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As featured on p. 218 of "Bloggers on the Bus," under the name "a MyDD blogger."

Monday, July 12, 2004

Hate Amendment reaches the Senate Floor Wednesday

The Republicans believe their "ace in the hole" in this election cycle will be about "conservative family values," a charge that Kerry has parried quite nicely with statements like "Values are not going into schools and sitting with little children and having a nice photo opportunity," and then "walking out of that school knowing that that school doesn't have the resources it needs." But this hasn't stopped the homophobes and bigots that be in the GOP to bring the Federal Marriage Amendment to debate in the Senate, with a vote scheduled on Wednesday. In case you were wondering if this was being done by right-wingers in Congress without White House approval, the President, on a week which saw a scathing Senate Intelligence Committee report on prewar intelligence in Iraq, devoted his entire radio address this weekend to the FMA, saying that "traditional marriage is also critical to the health of society."

Privately, even the most hard-core conservative admits that the FMA has no chance of passing in the Senate, being that as a Constitutional amendment it requires a 2/3 vote for passage. So why are they doing it? To get a certain two Senators who have the same first name (it's John) on the record against it. Well, good. I hope they are on the record, supporting individual rights, denouncing hatred. Ted Rall noted a while back that a disturbing majority of the hate mail he receives from conservatives contain antigay statements, including calling him a "faggot," "a hateful, bitter gay man," and "praying that "you find AIDS in one of your lover's asses." Go ahead, read them.

It's clear to me that the Administration is playing to the basest instincts of its party, and in fact, fomenting the mentality that ends in gay-bashing. People will undoubtedly die from this political stunt, just so Bush can go back to the religious right and say "We tried, but those godless Congressmen want homos to marry!" Shameful.

If you want to call your own Senator and tell them to vote against the Hate Amendment (you should; I will be), then follow this link.

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