SLATE: Bernie Sanders Claims He’s a Longtime Champion of Marriage Equality.

[MADem]

271. There's a difference between expressing what "the reality" was and expressing a personal view on

the reality.

I personally believe that ALL marriage should be civil (still), that religious marriage should be privately arranged, and everyone across America should be afforded equal protection under the law. But in 2009 that was The Impossible Dream. The only way to knock down the walls was state-by-state. The same thing will happen with marijuana laws, it'll be state-by-state and all the old stoners will be very old before it's a federal thing (if they live to see it). This country STILL hasn't passed an ERA, and I would like to see one before I die.

If you are saying this "It would be best for those outside of minority groups to not attempt to tell members of minority groups what their own history is and how they should proceed." then you must agree that Sanders shouldn't have overstated the case about his history and involvement with the issue. He can't say "I was there" if he was being pragmatic, parsing, telling the questioner at that debate that it was an issue for the states and he didn't support federal legislation for marriage equality. In sum, he WASN'T there. He was being what he was, and what he is--a politician.