Every two years: If it’s an election year, it must be time again for the Republican Party leadership to whip up its base of mouth-breathing knuckledraggers by inciting their terror of gays and lesbians.
The final irony of McCarthy’s reign of terror is that it was an open secret among journalists that he was gay — as was his assistant Roy Cohn (who died of HIV disease in the 1980s) and other members of the commie-baiting committee
Yes, friends, according to Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the Congress will leave aside petty problems such as the rampant corruption among Congressional Gops, their president’s illegal domestic wiretaps, his staff’s treasonous revelation of the identity of a CIA secret agent, the administration’s lies about the reasons for the war in Iraq — not to mention the health care crisis, disaster recovery in the Gulf states, the collapsing educational system and more — in order to focus on what is really important: preventing gay people from marrying.
The purpose of the Marriage Protection Amendment is not to “protect marriage,” but rather to put Democrats up for reelection in Red and Purple states on the record supporting gay rights (or not) in order to use the record against them among the majority of voters who are sexually confused and intimidated.
This is nasty, cynical political gamesmanship at its sleazy extreme. It is also an indictment of the pathetic low to which the Republican Party has fallen. It is no longer acceptable for them to (openly) express their hatred of African-Americans, Jews, latinos and other minorities. The only group left that is socially acceptable for these these bullies to bash is gays and lesbians.
Of course, as an exercise in lawmaking, the GOP’s last run at
instilling hatred and vitriol into the U.S. Constitution did not work out for them in 2004:
After Senate Republicans’ cloture motion to force a direct vote was defeated in July 2004 and House Republicans failed to secure the 290 votes required for adoption of the amendment in September of that year, the legislation was reintroduced in early 2005. In November, the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution voted the Marriage Protection Amendment into the full committee by a vote of 5-4, positioning the legislation for a reemergence in time for this year’s midterms.
On the other hand, 11 states, including Ohio, put anti-gay initiatives on their ballots that are credited in drawing millions of unsmart Americans to the polls in the presidential elections — and their vote in Ohio may have tipped the balance toward President Bush, thus re-installing him in office.
Of course, as a gay man entering his 27th year of unmarried bliss with my partner, I take this personally. My “gay marriage” has not caused any straight couples to divorce. It is ridiculous on its face.
It is not gay marriage but the Republican Party that is the danger to our society. They are using the same hateful, fear-engendering tactics today that they have been using since the 1950s when, under Sen. Joseph McCarthy, they concocted a campaign of fear of imaginary communists to enflame their base and gain power.
Sen. Frist, his henchmen in the Senate and counterparts in the House follow Joe McCarthy’s tactics, play by play.
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