Those Damn Policitians

[Matt_G]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 6:43pm

Well, nobody looked at this thread when it had a serious title, so I'll try it this way.

From The Advocate.com -

The Republican-led House of Representatives voted Thursday to prevent federal courts from ordering states to recognize gay marriages sanctioned by other states. The Marriage Protection Act passed on a 233-194 vote, buoyed by backing from the Bush administration. Last week the Senate dealt opponents of same-sex marriage a setback by failing to advance a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions. Federal judges, who are unelected and given lifetime appointments, "must not be allowed to rewrite marriage policy for the states," said Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.).

Democrats said the bill, authored by Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.), was an election-year distraction, calling it an unconstitutional attack on gays in America and the federal judiciary. They said it would set a precedent that Congress could use to shield any future legislation from federal judicial review. "They couldn't amend the Constitution last week, so they're trying to desecrate and circumvent the Constitution this week," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). The legislation faces long odds in the closely divided Senate, but were it to become law, gay and lesbian couples seeking to have their marriages recognized could seek help only from state courts. The legislation would strip the Supreme Court and other federal courts of their jurisdiction to rule on challenges to state bans on gay marriages under a provision of the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act. That law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, adding that states are not compelled to recognize same-sex marriages that take place in other states.

"Today the House of Representatives voted to ignore our Constitution and our centuries-old system of government," read a statement from the gay rights group Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. "In attacking both gay people and the historic role of the courts, this bill clearly violates our Constitution and will never be allowed to stand. The U.S. Supreme Court has been clear that laws cannot single out gay people and treat us as second-class citizens, which is exactly what this bill tries to do. If this bill ever passes both houses of Congress and is signed into law, we'll make sure that it takes its proper place alongside other discriminatory laws that have been struck down as unconstitutional. The bill that passed in the House today will end up in the dustbin of other attempts to treat gay people as second-class citizens, which future generations will look back at with curiosity and embarrassment."

Updated On: 7/22/04 at 06:43 PM

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 7:30pm

"unelected and given lifetime appointments"
"would strip"
"will never be allowed to stand"
"been struck down"
"will end up in the dustbin"
"future generations will look back at with curiosity and embarrassment"

I'm getting mixed messages about Cheno...

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 9:57pm

"we shall overcome..."

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 10:17pm

i wondered if anyone besides me and andrew sullivan saw that. this was done along with the near unanimous vote passing the non-binding resolution that nothing would stop elections from going on as planned when planned. which will be interesting if a catastrophic attack takes place during a debate and wipes out the candidates. hello president nader!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 7/23/04 at 12:30am

Hey, come on, Papa...if Bush and Kerry were to die, it'd probably please everyone. I know I won't miss Bush and could you say you wouldn't be happy to see Kerry go?

It's just pathetic. How soon before we give our President the power to decide to do whatever he wants...like, oh, taking off the entire month of August for vacation? Work, especially being the president, requires so much brainpower.

Also, it's pretty pathetic that our House of Representatives voted to make sure the process of judicial review, something thought pretty important by our founding fathers and 200 plus years of its application, is "activism." Who are Republicans kidding? They're going to legislate us back to medeival times. Women, get ready to don your burkas. Also get ready to annul all those interracial marriages and be sure to invite the lord Jesus Christ into your hearts. It won't be long.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 7/23/04 at 10:41am

kerry dead? and miss the exceptionally entertaining vision of his defeat and teh hystrionics that will follow? the lawsuits? the expected attempt at impeachment? the sight of theresa ketchup girl declaring that americans are idiots and don't deserve her husband anyway? no way, pal.

also, it's burqas, bway, and the gop has even less tolerance for the islamists, who'd like to see all women (except for those that they deem fit to be concubines) swathed in armani the tent maker wear, than they do for them homo-sex-chew-alls (who i may remind you that the islamists deny not only the right to marry, but also the right to life and i ain't talkin' abortion).

on the other hand i must say that i have a great respect for your hyperbole as i use it myself quite often and in strikingly similar terms however applied to different people and for different reasons. i do understand why you see this in such stark terms and while i sympathize with your fears, i don't think that a simple majority is enough to ensure the kind of sweeping changes that you (and i must admit some of the more loathesome members of my own party) envision. this country has survived a civil war, led the industrial revolution, provided the necessary oomph to an allied force that retired a maniacal fascist and some wildly imperial folks from a little island nation, muddled through a red scare that scarred a lotta folks, sacrificed almost 60,000 of it best and brightest for dubious goals in the far east, finally recognized african americans as human beings, and watched a president resign in disgrace. it will muddle through, eventually. patience, dear boy, patience.

keep fighting for what you believe in and don't settle for anything less.

Updated On: 7/23/04 at 10:41 AM

[Zola Q. LaPlaya]

Posted: 7/23/04 at 10:53am

Papa, you are the man.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 7/23/04 at 10:57am

i keep trying to get that as my credit in playbills but so far no such luck, zola.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/23/04 at 1:22pm

I hope Bush cries like a baby when he is defeated. I want to see that.