White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s press briefing yesterday featured a whole lot of questions about the president’s support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. One exchange, in particular, struck me as important.
To put this in context, McClellan had argued that this amendment would protect marriage, and as a result, protect our “civilization.” Towards the end of the briefing, an unidentified reporter brought up an important issue:
Reporter: One more on the threat the President sees from gay marriage. What is, in the President’s view, a greater threat to this enduring institution of marriage, a same-sex couple establishing a stable marriage, or the staggering divorce rate, the out-of-wedlock birth level and travesties like Britney Spears’ marital fiasco? (Laughter.) What —
McClellan: There are so many different things in there, but —
Reporter: And then what is he going to do — which is the greater threat?
McClellan: I think — look back to the President’s State of the Union address, and he talked about the importance of values that we hold so dearly in this country. And he talked about the importance of changing our culture, and ushering in a responsibility era. He’s long held those views.
Reporter: So he would like to see a lower divorce rate, lower out-of-wedlock births, and Britney Spears behave herself? (Laughter.)
The fact that everyone in the room laughed diffused the seriousness of what seems like a reasonable, substantive question. McClellan never did get around to answering it. Pity.