...gay marriage?
What the hell? I keep hearing from the lefties what an evil genius political mastermind Rove is, and then something like this goes down? It's wrong on just so many levels...
First, if it's supposed to be an issue to "Energize the Base", then the GOP has well and truly forgotten what its base is. The GOP is the party of small government and laissez-faire economic policy. During the Cold War, it also became a haven for foreign policy hawks. Only in the 1980 elections did it actively court the religious vote in order to help get Reagan elected (let's not forget that in 1976, Jimmy Carter was the devout candidate.) Unfortunately, along with the religious views came a lot of William Jennings Bryan-esque populist twaddle that only served to turn off a lot of the core supporters of the GOP. Crappy ideas like fiddling with the Constitution over dumb stuff like this will only serve to alienate them further. It's so... so... déclassé.
Second, it's nowhere near the surefire hit that its supporters imagine it to be. I remember a thread on TheHighRoad.org, hardly a hotbed of radical progressives, on the subject that went fifty posts before being closed as off-topic. Responses included:
this actually one of the few times I'm a democrat......
Why would I support this? Marriage is a religious sacrament, and government has no business interfering in it. Let each faith decide whether or not they want to perform same-sex marriages.
No. Doesn't belong in the Constitution.
Sorry, I don't support ammendments to appease the religious fanatic wing of the Republican Party. Republicans are all about "State's Rights*" until they are used in a way they don't like.
I am personally against homosexual marriage, but I don't see why the Constitution needs to get involved in this.So, yeah, good job energizing the base, there, guys. Best of luck to you on that.
Lastly, this is just not a matter for the Constitution; it's akin to putting zoning laws or CAFE fuel-economy regulations in there. The Constitution is short, sweet, and the BIOS for running this nation's government. It contains nothing but definitions of the branches of government, short lists of what they can and can't do, a few bits about how they can finance their activities, and... well, that's it. That's all that's in there. Nothing about morals or billboards on the side of freeways or speed limits or drugs or anything. Just instructions on how to make and run a government. The last time we tried an amendment that had nothing to do with the purpose of the Constitution, all we got out of the deal was the Mafia and decades of bad gangster movies.
Can't we learn from that lesson?
(This topic has been done better at The Munchkin Wrangler and SayUncle.)
This is the 'silly season' for politics...well, OK, the 'sillier season', as politics rarely transcend the ludicrous. This stupidity was never about passing laws, but about marking territory, much like an unspayed cat but without the attempts to be cute and get petted afterwards. It was designed entirely so that, come late summer, politicans can say "My opponent voted to LET GAY HOMOSEXUALS RAPE YOUR BABIES!!!" in their campaign ads. (Congress is also debating not one, but EIGHT, bills devoted to solving the 'problem' of videogame violence. (My problem? I don't have the reflexes of a hyperactive 13 year old anymore and I get fragged on the first level. When will Congress do something about THAT, hmm? But I digress...))
ReplyDeleteWell said; the government is not needed in the bedroom.
ReplyDeleteAmen. I'm getting to the point of wondering what the hell this administration is up to.
ReplyDeleteThis administration is starting to get cocky; the Republicans are starting to feel bullet-proof (just like the Democrats before them), and will end up learning a hard lesson (again) if they don't start quashing a bad case of hubris.
ReplyDeleteWell said! I am SO disillusioned that any US lawmaker thinks this will (or should) fly. Leave the Constitution alone! Matter of fact, just stop making laws, period. Start enforcing the laws that are on the books, or better yet, get rid of a bunch of laws, the sort that ban spitting on the sidewalk and driving with no shoes on. Our legislators are woefully far afield of where the founding fathers intended. They need a kick in the pants, to a man.
ReplyDeleteOh, and regarding who can and can't make formal vows of devotion to one another? Nobody's business, least of all the government. If I wanna marry my favorite shoes, that had better be ok, even if I have no hope of getting them covered on my HMO.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it but, For many people, this administration has just about "jumped the shark" with this bit of smoke and mirrors.
ReplyDeleteSame problem as after the 1994 midterms... Republican party got cocky after they were able to wrest control of the House. You know what happened next... Where'd that contract with America go??
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