Brody's Scribbles... Don't Believe NOM's Misleading DOMA Ad

By Matt Baume (San Francisco, California) MAR 23 | Lies, prejudice, and straight-up-gibberish. It's NOM's new pro-DOMA commercial and we're going to take it down. Let's look at the worst of it.

"he unilaterally decided to no longer defend our country's Defense of Marriage Act"

Nope. Not unilateral. Obama's decision was backed up by a recommendation by the Department of Justice, and by legal precedent that holds discriminatory laws to a higher standard of review.

"DOMA was passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority"

That was true, but a long time ago. And that bipartisan majority is long-gone. In fact, the guy who wrote DOMA, Republican Bob Barr, later apologized for it. And now he's one of the guys trying to get it repealed.

"and signed into law by President Clinton"

You want to bring up Clinton? Okay. He also says DOMA was a mistake and needs to be repealed. And he supports marriage equality. So, yeah! Clinton!

"instead of doing his job to uphold our law, he's dumping it behind our backs."

No. This is gibberish. It's not his job. He's not dumping it. It's not behind our backs. And he's not "dumping marriage." Let's make it simple. The President does not defend laws if they violate the Constitution. This happens all the time. US versus Lovett, INS versus Chadha, Morrison versus Olson, Metro Broadcasting versus FCC, Simkins versus Moses H Cone, Gavett versus Alexander, League of Women Voters versus FCC, Turner Broadcasting versus FCC. 

Truman, LBJ, Nixon, Regan, Bush 1 -- plenty of presidents have done exactly the same thing, so don't pretend Obama's any different. He's also not dumping DOMA. The law's still in effect, they're still enforcing it, and they couldn't have been more public about it.

As far as "dumping marriage" goes, what does that even mean? Even without DOMA, you can still get married. In fact, a heck of a lot more people can get married.

"What's at stake? Marriage."

No. Marriage existed before DOMA. Getting rid of DOMA doesn't get rid of marriage. They're two different things.

"a husband and wife, dedicated to giving children the mom and dad they deserve."

No. This is a trick. DOMA has no bearing on how many kids have moms and dads. Kids get raised in all kinds of families, right now, whether or not DOMA exists. Not to mention, children deserve more from their parents than just a gender. They deserve love, and they deserve legal recognition. That's how DOMA hurts kids.

"government of the people. By the people."

Oh look, the Constitution. You know, the very document that renders DOMA unconstitutional. You might want to try reading that. It's in cursive, so take your time.

"With your help, we can protect marriage."

And this is the bit I just can't figure out, no matter how many times I hear it. This is a self-defeating argument. When you say protect marriage, you're indicating that gay people harm marriage. But you can't show any evidence, and God knows you've had plenty of opportunity to try. So the only explanation is an irrational, unexamined prejudice. And that's the very basis that courts will use to finally overturn this law.

Click over here to learn a bit more about the challenges to DOMA, and visit us over at http://stop8.org to sign up for breaking alerts on Marriage Equality.

And if you want to help, post this video on Facebook so more people see it. We need to respond to NOM's lies fast and loud to stop them in their tracks.