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Maggie Gallagher has provided endless opportunities to embarrass herself, but as the National Organization for Marriage chugs along with a new chairman, expect little to change. The official press release:
National Organization For Marriage Announces New Chairman of the Board Prof. John Eastman
Washington, DC – The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) announced today that John Eastman, a distinguished Constitutional law scholar, is taking on the role of Chairman of the Board for NOM.
Dr. John Eastman is the former Dean of Chapman University Law School in California and is the Founding Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm associated with the Claremont Institute. He has participated in over 50 cases in our nation’s highest courts, including such landmark cases as the Pledge of Allegiance case, the Boy Scouts of America case, the Ohio school vouchers case, the Kelo case involving property takings, and the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act case. Dr. Eastman is a former clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He received his J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in government and political philosophy from Claremont Graduate School.
Brian Brown, President of NOM, stated, “John Eastman is one of America’s foremost constitutional scholars and has distinguished himself as a fierce advocate for families and religious liberty. As a legal scholar, he has participated in dozens of cases before our nation’s highest courts, including the United States Supreme Court. When important constitutional principles are on the line, people frequently turn to John Eastman to advocate a conservative, pro-family position. He will be a great asset to NOM.”
John Eastman stated, “Marriage has quite correctly been described as a bedrock of civilization. Protecting the institution of marriage is a critically important issue, and I’m honored to join such distinguished company on the Board of such a phenomenally effective organization as the National Organization for Marriage.”
Maggie Gallagher, the previous Chairman of the Board, stated, “My original intention in co-founding the National Organization for Marriage was to launch a politically sophisticated national activist organization to fight for the views of millions of Americans who believe that marriage is and should remain the union of husband and wife. I think it’s fair to say that NOM has been launched, and is now far more successful than even I dreamed (and I dreamed big!). I’m grateful to NOM’s President Brian Brown for leading this organization, and the addition of an eminent public intellectual like John Eastman to the NOM team is a great sign as we move forward to the battles ahead.”
“I will remain on the NOM board, and continue to work on specific projects for NOM, as well as taking on some additional outside projects I’ve long deferred, such as finishing my book Debating Same-Sex Marriage¸ which I’ve been working on for Oxford University Press with Prof. John Corvino,” Gallagher added.
9 Comments
There might be more here than meets the eye. I have nothing to cite to back that up, it’s just a hunch. Maggie might have pissed someone off big-time. I also have a feeling Brian Brown’s days are numbered. NOM may be beginning its slide into obscurity.
How can someone be “a distinguished Constitutional law scholar” when he make a living deliberately lying about the Constitution?
It turns out Professor Eastman has ties with Dallin Oaks, the Mormon “apostle” who’s at the forefront of current anti-gay, anti-marriage-equality rhetoric for the Mormon church. Earlier this year, Oaks gave one of his now-frequent “gay marriage will destroy all religious freedoms” speeches at Chapman University.
http://latterdaymainstreet.com/2011/02/15/elder-oaks-dr-john-c-eastman/
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/60490/Protect-the-Constitution-Elder-Oaks-asks-religious-groups-to-unite.html
I’m sure the likely Mormon bankrolling of NOM had nothing at all to do with this man being appointed….right?
I had exactly the same thought. “one of America’s foremost constitutional scholars” who doesn’t understand that the constitution, including the 14th amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under law, was written for all Americans, not just heterosexual Christians? That’s kind of like calling someone “one of America’s foremost chefs” when he doesn’t understand the difference between salt and sugar.
Ask President Obama.
Maybe Mrs. Srivistav’s masters are starting to question why their spokeswoman for “traditional marriage” is in a definitely non-traditional marriage.
Maggie at least made the pretense that she wasn’t anti-gay. This guy drops even that fig leaf — his resume proves he is hates gays and wants to stop our entire agenda. Marriage equality is only one small aspect of their scheme to take us back to the dark ages. The Claremont Institute has those braintrusts who oppose teaching evolution in schools.
NOM is now just like any other anti-gay organization, like FRC or Focus. The airways are already filled with them, so this just dilutes their message and their brand. They will eventually just be antigay and anti everything liberal.
I’m sure that one reason he was chosen was because of the atrocious legal strategy that NOM had during the Prop 8 case. I’m sure this shows that even they thought their whole defense was a debacle, despite all their chest beating. He was no doubt called in to oversee the legal strategies from now on.
This means that supporters of Prop 8 and all the ancillary cases are worried that they will lose. I’m very glad that they are worried.
Eastman has a reputation in California of being even loonier than Randy Thomason, and that, my friends, is lunacy at its most extreme. I sent an email to the president of Chapman University, commiserating with him on having Eastman turn his university into the west coast Hate Central. No response yet, and yes, I did cc Eastman.