Dodgeblogium … bloggers who combine a taste for heavy metal music with a taste for heavy metal politics…

Apr 4

Same-sex marriage

Category: Politics

Jenny McCartney on same sex marriages. A very interesting piece without the hysterical rhetoric normally associated with this subject.

2 Comments so far

  1. Ed April 4th, 2004 09:04 pm

    Hysteria is the correct term for most of the controversy over this issue. While Bush is opposed, this should come as no suprise to anyone. But to say he has hurried into an attempt to ammend the constitution, indicates a lack of understanding by the author as well as by most of the US citizenry over what it takes to ammend the constitution.
    This one is a non-starter , never gonna happen.
    Two thirds of each house of congress (at least sixteen demo senators would have to vote for it to get thru the senate). The fact that one party controls both houses seems to obscure the slim margins and the trading that has to get done to get anything through. Then, three quarters of the state houses must approve of the measure. that means just 13 states against could block it.
    It is easy to pick 13 which would block.
    And arguements would not be just pro gay but anti more government(libretarian).
    Remember we couldn’t even pass the ERA, a much less controversial measure.

    I think Bush has made a political ploy to create an issue which will let people blow off steam without doing anything much. I the end, we should look at what he has really said (he usually says what he means, you know). He said he thinks congress should debate the issue. He said he would be in favor of such an issue. He didn’t say he would fight for such an ammendment, nor is there any evidence that he is pushing for such an ammendment.

  2. George April 4th, 2004 09:12 pm

    ...so long as the Government does not employ the emotive term “marriage”.

    It’s apples and oranges, Andrew. Americans would probably “yawn” too – actually, that’s just what they do – if the radioactive word “marriage” hadn’t been dragged into this (generally unimportant) “culture war” skirmish.

    But that’s precisely what’s happened, in Massachusetts, San Francisco, and elsewhere. And so, many ordinarily “liberal” Americans are not at all happy at the prospect of having this very helpful institution of marriage eviscerated.