Teabaggers Mum On DOMA Ruling

Although the Christianist right has been screaming blue bloody murder, we haven't heard much from the teabaggers about last week's DOMA ruling. According to the Washington Post, Tea Party libertarians and Tenthers are quietly thrilled with the ruling's affirmation of states' rights.

The silence is by design, activists with the loosely affiliated movement said, because it is held together by an exclusive focus on fiscal matters and its avoidance of divisive social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. Privately, though, many said they back the decision because it emphasizes the legal philosophy of states' rights. "I do think it's a state's right," said Phillip Dennis, Texas state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots. The group does not take a position on social issues, he said, but personally, "I believe that if the people in Massachusetts want gay people to get married, then they should allow it, just as people in Utah do not support abortion. They should have the right to vote against that." Everett Wilkinson, state director for the Florida Tea Party Patriots, agreed: "On the issue [of gay marriage] itself, we have no stance, but any time a state's rights or powers are encouraged over the federal government, it is a good thing."

While Tea Party leaders acknowledge that many in the movement oppose same-sex marriage, they claim it is "not a majority" and that the issue "just isn't on our radar." Hmmm. One Florida Tea Party official claims that his group has several hundred gay members.