Frank Bruni
Mike Bloomberg: “Government should not tell you what to do unless there’s a compelling public purpose”
In voicing his support for same-sex marriage, Mayor Bloomberg has mentioned — and appeared with — his niece Rachel, who is lesbian. “It brings it home,” he told me on the phone this week, though he added that beyond his desire for her to have everything she wants in life, “Government should not tell you what to do unless there’s a compelling public purpose.” He sees no such purpose in blocking same-sex marriage.









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Salty.
SouthernGent on June 28, 2011 at 12:37 AM
*snort*
KingGold on June 28, 2011 at 12:41 AM
And government will decide what purposes are compelling and what purposes aren’t compelling based purely on social stigmas.
blink on June 28, 2011 at 12:41 AM
Men. Go away. Glad there’s no lotus future for you.
AH_C on June 28, 2011 at 12:45 AM
So two dudes can get married in New York City but they can’t serve soft drinks at their wedding or salt the Chicken Kiev entree.
Got it.
Bishop on June 28, 2011 at 12:49 AM
the worst politician in America is also a hypocrite. Figures.
Dreadnought on June 28, 2011 at 12:50 AM
What is the compelling public purpose of banning transfats and salt?
Cindy Munford on June 28, 2011 at 12:52 AM
Exactly what you’d expect to hear someone who made billions of dollars in the private sector and at the same time thinks he knows how everyone should live their lives via micromanaging regulation in the public sector.
jon1979 on June 28, 2011 at 12:53 AM
He also added that things should not fall to the ground unless there is gravity.
The Mega Independent on June 28, 2011 at 12:54 AM
But government telling you what to think? That’s fair game.
Left Coast Right Mind on June 28, 2011 at 1:01 AM
“…and it just so happens I have a stack of compelling purposes right here!”
HitNRun on June 28, 2011 at 1:03 AM
I have a feeling my definition of “compelling” is different than his, then again I don’t have the power of the government behind me.
Bishop on June 28, 2011 at 1:05 AM
It doesn’t matter what the compelling public purpose for banning transfats and salts. Social stigmas against those items exists, therefore any public purpose may be stated.
blink on June 28, 2011 at 1:19 AM
Have you checked your sharia lately, Bloomberg?
Feedie on June 28, 2011 at 1:22 AM
“Compelling public purpose.”
Newspeak if I ever heard it.
Only brain-dead zombies could listen to that without either laughing out loud or punching the wall. Unfortunately, the government (public) school system is now pumping out about 3 million brain-dead zombies every year.
Homeschooling is the only hope for my children, your children, and the U.S.A.
Splashman on June 28, 2011 at 3:12 AM
Is a compelling public purpose that the gay lifestyle must be incorporated into educational curricula (curriculums?) beginning at a very early age?
BuckeyeSam on June 28, 2011 at 3:45 AM
Right. Only under a compelling public purpose. Whatever that means.
forest on June 28, 2011 at 5:07 AM
So “compelling public purpose” is the new “socially redeeming value”?
apostic on June 28, 2011 at 6:27 AM
Well I’d say there’s a compelling public purpose to cut our spending, shrink this increasingly tyrannical government and send scumbag politicians like Bloomberg packing.
darwin on June 28, 2011 at 7:17 AM
Who defines “compelling”…?
NeoKong on June 28, 2011 at 7:20 AM
salt
myrenovations on June 28, 2011 at 7:21 AM
When Bloomberg comes out of the closet – I will listen to him spout his beliefs.
jake-the-goose on June 28, 2011 at 7:45 AM
See:
He knows people who are gay.
But he doesn’t known anybody who SMOKES.
Simple.
ConservativeTalkRadio on June 28, 2011 at 7:46 AM
“Government should not tell you what to do unless there’s a compelling public purpose.”
So, what is the compelling public reason to tell every man woman and child that they have to redfine the institution of marriage?
astonerii on June 28, 2011 at 8:40 AM
…or eats potato chips…
…or likes fried food…
…or likes to keep and spend their own money…
landlines on June 28, 2011 at 8:41 AM
Gay marriage tells people what to do more than not recognizing it.
Count to 10 on June 28, 2011 at 9:00 AM
I’m sorry, but doesn’t the state have a compelling public purpose to protect the basic foundation of society? Look- we already pushed through the sexual revolution and we said goodbye to gender roles long ago, and look where that got us. Now, let’s just toss aside the very foundation of society and transform it to fit out will.
Now, we’re in a situation to where, not to be hypocrites, we have to demand that we allow ANYONE to marry ANYONE else, no matter how “odd” we find it, because finding something odd is code for being a bigot and hating things you don’t “understand.”
TheBlueSite on June 28, 2011 at 9:29 AM