Who is Jerry Sanders? He is the Republican mayor of San Diego. And today, he made a very courageous, very moral, and very moving decision that showed his humanity and his judgment. There aren’t many public figures, particularly in politics, particularly Republicans I admire. But in this, I salute you Mayor Sanders for putting equality and rule of law above ideology.

Sanders campaigned for office two years ago on a platform that opposed gay marriage, although he was in favor of civil unions as a legal guarantor of rights. The San Diego City Council just passed a resolution instructing the city to join Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Jose and Santa Cruz in a legal fight to challenge a recent ban on same sex marriage working its way to the California Supreme Court. Mayor Sanders had vowed, as recently as earlier this week, to keep his campaign pledge and veto the resolution. Today, he changed his mind.

Mayor Sanders, it’s clear from the footage below that this was a difficult decision for you, but you did the right thing and you did it for the right reasons. It’s so easy to criticize for bad behavior, I want to make sure to praise good behavior too. You, sir, are a Real American.