You can run, but you cannot hide!

I’m looking at you, Tom Emmer.

You cannot imagine, boys and girls, how long I’ve been waiting to throw that line back in Stonewall Emmer’s face. Emmer, along with Mark Dayton and Tom “Mama Bear” Horner, made an appearance on Almanac on Friday night. Stonewall was asked, point blank, Do you support a bill to amend the Minnesota Constitution to prohibit gay marriage?

And he dodged it, like the man he is.

His excuse was, Well, it’s not an issue for a Minnesota governor. We’ll get into that in a moment, but for right now, I want you to consider how candidate Emmer, who has been against gay rights for his entire legislative career, couldn’t own up to his record on the tee vee. Neither of the Almanac hosts were willing to follow up and say, Wait a minute, Tom, of course you support such an amendment; you authored one of the damn bills!

Here’s the bill in question, Stonewall, since you seem to have forgotten it:

1.6    Section 1. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSED.
1.7 An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution is proposed to the people. If the
1.8 amendment is adopted, a section shall be added to article XIII, to read:
1.9 Sec. 13.Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a
1.10 marriage in Minnesota. Any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its
1.11 legal equivalent by the state or any of its political subdivisions.
1.12    Sec. 2. SUBMISSION TO VOTERS.
1.13 The proposed amendment must be submitted to the people at the 2008 general
1.14 election. The question submitted must be:
1.15 "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that the state and its
1.16 political subdivisions shall recognize marriage or its legal equivalent as limited to only the
1.17 union of one man and one woman?

Maybe Tom is just being forgetful, like proposing a  measure for Minnesota veterans that actually already became law over his objection a few years ago?

Maybe someone has been impersonating Tom Emmer in the House? Do you think?

I don’t think so either.

He states on his campaign web site that he opposes gay marriage.

He’s also been a fan and financial supporter of Bradlee Dean and the Junkyard Dog Band, or whatever it is they call themselves, a virulent anti-gay “ministry” (I almost gag when I write the word), whose slogan is You Can Run But You Cannot Hide. The sartorial disaster Emmer is pictured here with a couple of band members at the Republican State Convention:

Do you see the flames surrounding the slogan? Can’t you almost smell the roasting gays? Ummm. Roasting gays on an open fire! You know, that might just be on the new Bradlee Dean Christmas album.

But sad to say, Stonewall is right about one thing. If a bill to amend the Minnesota Constitution passes both houses of the Legislature, it goes on the ballot for a referendum whether the governor supports it or not. You might think about that when you’re thinking about getting off the couch and doing a lit drop for your local DFL legislator.

Thanks to Eva Young for the legislative information.