Is same-sex marriage a 'socialist concept'?

Republicans can't get enough of McCarthyism, said Ron Chusid in Liberal Values. They just "love to throw around claims of socialism," and Rep. Steve King of Iowa has just taken his party's silly name calling to a new low by saying that same-sex marriage is "a purely socialist concept." Everybody knows these guys use gay marriage and homophobia to stir up their base—but don't they know that their bigotry hurts real people?

Try taking a look at Steve King's actual message, said Donald Douglas in American Power. He said that the push for gay marriage was part of a broader movement to give everyone "access to public funds and resources" so that eventually everyone's money is pooled and we're all, as King put it, "living off of one pot of collective resources earned by everyone." That sounds about right—and it certainly sounds like socialism.

"Does this mean marriage is socialism?" said John Cole in Balloon Juice. Now, there is truly socialist stuff going on out in Iowa—farm subsidies—but you don't hear Steve King complaining about that. This guy is "one of the craziest of the crazies"—his gay marriage as socialist plot nonsense proves that—so it's baffling that anybody cares what he and his ilk have to say about serious matters, such as health reform.

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