Marco Rubio: "Having tricked Florida into electing me, I'm now ready to lie at national level" http://t.co/rvIp2g3fGX pic.twitter.com/tsZdz72jHb
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) April 13, 2015
Critics have pounced on Rubio’s retreat from reform as evidence of his naked political calculation and unfitness to be president. Transparently cynical as his U-turn was, however, it was Rubio’s callous and bigoted ultimatum that most shocked the conscience, revealing a thoroughly repugnant worldview. The high court may have ended a gross injustice, but even while vile regimes assailed their LGBT subjects, this presidential hopeful wished to perpetuate it.
Not even two years on, and most of the political world has forgotten about the instance that, more than any other, provides a window into Marco Rubio’s political calculations. His stunning reversal on an immigration bill that would have allowed gay Americans to sponsor their foreign-national spouses for permanent residency laid bare how cynically inhuman, calculating, and devoid of compassion Rubio can be when it comes to his political ambitions. It’s odd that no one seems to be talking about this incident in light of his announcement that he’s running for President. Then again, neither the GOP nor the press really care about a lack of integrity or compassion…unless the person in question is a Democrat.
Instead of doing a very kind and humane thing, Rubio calculated that the biggest political bang for his buck could be had by hanging gay Americans with foreign-national spouses out to dry. It was an odd and distressing choice for a politician who calls a party that pretends to be all about “family values” home. It’s clear that, at least for Marco Rubio, not all families are created equal and therefore worthy of equal treatment and protection under the law. For Rubio, some Americans are indeed “less than.”
On the very same day the Russian Parliament declared war on it’s LGBT citizens by passing a bill outlawed the dissemination of gay propaganda…whatever that might mean…Rubio reversed course on an immigration bill he’d been working on for months. Because of an amendment by Sen. Partick Leahy (D-VT), Rubio determined he could no longer afford to support immigration reform:
“If this bill has in it something that gives gay couples immigration rights and so forth, it kills the bill,” Rubio told Fox News personality Andrea Tantaros on her radio show. “I’m gone, I’m off it, and I’ve said that repeatedly. And I don’t think that’s going to happen, and it shouldn’t happen. This is already a difficult enough issue as it is.”
“[G]ives gay couples immigration rights and so forth?” As if being able to know that your spouse could stay in the country legally is some sort of special right? The problem, of course, is that Rubio doesn’t give a damn about anything that doesn’t show the potential to advance his political prospects. He’s pandered to the Tea Party, the Far Right, and the American Taliban. He’s shown himself willing to court haters, homophobes, the wealthy…all while extending a metaphorical middle finger to those lacking the capacity to be of use and/or value to him.
Marco Rubio may be young and hip and whatever adjectives the media chooses to adorn him with. When you strip it all away, though, it’s clear that he’s just another calculating Republican who’d do whatever it takes, no matter how cynical or craven, to satisfy his ambition. I wouldn’t buy a car from Marco Rubio, much less vote for him…because he’s just that dangerous and corruptible. If you want leadership with a price tag on it, Rubio’s your man…but if you want an America that works for the 99% and not just the 1%, he’s not the man you want sitting behind the big desk in the Oval Office.
