Rosie O'Donnell Tries to Change Mike Huckabee's Mind on Gay Adoption
Apparently Rosie O'Donnell has a Sisyphus complex. Sisyphus was the fabled Greek king who was punished by the Gods and sentenced to a life of pushing a huge rock up a hill, only to watch the rock roll back down again. For Rosie O'Donnell's part, the rock she was trying to push was Mike Huckabee, and she was trying to push him toward a more reasonable position on gay adoption.
It didn't work. But their conversation is pretty mesmerizing.
O'Donnell hosted Huckabee on her Sirius radio show this week, taking the former Arkansas governor and GOP Presidential candidate to task for comments he made earlier this month suggesting that gay people should be banned from adopting. O'Donnell, a grand wizard of gay adoption who has long championed the rights of LGBT families, had a bit of a bone to pick with Huckabee. After all, Huckabee made it pretty clear that he wants gays and lesbians to be denied marriage equality, and only be allowed to adopt puppies.
First things first, Huckabee and O'Donnell both deserve a whole heaping amount of praise for having this conversation together. It would kind of be like Bishop Gene Robinson and Pat Robertson getting together for coffee, or Melissa Etheridge and Anita Bryant sitting down for some orange juice.
O'Donnell pulled some good punches, and got Huckabee to admit that gays and lesbians can be loving parents, even if he finds the premise of gay parenting to be pretty icky.
"Well, you know Rosie, again, I think people have to make their own decision about what a family ought to look like and I’m not going to judge you or judge anybody else because I know there are so many loving people who are in same-sex relationships and they have adopted children and they love those kids," Huckabee said. "I’m not going to judge them. I’m simply not going there."
Except that Huckabee does continue to go there, even if he does so with some tap dancing and a candy-coating. He believes that his adherence to scripture is what compels him to be against same-sex marriage, and is what motivates him to think that gay families are not ideal. But that doesn't make him a hater. It just makes him devoutly religious.
"I'm not saying [gay people] are unworthy, and it's not a prejudice, it's a matter of giving children a mother and a father," said Huckabee. "I think the ideal relationship is both a mother and a father."
Good thing most of this country thinks the ideal president isn't a former Arkansas governor with a penchant for playing guitar and befriending Chuck Norris.
In all seriousness, the importance of Huckabee and O'Donnell's conversation couldn't be overstated. Did Rosie get Huckabee to admit that Arkansas' constitutional ban on gay adoption (which was recently thrown out by a judge) was evil? No. But the two were able to have a pretty civil discussion, and at the hand I can't help but think somewhere in the back of Huckabee's mind, a little voice is saying: "Wait a minute. Maybe gay people can take care of children..."
Now let's see if Huckabee might invite O'Donnell onto his Fox News Show to have this same discussion. Because I think if his viewers were given even the slightest glimpse of how important Rosie O'Donnell values her children, some hearts and minds might begin to change in even the reddest parts of America.
Check out the audio of the O'Donnell/Huckabee interview here.
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It didn't work. But their conversation is pretty mesmerizing.
O'Donnell hosted Huckabee on her Sirius radio show this week, taking the former Arkansas governor and GOP Presidential candidate to task for comments he made earlier this month suggesting that gay people should be banned from adopting. O'Donnell, a grand wizard of gay adoption who has long championed the rights of LGBT families, had a bit of a bone to pick with Huckabee. After all, Huckabee made it pretty clear that he wants gays and lesbians to be denied marriage equality, and only be allowed to adopt puppies.
First things first, Huckabee and O'Donnell both deserve a whole heaping amount of praise for having this conversation together. It would kind of be like Bishop Gene Robinson and Pat Robertson getting together for coffee, or Melissa Etheridge and Anita Bryant sitting down for some orange juice.
O'Donnell pulled some good punches, and got Huckabee to admit that gays and lesbians can be loving parents, even if he finds the premise of gay parenting to be pretty icky.
"Well, you know Rosie, again, I think people have to make their own decision about what a family ought to look like and I’m not going to judge you or judge anybody else because I know there are so many loving people who are in same-sex relationships and they have adopted children and they love those kids," Huckabee said. "I’m not going to judge them. I’m simply not going there."
Except that Huckabee does continue to go there, even if he does so with some tap dancing and a candy-coating. He believes that his adherence to scripture is what compels him to be against same-sex marriage, and is what motivates him to think that gay families are not ideal. But that doesn't make him a hater. It just makes him devoutly religious.
"I'm not saying [gay people] are unworthy, and it's not a prejudice, it's a matter of giving children a mother and a father," said Huckabee. "I think the ideal relationship is both a mother and a father."
Good thing most of this country thinks the ideal president isn't a former Arkansas governor with a penchant for playing guitar and befriending Chuck Norris.
In all seriousness, the importance of Huckabee and O'Donnell's conversation couldn't be overstated. Did Rosie get Huckabee to admit that Arkansas' constitutional ban on gay adoption (which was recently thrown out by a judge) was evil? No. But the two were able to have a pretty civil discussion, and at the hand I can't help but think somewhere in the back of Huckabee's mind, a little voice is saying: "Wait a minute. Maybe gay people can take care of children..."
Now let's see if Huckabee might invite O'Donnell onto his Fox News Show to have this same discussion. Because I think if his viewers were given even the slightest glimpse of how important Rosie O'Donnell values her children, some hearts and minds might begin to change in even the reddest parts of America.
Check out the audio of the O'Donnell/Huckabee interview here.
source