In a Fox News opinion piece published on July 2nd, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee promised to use executive orders to fight the Supreme Court ruling that essentially legalized same-sex marriages in all 50 states. Huckabee outlined his plans for protecting “religious freedom” as president, should he win the 2016 presidential election.
In his op-ed piece, Huckabee declared that he would sign religious liberty executive orders that protect businesses and churches for “exercising their religious beliefs” against gay marriage. The former Arkansas Governor also said he would direct the attorney general to prosecute attacks against people of faith who oppose gay marriage as hate crimes. He also vowed to direct the Department of Defense to exempt military chaplains from having to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Huckabee asserted that he would use his executive power to resist the Supreme Court’s judicial tyranny. He implied that Barack Obama’s executive orders have been tyrannical, but that his would be different, when he stated:
President Obama has abused his power and violated the Constitution with executive orders to advance amnesty, ObamaCare implementation, guns restrictions, and climate change mandates.
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I will use executive orders and the power of the presidency to protect and defend the Constitution–especially religious liberty, which is the heart of the First Amendment.
[[AD2]]
Huckabee’s understanding of the U.S. Constitution seemed muddled, as he argued that the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage was “an out-of-control act of unconstitutional judicial tyranny.” Overwrought with emotion, Huckabee must have forgotten that Article III of the U.S. Constitution specifically assigns judicial power to the Supreme Court. In his diatribe Huckabee ignores the constitutional provision granting the court judicial authority, by arguing:
America didn’t fight a revolution against the tyranny of one unelected monarch so we could surrender our religious liberty to the tyranny of five unelected lawyers. The Supreme Court is not the Supreme Being, and the Court can no more repeal the laws of nature and nature’s God on marriage than they can the laws of gravity.
Huckabee slammed his GOP opponents for not resisting the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage fervently enough. Huckabee ended his unglued rant, by admonishing his fellow Republicans with these words:
If you lack the backbone to reject judicial tyranny and fight for religious liberty, you have no business serving our nation as president of the United States.
Huckabee however is unwilling to comply with the laws of the land, and he is determined not to recognize the separation of powers outlined in the very constitution he professes to defend. It is he who has no business serving as president of the United States.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
