Althouse: "Feeling abandoned by Democrats while fighting same-sex marriage, notorious Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has vowed to join the Republican Party..."

September 25, 2015

"Feeling abandoned by Democrats while fighting same-sex marriage, notorious Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has vowed to join the Republican Party..."

"... she announced on Friday at the Family Research Council’s Value Voters Summit. 'I’ve always been a Democrat, but the party left me,' she said."

62 comments:

pious agnostic said...: No, thanks.; 9/25/15, 5:47 PM
rhhardin said...: She's a social conservative. That's not the greatest wing of the Republican Party.; 9/25/15, 5:48 PM
Deirdre Mundy said...: This actually hurts the Dems in KY, though. A lot of their base there are socially conservatice, blue collar, coal miner types.

Of course, the current party leadership has basically said "We don't need you stupid hicks."

I'm not sure if the Dems can build a winning coalition if they lose the blue collar people, though.; 9/25/15, 5:50 PM
The Godfather said...: We're a big tent party.

How's she feel about gun rights?; 9/25/15, 6:03 PM
jr565 said...: Wonder where she'd get that idea from that the Democratic Party changed its stance? Maybe the passage of DOMA by a democrat? Or that Obama didn't come out in favor of gay marriage till his second term? Yeah u wonder where she got the idea from.; 9/25/15, 6:04 PM
jr565 said...: The repubs might have an issue with gays buy it seems like the deme have a problem with white people. You know those clinging to their guns and religion?; 9/25/15, 6:06 PM
averagejoe said...: 'I’ve always been a Democrat, but the party left me,' she said."

That was the case in the election of 2014 on a large scale, wasn't it? Southern states electing their first republican majorities since reconstruction and all. Progressives like to claim that the republican party has moved to the far right, but the truth is, the democrats are moving so far left that the rest of the spectrum is disappearing in the rear-view mirror. A disparate group of perpetually aggrieved anti-Americans following Bernie Sanders to socialist utopia.; 9/25/15, 6:12 PM
Hagar said...: This situation is beginning to look a little like 1859.; 9/25/15, 6:17 PM
MadisonMan said...: The Republican Party response should be: We don't want you.; 9/25/15, 6:21 PM
fivewheels said...: Interesting. I haven't been following this story super-closely, but I've been aware of most of the events and twists and turns. This is the first time I'm hearing that she was elected as a Democrat. Gosh, I wonder why that is?

So I just googled "Kim Davis" randomly, and while skipping other versions of this party-switching story, I found various articles from the last month by Newsweek, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, USNews and World Report, Reuters, The Daily Beast, and the New York Times, none of which mentioned her (former) party affiliation. How ... odd.; 9/25/15, 6:45 PM
pious agnostic said...: fivewheels, Instapundit has been reporting it regularly. I suggest you add this site to your biome for healthy informational health. :); 9/25/15, 6:50 PM
fivewheels said...: Eh, I like Glenn. But I stopped reading the site years ago because it seemed like all links and not enough of the blogger himself, to be honest. I stuck with Dr. Helen though.; 9/25/15, 7:14 PM
Fernandinande said...: fivewheels said...
, I found various articles from the last month by Newsweek, ..., and the New York Times, none of which mentioned her (former) party affiliation. How ... odd.

"Odd" is an odd way of spelling "S.O.P."; 9/25/15, 7:16 PM
bgates said...: The Republican Party response should be: We don't want you.

War on Women!; 9/25/15, 7:18 PM
Big Mike said...: Another rube works it out. Welcome to enlightenment, Kim.; 9/25/15, 7:29 PM
Michael said...: The progs are telling us not to let her vote for us. Progs. They make me laugh; 9/25/15, 7:31 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/25/15, 7:37 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/25/15, 7:42 PM
Sebastian said...: "I'm not sure if the Dems can build a winning coalition"

Why build if you can buy? (Or steal?); 9/25/15, 7:44 PM
n.n said...: After the transgender judge overrode the Democrat base in California, I imagine there will be more than a few Democrats seeking a democratic alternative. And The Supreme Court's ruling for selective exclusion under a limited congruence ("="), will probably cause not a few people to question the merits of the pro-choice religious cult. I doubt that revelations of Planned Parenthood corporation's dismemberment, harvesting, and trafficking services will be easily tolerated and improve the optics. The cognitive dissonance must be deafening.; 9/25/15, 7:48 PM
Phil 314 said...: Well I guess we can't use the "Hey idiot, she's a Democrat!" retort anymore.; 9/25/15, 8:26 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: My my. A lot of dumb people here tonight, claiming Democrats "moved" away from them. As if their move toward where the rest of the country's been going is somehow the wrong thing to do. Yep, democracy is tough for autocrats to figure out, I suppose. As is change.; 9/25/15, 8:47 PM
The Godfather said...: She's an elected Democrat official. If she wants to change parties -- which she has every right to do -- she should resign and then seek the Republican nomination for the same office. If I lived in Kentucky, I wouldn't support her, but I don't, so it's not my problem.; 9/25/15, 8:58 PM
Once written, twice... said...: She is a dumb hate filled hillbilly. Of course she will be a better fit for the Republican Party.; 9/25/15, 9:01 PM
Achilles said...: Rhythm and Balls said...
"My my. A lot of dumb people here tonight, claiming Democrats "moved" away from them."

Clinton signed DOMA. Obama opposed gay marriage in 2008 to get elected. You are a fucking idiot if you don't see why Kim Davis feels like the democrat party left her.

"As if their move toward where the rest of the country's been going is somehow the wrong thing to do. Yep, democracy is tough for autocrats to figure out, I suppose. As is change."

The rest of the country has been moving away from both groups of autocrats. They don't want the fed's telling people they can't get married. They also don't want the fed's shutting down pizza restaurants because they wont cater a gay wedding when they don't cater anyway. It is true that most people generally don't care who marries who. But they also see that the true autocrats in this situation are the Progressives.; 9/25/15, 9:26 PM
JBeuks said...: Please tell this woman to stay with the party that elected her. The Republicans don't (or at least shouldn't) want her.; 9/25/15, 9:29 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Read the poll, Achilles. The American people left Kim Davis, dumb-dumb, not "the democrat party."

As for discrimination suits, that's a less popular issue than the issue of simply letting them get married. But it's not like it's not like Republicans to pick the issue that's not only pettier, but smaller, to run on. So run with the lawsuit thing. That comes down to American jurisprudence, the 14th amendment, and other things that no one can do anything about. So naturally, Republicans run on opposing it. Because running on things that no one can change is what Republicans are all about.; 9/25/15, 9:51 PM
Terry said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/25/15, 10:41 PM
William said...: She's not slender and photogenic like Snowden. She, therefore, can't possibly have a conscience.......I'm ok with gay marriage. I'm also ok with making an accommodation for those who object to it. Huckabee, in the debate, said that we make religious allowances for the Ft. Hood shooter and that we should also make allowances for this woman. I'm with Huckabee.; 9/25/15, 11:30 PM
Achilles said...: Rhythm and Balls said...

"..."

The polls say most Americans, particularly young Americans, believe in equal treatment. Allowing a man to marry someone he loves even if it is another man as an ideal is definitely supported by a majority.

They are not however interested in tearing the country apart. Super majorities disagree with putting people in jail or closing down businesses. The progressive left is taking it too far as they always do. The Republican party establishment is indeed a bunch of retards and they have no idea how to handle this.

The vast majority of us just want to be left alone. We want "conservatives" to stop telling us gay people are less than straight people. Just stop. But we also want the progressives to stop suing people. We want them to stop putting people in jail. Most of us really don't give a shit. You all just need to stop.

On the other hand keep supporting the baby harvesters. That is a total winner for you guys. Make sure that lady gets her Ferrari.; 9/26/15, 12:16 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: They are not however interested in tearing the country apart.

What the fuck does it mean to "tear the country apart?" Is it a piece of paper? Maybe a swatch of silk? What is it with connies appointing themselves as fibre inspectors for what "the country" can and cannot take? In that self-congratulatory way it's like you believe you're spokespeople for "the country" itself, somehow devoid of your interest in the matter, and write the courts a note like a doctor writes for a kid who wants to stay home from school. "Johnny can't come in today because he just had too much. Please go easy." Whatever.

Super majorities disagree with putting people in jail or closing down businesses. The progressive left is taking it too far as they always do.

No wonder you left out my quote, dipstick. Those are court decisions and matters of law and jurisprudence. Which, of course, you make out to be political things because fighting unstoppable realities is the only way connies can keep themselves in business. It's not a partisan thing. But go and pretend it is one because you lost on the bigger issue and need to pretend you can keep some kind of "win" for yourselves. But you can't. Judges are not politicians and rulings are not ALEC funded bills, as much as you wish they could be.

Next time read the damn comment before you reply to it. You can even quote the damn thing. But don't stick your fingers in your ears and pretend the answer wasn't already in there.; 9/26/15, 1:04 AM
Jason said...: She's a dumb, hate-filled hillbilly.

The only dumb, hate-filled people I see here are the classist pricks calling people hillbillies.; 9/26/15, 1:32 AM
Jason said...: What the fuck does it mean to "tear the country apart?"

It means jailing or bankrupting people for practicing Christian orthodoxy or simply not wanting to be be a part of the degradation or distortion of what they may believe to be a sacrament, dummy.; 9/26/15, 1:42 AM
chickelit said...: Which State law (vs. national opinion) has she violated?; 9/26/15, 1:55 AM
chickelit said...: A tent big enough for Rosie O'Donnell is too small for Kim Davis.

Welcome Abroad!; 9/26/15, 1:58 AM
tim maguire said...: Rhythm and Balls, you know exactly what is meant by "tear the country apart." It's not an obscure phrase.

Don't play stupid just so you can play with words.; 9/26/15, 5:43 AM
Fen said...: Once written, twice: She is a dumb hate filled hillbilly. Of course she will be a better fit for the Republican Party.

Irony meter. Broken.

Unless that was parody of a libtard.; 9/26/15, 6:53 AM
Hagar said...: In this country, a political party are considered a kind of public utility and does not get to choose who registers with it.

And this never was about these shmucks getting "married." There are 136 other county clerks in Kentucky who would more or less cheerfully given them their coveted licenses.

This was, and still is, about making Kim Davis personally buckle under - do the kow-tow - to them.

And Judge Benning and Governor Beshear are both incompetent lawyers and politicians for allowing this imbroglio to develop as it has.
Benning is a Federal judge with a lifetime appointment and can't be reached, but I hope the good voters of Kentucky will retire Beshear permanently at their next opportunity.; 9/26/15, 6:56 AM
Fen said...: Rhythm and Balls: What the fuck does it mean to "tear the country apart?" Is it a piece of paper? Maybe a swatch of silk?

"What do you mean, 'wiped the server'? Like with a cloth?"

Ah the self-created hell of a corrupted mind. We don't need to fight you, just sit back and watch you self-destruct.

I bet you eat your own filth too.; 9/26/15, 6:57 AM
Fen said...: Rhythm: "Read the poll"

Right. Like the "polling" in CA that proved the majority supported gay marriage.

Except a lot of people voted differently when alone in the voting booth.

Look up Virtue Signaling. Think of it as a self-help book.

Idiot.; 9/26/15, 7:07 AM
dreams said...: And that is how the American people found out that she was a Democrat, when she decided to switch political parties.; 9/26/15, 9:47 AM
dreams said...: "She is a dumb hate filled hillbilly." You obviously have a low opinion of people who live in a rural area, I wonder what you think of Muslims?; 9/26/15, 9:52 AM
dreams said...: I notice it is always the liberals who are spewing the hate, that is when they're not telling us how wonderful and compassionate they are.; 9/26/15, 9:56 AM
David said...: Salon des refusées. Her and Boherner.; 9/26/15, 11:09 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: It's not an obscure phrase.

It's a phrase with no meaning. No meaning that is, other than, "We Republicans are scared shitless that if we don't achieve our partisan goals then there will be no more America!"

Yep, we heard your partisan paranoia masquerading as national interest many times before. It's not working any more. Piss off.; 9/26/15, 12:13 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Oh boy. There goes Femme (Fen?). A creature whose entire vocabulary is centered around words like "libtard" (but really, he's just a moderate, centrist pragmatist looking out for American national interests!) while laboring under the belief that every bought election reflects something other than who was the richest carpetbagging contributor to that campaign.; 9/26/15, 12:17 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: It means jailing or bankrupting people for practicing Christian orthodoxy

Go practice your warped interpretation of such ideology when NOT being paid to enforce the secular, non-discriminatory laws of the land, you fool. This case is as retarded as an orthodox Jew working in the congressional cafeteria and "rebelling" against a job description that asks him to serve pork to the patrons.; 9/26/15, 12:21 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Or a Muslim taking the same "stand". Everyone knows how quickly you'd change your mind then.; 9/26/15, 12:25 PM
Jason said...: "everyone knows."

Fallacy much, moron?; 9/26/15, 12:32 PM
Jason said...: This case is as retarded as an orthodox Jew working in the congressional cafeteria and "rebelling" against a job description that asks him to serve pork to the patrons.

The business that refused to grant him reasonable accommodation would be sued into oblivion by the EEOC, dummy.; 9/26/15, 12:33 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: The business that refused to grant him reasonable accommodation would be sued into oblivion by the EEOC, dummy.

Bring the test case then, phony. Or do you just play a lawyer on the internets? Not that a competent attorney would have a vocabulary more sophisticated than single line grunts with modifiers like "moron" and "dummy" sprinkled throughout, but I'm not buying it.; 9/26/15, 12:40 PM
mikeyes said...: Chickiet, you aksed what KY laws Kim Davis may have violated: Kentucky Constitution Section 228 and the law that determines the oath of Office for Clerks, 30A.020. She is a state actor,in other words, she is the government, not a private citizen, when she makes decisions as the Clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky. She can hold religious opinions as a private citizen (like those Catholics on SCOTUS) but not impose them on the citizens of the county. If she were a baker or a photographer, I think she as a right to say and do what she wants unless she is violating a specific state law, but she is not.; 9/26/15, 4:00 PM
Jason said...: I don't have to bring the test case, twit. The EEOC has already brought a bunch of them, and lots more have been settled out of court.

Including cases involving food service and the refusal of businesses to accommodate Muslims who objected to handling alcohol or pork products. I can think of two off the top of my head... Gold'n Plump Poultry, who made signing a form agreeing that they would not object to handling pork products as a condition of employment, and Star Transport, a truck/transport company who fired Muslims who didn't want to handle alcohol. Both got their asses handed to them by the EEOC.; 9/26/15, 4:57 PM
Jason said...: Davis isn't imposing her religious views on anyone. Just withholding her name from documents. It's others looking to impose their views on her. Not the other way around.; 9/26/15, 4:58 PM
Jason said...: Forcing Davis to put her name on a form that is easily alterable to remove her name violates the Kentucky RFRA.

How do libtards put it? Ah, yes: "LAW OF THE LAND!!!!"

(except for when it comes to interpreting the term "The states" as something other than "the states." Then the libtards are all about flexibility, context and outcomes. For some reason.; 9/26/15, 5:01 PM
mikeyes said...: Jason,

KY doesn't have an RFRA. It is in the works but the Assembly doesn't meet again until October. Also, Kim Davis apparently is stating that without her signature and name on the document (as required by law) any license issued without those features is invalid.; 9/26/15, 11:51 PM
Jason said...: Who is telling you this garbage? Kentucky passed its RFRA in 2013.; 9/27/15, 12:22 AM
Jason said...: Ah, here it is... Not only did KY pass a RFRA two years ago already, but they passed the living heck out of it, overriding Gov Bashear's veto by 32-6 in the Senate and the Democrat-run House by 79-15. Crushing the governor's veto.

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/03/26/2575323/kentucky-house-votes-to-override.html

Support for the RFRA was overwhelming.

As Reagan warned us: the problem isn't what liberals don't know... It's what they DO know that just isn't so.; 9/27/15, 12:35 AM
Jason said...: Eugene Volokh explains why the Kentucky RFRA should apply to Kim Davis's case.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/09/04/when-does-your-religion-legally-excuse-you-from-doing-part-of-your-job/; 9/27/15, 12:42 AM
mikeyes said...: Jason,

You are correct and I am wrong. Here is the law as passed in 2013:

Government shall not substantially burden a person’s freedom of religion. The right to act or refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief may not be substantially burdened unless the government proves by clear and convincing evidence that it has a compelling governmental interest in infringing the specific act or refusal to act and has used the least restrictive means to further that interest. A “burden” shall include indirect burdens such as withholding benefits, assessing penalties, or an exclusion from programs or access to facilities. – Kentucky HB279

The problem here is that Kim Davis is the government in this case. She has a duty to issue marriage licenses under her name as the clerk (the County Judge can also do so if the clerk is indisposed which she may well be in this case) and this may constitute a "compelling governmental interest" as she is the elected official who has to issue them.

I think she does have a chance for relief under the KY RFRA, but she will have to go to the court for a ruling and will have to make a case as to why she should not do her lawful duty to issue marriage licenses to everyone (she had stopped all issuance of MLs not just to gay couples.) In the mean time she was sued in a federal court and the judge there told her to follow his ruling as mandated under his local jurisdiction (the ruling only applies to the Eastern District of KY.)

At present, the federal judge does not seem to be interested in changing her situation as relief was granted for the plaintiffs in this case and the county is issuing marriage licenses under the deputy clerks. A KY supreme court (as it will probably end up there) may just make this the case for her if she is granted relief but it may also open a can of worms for KY as it will allow any state actor to ignore laws under the shield of religious belief until a court tells them not to.; 9/27/15, 11:31 AM
Jason said...: Neither government employees nor elected officials are exempted from religious liberty protections under RFRA. Both receive the same protections as individuals. This idea didn't start with RFRA. It goes back at least to Thomas Jefferson who crafted theVirginia Statute on Religious Freedom which explicitly protects the religious liberties of individuals in offices of public trust.

Interesting that the same governor who could easily solve the problem with an executive order stating that marriage documents that simply bear the office seal and title and omit the given name of any clerk who chooses to do so will be legally recognized marriages in Kentucky, citing the RFRA as the authority (the legislature won't have any objection) is the same idiot who vetoed the bill in the first place. But the RFRA requires this sort of accommodation. Yet he has not complied with the law. Perhaps he should do his job, or be arrested.; 9/27/15, 12:20 PM
Jason said...: PS.. I did click through to your profile last night, and I'm enjoying the heck out of your tenor banjo blog!

My first job as a teenager was playing banjo in a Dixieland / old jazz band. I now have a 1927 or so Gibson with a ribbon style trim and use it for ITM. Sweet little banjo!; 9/27/15, 12:25 PM