In his nationally syndicated column, MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan wrote that Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling on California's Proposition 8 “is not just judicial activism. This is judicial tyranny.” Buchanan added that “all the great religions have condemned homosexuality and all the great nations have proscribed or punished it ... flagrant homosexuality has been associated with sick societies, decadent cultures and dying civilizations.”

Such anti-gay rhetoric isn't anything new for Buchanan, who has insisted that “AIDS is nature's retribution for violating the laws of nature.” Buchanan, of course, also has a nasty habit of defending Adolf Hitler, and other white racists (when he's not spouting white nationalist rhetoric or appearing on white nationalist radio).

Still, Buchanan finds a welcome home on MSNBC and in countless newspapers.

From Buchanan's column:

Walker says the only motivations behind Proposition 8 had been “biases” and “moral disapproval,” and “moral disapproval ... has never been a rational basis for legislation.”

But what else is the basis for laws against polygamy and incest? What else was the basis for the Mann Act, which prevented a man from taking his girlfriend across the state line to a motel?

What is the basis for prohibiting prostitution, a free exchange of money for sexual favors, if not “moral disapproval”?

[...]

This is not just an insult to the intelligence of those Californians who have rejected gay marriage, but to a majority of Americans.

Through history, all the great religions have condemned homosexuality and all the great nations have proscribed or punished it. None ever placed homosexual liaisons on the same plane as traditional marriage, which is the bedrock institution of any healthy society.

[...]

Historically, from the late Roman Empire to Weimar, flagrant homosexuality has been associated with sick societies, decadent cultures and dying civilizations. Today would appear to be no exception.