Babeu watch: What will we tell the conservatives???

by David Safier

In ways, Babeu is showing himself to be the truest of conservatives. He's for all kinds of draconian laws and budget cuts directed at others, but he's a selective liberal when it comes to himself and the people he loves.

In an interview with Wolf Blitzer, Babeu said he supports gay marriage.

"This is where our government needs to get the heck out of the way," Babeu said. "You can’t legislate love."

His stand puts him in the company of people like Dick Cheney and the Republican state legislator in Washington who gave a wonderfully impassioned speech supporting gay marriage. Both have gay daughters. If they didn't have close relatives who are gay, trust me, they'd be part of the unbending "marriage is between a man and a woman" crowd.

Are you a conservative with an autistic family member? More money to support autism research! Have a spouse with cancer? More money for medical research to find a cure! You're rich? Tax hikes on the poor! And on and on.

Babeu might join the Log Cabin Republicans, he said, a group of conservatives who believe in gay rights because, well, they're gay.

Then there's this morning's story in the Star that Babeu's lover may not be so legal after all. If he has a tourist visa, he has to return to Mexico periodically, and he absolutely can't work. A violation of either rule makes Jose (last name withheld) a lawbreaker. Babeu knows the guy pretty well, and being the toughest sheriff on immigration short of Joe Arpaio, he must know immigration law pretty well. SB1070, which Babeu supports, makes it a crime to knowingly "harbor" or "transport" an illegal alien. So Babeu may have violated the law. If that part of SB1070 isn't in effect, then he violated the spirit of a law he supports. Maybe this is another place Babeu thinks "our government needs to get the heck out of the way." Someone should ask him if there should be an exemption from SB1070 for conservatives in love.