Pawlenty wants to reinstate ‘don’t ask’

As he positions himself for a potential presidential run in 2012, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has come out in favor of resurrecting the military’s discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Pawlenty, appearing on an American Family Association radio program to promote a book he’s written, told host Bryan Fischer that he has “been a public supporter of maintaining ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and I would support reinstating it as well.”

The Southern Poverty Law Association has labeled AFA as a hate group, and Fischer has made some of the most homophobic statements of anyone on the Christian right. According to Fischer, the most brutal Nazis were gay. He also contends that “gay sex is a form of domestic terrorism” and wants to criminalize “homosexual behavior.”

Pawlenty’s sycophantic appearance on Fischer’s program signals that he intends to run very far to the right if he decides, as expected, to make a presidential bid. He’s been molding himself as an anti-gay leader for some time.

In May 2010, Pawlenty vetoed a law that would have given same-sex partners the same end-of-life rights as married couples. In December 2009, he turned against an anti-discrimination bill that he formerly backed, saying it would lead to third-graders being taught by “cross-dressing” teachers.