Seems that McCain can’t get his story straight regarding civil unions. Event though he supported the Arizona ban that would prevent both gay marriage and civil unions, he first told George Stephanopoulos that he wasn’t against civil unions. Then, he changed his mind:

Host George Stephanopoulos asked McCain why he supported the measure, saying it “actually denied any government benefits to civil unions or domestic partnerships. Are you against civil unions for gay couples?”

First McCain said: “No, I’m not.”

“I think that initiative did allow for people to join in legal agreements such as power of attorney and others,” he said. “I think that there was a difference of opinion on the interpretation of that constitutional amendment in Arizona.”

“So you’re for civil unions?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“No,” he said. “I do not believe gay marriage should be legal. I do not believe gay marriage should be legal,” he repeated. “But I do believe that people ought to be able to enter into contracts, exchange powers of attorney, other ways that people have relationships can enter into.”

Later, he came back: “I just want to point out again: I believe that gay marriage should not be legal. OK?”

There are two possible reasons for this flip flopping position. First, McCain could support civil unions personally, but may believe that voicing that support could sink his support within the Christian conservative movement. In this case, he is just a dishonorable panderer.

The other, more troubling, possibility is that McCain was confused by the question and his short term memory couldn’t hold up to the admittedly simple line of questioning. Remember that earlier in the interview, McCain had to repeatedly refer to his notes in order to answer a straightforward question about his Iraq policy. Was John McCain tired? Is his old age catching up to him? Perhaps he should just stay in the Senate where he can take naps.

Thanks to Americablog for picking up the convoluted logic in Newsweek regarding McCain pandering to the religious right on issues of non-discrimination. From Newsweek:

McCain was clearly squirming when ABC’s George Stephanopoulos pressed him on “This Week” last weekend about whether he supports civil unions, a loaded term among social conservatives who see it as a fig leaf for gay marriage. McCain avoided the phrase but said he supported various partnerships to facilitate hospital visits and the like. His home state of Arizona just voted down an anti-gay marriage initiative that also would have banned domestic partnerships even among heterosexual couples….

McCain gets more latitude on this subject because we sense that in his heart, he’s a Goldwater libertarian. Social issues are not what drive him in public life. He’s playing to his party’s conservative base as newly defined by the religious right, but if elected president, he’s not going to be beholden to them the way Bush has been…The voters may be less inclined to give Romney a pass if he goes overboard with his fealty to the right.

So McCain is lying to us, but that makes him honorable? What sort of horse-shit logic is that? If Senator John McCain were truly an honorable man, he would let everyone know exactly where he stands on the issue of civil unions. No equivocating, no vague talking points. Apparently the straight talk express is lost on the curving roads of political desire.

Following are Senator John McCain’s remarks at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University graduation. Play-by-play commentary is in Italics.

Thank you, Dr. Falwell. Thank you, faculty, families and friends, and thank you Liberty University Class of 2006 for your welcome and for your kind invitation to give this year’s commencement address. I want to join in the chorus of congratulations to the Class of 2006. This is a day to bask in praise. You’ve earned it. You have succeeded in a demanding course of instruction. Life seems full of promise as is always the case when a passage in life is marked by significant accomplishment. Today, it might seem as if the world attends you.

Yeah, I’m sure their coursework was truly rigorous considering Liberty is a 4th Tier School as ranked by US News & World Report in their college guide.
But spare a moment for those who have truly attended you so well for so long, and whose pride in your accomplishments is even greater than your own – your parents. When the world was looking elsewhere your parents’ attention was one of life’s certainties. So, as I commend you, I offer equal praise to your parents for the sacrifices they made for you, for their confidence in you and their love. More than any other influence in your lives they have helped make you the success you are today and might become tomorrow.

Unless you happen to be gay or lesbian, in which case your parents would disown you.
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I’ve been looking around for some of the more outrageous statements made by Jerry Falwell, founder and President of Liberty University where Senator John McCain is set to give the commencement speech.  Here is the worst one so far:

AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh’s charioteers . . . AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.

This from the man McCain says it will be an “honor” to have host him for commencement.

Does Senator John McCain believe AIDS is God’s punishment for homosexuality?