who claim to be all about smaller government—have been running amok creating new laws (and, therefore, more government) that would restrict abortions, allow guns in businesses where they're not necessarily wanted, and so on.
In other words, the Republicans want smaller government—but only as long as it fits their agenda. Lame.
The same goes for local control. If Republicans believe in smaller government and local control, why are they sticking their noses in the business of Tucson by pushing a bill that would force city elections to become nonpartisan and ward-only affairs? And why are these lawmakers trying to force the Tucson Unified School District to give up ethnic-studies programs?
State Sen. Jonathan Paton—a man we endorsed last year—is a key player in these two bills. Jonathan ... what in the hell are you doing?
We would ask the same question of the president. When Barack Obama was running for office, he swore that he was against "don't ask, don't tell"—which boots gays and lesbians out of the military—as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). However, his administration hasn't done a single visible thing to repeal these policies—and, in fact, his Justice Department recently moved to defend DOMA in a court filing.
I don't want to hear excuses about political realities or anything else. Barack Obama and Jonathan Paton are being hypocrites. Period.
