Sen. Sam Brownback Needs To Stop Acting Like A Dick

From The Carpetbagger Report:

[Sen. Sam] Brownback — [R-Kan.] who, up until quite recently, insisted that every judicial nominee, without exception, deserves an up-or-down vote — learned that Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet T. Neff was on hand for a public ceremony in which two lesbians pledged their commitment to one another in Massachusetts. It was not a marriage ceremony and, despite some rumors to the contrary, Judge Neff was in the audience and did not officiate.

Brownback, in one of his less-sane moves, asked the Justice Department to investigate the ceremony (it's not quite clear why), and suggested that Neff may have engaged in "judicial activism." * * *

Bigotry is always ugly and unnecessary, but at a certain point, a person's hatred becomes ridiculous, especially for those in positions of governmental power.

In an Oct. 12 letter to Brownback, released yesterday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Neff said a minister presided over the ceremony, and she insisted her attendance would not affect her ability to act fairly as a federal judge.

"The ceremony, which was entirely private, took place in Massachusetts, where I had no authority to act in any official capacity and where, in any event, the ceremony had no legal effect," Neff wrote. She went on to explain that her family lived next door to one of the women for more than two decades.

It apparently doesn't matter. As of now, Brownback seems to sincerely believe that being friends with a gay neighbor necessarily disqualifies a person for the federal bench, even if you're nominated by the Bush White House.

I knew Brownback was an idiot, but this is ridiculous.