image was shamelessly grabbed from Spork
I just love Paul the Spud:
"GOP Uses Gay Marriage Ban to Woo Its Base"
In other words, the only way the GOP can keep votes within their party is to appeal to the most bigoted people in the country. Which comprises their "base."
And is it just me, or is Tony Snow eating crow instead of drinking koolaid?
We should probably be charitable to Tony, given he's new on the job and all.
Perhaps Tony Snow is just a complete idiot.
Anybody up for a little Tony Snow death watch? AL? Blogenfreude? Anybody else?
Why would you bring up civil rights when you are talking about marriage, which the Supreme Court specifically said was a civil right back in 1967? (It's no pun that it's called the Loving decision.)
One wonders whether the current court has the cajones to make this strong statement on behalf of EVERY CONSENTING ADULT IN THIS COUNTRY REGARDLESS OF ANYTHING:
Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.
A commenter over at Think Progress put it very nicely:
Au contraire, Mr. Snow — this proposed amendment would, indeed, deny civil rights from a segment of the population. Snow has a glib tongue, but he is obviously accustomed to FOX tv where he can something stupid like that and not be challenged; he’s the mouthpiece for Bush&Co and he is not doing such a good job. McClellan answered nothing and deflected every question; this guy answers them stupidly. Which is the better?
AL, I miss Scottie almost as much as you do...
Who knew that Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore, whose campaign for Governor is about as popular as Bushco these days, is pushing the anti gay marriage thing big time to religious bigots statewide? That's your base, Roy.
Finally, many readers may not be aware that there is at least one Alabama Baptist minister who is also a liberal. James L. Evans is also quite a good columnist, and he weighed in on the whole gay marriage thing from an Alabama perspective last February:
We have some serious issues before us here in Alabama, but gay marriage is not one of them. It is a wedge issue, a whip designed not to inspire voters to vote for better government, but to frighten voters into electing a savior.
And the last time I checked, that job was already taken.
Amen.
Ah, I just ranted that this "defense of marriage" spin is transparently cynical bullshit they concocted so they wouldn't have to admit how much they hate gay people. They're defending marriage like slaveholders were defending freedom.
ReplyDeleteI'd blogwhore, but that really sucks on a PDA...
I don't think the wedge issues are going to work this year.
ReplyDeleteIt's like the boy who cried wolf, this time I don't think fear-mongering is going to work as well as it has in past election cycles.
Hi Blue Gal, a little off track, but see if you can get a copy of The Times (uk version) Tue/6/6/6.
ReplyDeletePage 20 has a brilliant pic of The Ayatollah: "If America makes a wrong move we'll point those at China" and below the usual military parade, not of weapons, or gun barrels, but of .....
yes, you guessed OIL BARRELS! xoxo
Tony Snow? Is that the affable, ill-informed guy with the pretty face and no colon?
ReplyDeleteHe's the perfect spokesperson for this administration, not at all the "tar baby" that Scott McClellan was. Plus, he can spell. Well, at least he's got the point "A" and point "B" thing going on. Not sure he'll ever advance to point "C," but by that time every member of the press corps has lost interest anyway.
I miss Scotty, that's a fact. But, Tony's Fox-inspired sound bites opened up for on the spot questioning lends an air of excitement (albeit mild in nature) to what used to be a maddeningly scripted performance by the panting lap dog.
I say clap your hands for Tony and keep him alive.
Oh, and BG, gardens are NEVER done. Here in the north, we pray for early, heavy snow in October just so we can rest our backs and hamstrings for a few months.
This is in a comment over at Crooks, in defense of marriage:
ReplyDeleteRonald Reagan - divorced, but apparently against his desire.
Bob Dole--divorced
Newt Gingrich - divorced his wife who was dying of cancer.
Dick Armey - House Majority Leader - divorced. Senator Phil Gramm of Texas - divorced.
Governor John Engler of Michigan - divorced.
Governor Pete Wilson of California - divorced.
George Will - divorced.
Senator Lauch Faircloth - divorced.
Rush Limbaugh - and his current wife, Marta, have six marriages and four divorces between them. Soon to divorce Marta, I think.
Senator Bob Barr of Georgia - not yet 50 years old, has been married three times. He had the audacity to author and push the "Defense of Marriage Act." The current joke making the rounds on Capitol Hill is "Bob Barr - WHICH marriage are you defending?!?)
Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York - divorced.
Senator John Warner of Virginia - divorced Elizabeth Taylor.
Governor George Allen of Virginia - divorced.
Representative Helen Chenoweth of Idaho - divorced.
Senator John McCain of Arizona - divorced.
Representative John Kasich of Ohio - divorced.
Representative Susan Molinari of New York (Republican National Convention Keynote Speaker) - divorced.
Nelson Rockefeller -- may have lost a presidential nomination because of his divorce.
do ya really think that the bush company would hire anyone with even half a brain or an ounce of tact? how could they appeal the bigoted libaugh/o'reilly crowd that way? LOSERS!
ReplyDeleteyeah, don'tcha know if they prevent homosexual couples from registering for wedding gifts at home depot the whole world will be safe for democracy! what a bunch of self rightous asses!
ReplyDeleteSo ya can live happily ever after in the US, but not necessarily with your first 'partner' or the one you married first. lol!
ReplyDeleteI guess true love or perfect partners are just not easy to come by, and do not come with lifetime guarantees. But should we work at it (the dream) or just randomly play musical chairs, endlessly?
The Supreme Court won't rule on this issue until it absolutely has to.
ReplyDeleteThat will be years from now, after it's bounced around from appeals process to appeals court and so on and so on.
I think there are limits to the tenth amendment, though. If the tenth amendment had been strictly adhered to, the south would still be solidly Jim Crow.
I agree with Harvey Milk. Those of us who are on the LGBT spectrum have got to come out and identify ourselves. It's difficult to spin out a bunch of homophobic misinformation when your brother, sister, son, daughter, close personal friend, business associate, et al...is LGBT.
Unless of course you're the Vice President.
OMFG. This from Media Matters:
ReplyDeleteBut, in fact, contrary to O'Reilly's assertion that "[t]here was no outcry" over "righting the wrongs of civil ... rights" and his suggestion that the majority of the population opposed racially discriminatory laws, when the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia, the vast majority of the country opposed interracial marriages. According to a 1968 Gallup poll, 73 percent of the public disapproved of interracial marriage. In fact, it was not until 1997 -- 30 years after the Loving ruling -- that the Gallup poll showed a majority of Americans approved of such marriages.
We've got some catching up to do. Mr. Blue Gal has been telling me all along that if pasting the ten commandments everywhere came up to a vote in Alabama it would pass. I believe that. I think we've got at least 20 years ahead of us before gays as human beings and citizens of this country becomes an accepted zeitgeist. But I also believe we must fight the good fight.
Tony Snow is out of here... I cannot remember who is replacing him...?
ReplyDelete