Kudos to Gary Johnson

I said I'd extend kudos to the first presidential hopeful who wadded up The Family Leader's "Marriage Vow" and tossed it back at them. So, well done, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson:

"Government should not be involved in the bedrooms of consenting adults. I have always been a strong advocate of liberty and freedom from unnecessary government intervention into our lives. The freedoms that our forefathers fought for in this country are sacred and must be preserved. The Republican Party cannot be sidetracked into discussing these morally judgmental issues - such a discussion is simply wrongheaded. We need to maintain our position as the party of efficient government management and the watchdogs of the “public's pocket book.

"This “pledge” is nothing short of a promise to discriminate against everyone who makes a personal choice that doesn't fit into a particular definition of “virtue.”

"While the Family Leader pledge covers just about every other so-called virtue they can think of, the one that is conspicuously missing is tolerance. In one concise document, they manage to condemn gays, single parents, single individuals, divorcees, Muslims, gays in the military, unmarried couples, women who choose to have abortions and everyone else who doesn't fit in a Norman Rockwell painting.

The Republican Party cannot afford to have a Presidential candidate who condones intolerance, bigotry and the denial of liberty to the citizens of this country. If we nominate such a candidate, we will never capture the White House in 2012. If candidates who sign this pledge somehow think they are scoring some points with some core constituency of the Republican Party, they are doing so at the peril of writing off the vast majority of Americans who want no part of this “pledge” and its offensive language."

Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed right away. Shock. It's worth noting that Bachmann, who is running to become the first woman to serve as commander in chief, has now signed a pledge promising to ban women from forward combat roles.

Ron Paul says he's thinking it over.

The part about the

pro-family aspects of forced servitude has been removed. It was simply misconstrued, says the Family Leader.