Which is to say, I’d just as soon vote for this thing.

He has not yet been caught.

I distinctly recall the reflexive squeals of “Homophobe!” when Foley Follies initially broke. Yep. People weren’t upset because Mr. Missing & Exploited Children Sponsor was hitting on minors and other ReThugs were covering for him; they just wanted to do a little gay bashing.

Trust me, if Clarence Thomas were caught beating homeless vets to death with a tire iron, anyone who objected would be a racist.

Who’s best on this issue?

Gavin Newsom. There, I said it.

Though that DOMA Catch-22 is some serious bullshit.

Thanks for the quick rundown on the facts, Henry.

Who’s best on this issue (individual pol, org, etc.)?

http://www.ak-prepared.com/dmva/

8/20/08 Alaska Air Guardsmen Respond to Rollover on Dalton Highway
8/19/08 Alaska National Guard Rescues Climber off Mount Marathon
8/7/08 Alaska National Guard Rescues Injured Climber
7/29/08 Man Falls Off Cabin, Saved By Alaska Guardsmen

When the Alaska National Guard is in deployed to Iraq or elsewhere in combat, it is under federal command.

Try to spin it as you will, Governor Palin was mayor of a city with about as many occupants as the first 60 floors of the Sears Tower, and governor of a state with about as many people as Indianapolis. Her third biggest credential is that she was a member of the PTA. And her fourth biggest is that she was a runner-up for Miss Alaska. This is the best the GOP can do?

The privileges of marriage are an issue for straight people too. Lots of people don’t want a marriage because of the religious and social baggage it carries, but still want civil rights as a co-habiting couple.

I think the solution is simple.. Go through each and every one of those 1300 or so specific rights, and either get rid of them, or change them to apply to all couples.

I think the “next of kin” issue should be as simple as adding a line to your will, or filling in a form. If you say you want person X to be considered your next of kin for inheritance and hospital visitation purposes, that ought to be your right.. Whether you are gay, straight, or even in a sexual relationship with the person you want to put down as your next of kin.

The tax benefits? Should be given to all adults who share their household and money. Why should the taxman know or care who you fuck? If you share a bank account with someone, that is all they need to know.

“Marriage” should be a religious/personal ceremony, not a legal status that cannot be achieved any other way. That is the only way to keep it pure, the only way to stop it being compromised by worldly concerns. De-construct the institution into its component parts, then everyone can pick and choose what parts suit their relationship.

I know this idea sounds scary to most people. But it can be a gradual process. No “gay marriage”. No “civil unions”. No loaded language, no nasty debates… Just introduce rights, one by one, for everyone who enters into the necessary legal contract. Eventually, signing a dozen declarations and contracts would be the same thing as marriage, but far more flexible, and far more suited to protect the full range of modern relationships.

Then once everyone has the same rights, what to call a relationship is a social question, not a legal one. You can call it what you want, Fred Phelps can call it what he wants, but it won’t change the rights you have.

http://gov.state.ak.us/archive-59841.html

Arky’s point is well taken, but in the gay Republicans case, there’s the added factor of: “OK, God punished me by making me want to have sex with Tom Brady instead of Giselle Bundchen, but if I vote GOP, maybe God won’t be so angry. Oh, and lower taxes”.

Maybe there is some guilt involved but I’ve never heard anyone say “I vote R because I don’t want God to hate me.” (I’m not including those nutbars who say they’ve been “cured.”) The whole “self-loathing” label gives the self-loathee free pass to be an asshole “Aww poor thing. He’s unhappy because society is full of shitheads.” No, based on close observation he’s a selfish, self-centered asshole who’d be a selfish self-centered asshole if society had to kiss his ass everyday.

It’s easier to take people at their word, so you’re spot on when you mention lower taxes, because class is a huge factor. I see the same thing with wealthy African-Americans who vote R. “I Got Mine, Fuck You!” Some vote R because they want to save the fetuses. Or they’re homophobes. And of course, there are tons of people who regularly vote for the party that has been screwing them over for years: Poor Caucasians. Why? Because the Democrats want to take your guns and give all your jobs to horny Mexican illegals, make you marry Osama bin Laden and make you drive one of them tiny Asian cars!

And by God, they keep voting for the same guys who screwed them over last year. Does that make sense? Only if you’re kind of dim-witted and the party is also promising the voter something that they think is very important. So if someone says they’re voting for McPalintine because they want lower taxes, take their word for it, tell them they’re an idiot, point out who will really get lower taxes or just go find some not selfish people to hang out with.

Aye, there’s the rub! It’s like a policy position that John McCain takes: it varies from place to place and is subject to revision at any time. Civil unions usually mean “some laws, but nowhere near all, that marriage confers”. Vermont has a detailed list of stuff –not bad, but still– but at county/city level, it’s a mess.BTW, I looked it up out of curiosity and there’s conflicting info along a continuum of 1,100 > 1,400 items that two drunken breeders who have known each for two weeks get conferred on them when they leave the Elvis Chapel in Vegas with that piece of paper. My bad.

Now, I have zero interest in being in a committed relationship, but here’s one tiny example of how “civil unions” are a con job, a cynical ploy to not alienate the Dems gay base (=$$$) but not piss off people that think we should just go back in the closet and hermetically seal the door:

Inheritances. Marriage confers very strong rights in this area. I can spend an hour writing about how gay men who have been together for 30 years had one partner die and the dead partners family swoops in, claims everything and the living partner is shit out of luck, kicked out of a house he’d shared for 30 years with the love of his life. He has no recourse, none and since most civil union law is hopelessly tangled and still not part of case law, it’s easy for the vultures, erm, I mean the dead man’s family to prevail.

And that’s just ONE thing, there’s literally dozens of others, that married heterosexuals don’t even think about, they are a given (hospital visitation, estate planning and on and on). That’s why gays and lesbians *want* full marriage rights–it’s pathetic to work off a premise of “OK, we’ll give you part of it and work out the rest later”. It doesn’t work that way and it’s a stupid way to do it to begin with not only because there’s ALWAYS a reason not to dole out the rest of the rights, but it’s insane to set up something that actually causes more problems than it solves.

But that’s all theory anyway, because that scumbag Bill “5 inch cock that bends” Clinton couldn’t wait to sign DOMA, which states the federal government “may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states”.

To them, Palin is a slamming hottie who will recapture the youth vote, an experienced troop commander, an expert in foreign policy, the new torchbearer of feminism, the bold new face of resurgent American conservatism, a dedicated fighter against corruption, a beautiful urbane sophisticate reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren, and on and on.

Yeah, she‘s like a female Chauncey Gardiner. I keep expecting her to tell us that all will be well in the garden.

What pray tell is a “civil union” under the law?

All of you need to move to Canada where you can get married and be married like any other married people.

Arky’s point is well taken, but in the gay Republicans case, there’s the added factor of: “OK, God punished me by making me want to have sex with Tom Brady instead of Giselle Bundchen, but if I vote GOP, maybe God won’t be so angry. Oh, and lower taxes”. There really is a feeling that by voting GOP, it insulates them against homophobia, getting fired from their job for being gay or losing an apartment they want because the owners don’t want “those kind” there, which they only figure out because there’s only men who live in the gay part of town listed in their references section.

Obama supports gay marriage, a virtual guarantee of equality when it comes to benefits

Ding! Wrong answer, please come back in 6 months and try again!

Obama to the Chicago Tribune:

“I’m a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman”.

Shorter Obama: I’m a wingnut on this issue, but not as bad as the full-on wingnuts.

He’s for civil unions:

“Giving them a set of basic rights would allow them to experience their relationship and live their lives in a way that doesn’t cause discrimination,” Obama said. “I think it is the right balance to strike in this society”.

Well, that’s nice, but civil unions are bullshit, full stop, they are in no way, shape or form a “a virtual guarantee of equality when it comes to benefits”, they are no different than saying “STFU faggot and dyke, take what scraps we give you and be happy with it, punks”.

Civil unions won’t help partners visit their sick mate in most hospitals because that’s only for family and spouses. Civil unions…oh fuck it, I’m not going to bother outlining even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the rights that civil unions won’t cover. There’s over 1,300 specific rights that are granted to married couples, until every. single. one. is applicable to gay and lesbian couples, it’s a bullshit “Well, take a little now, we’ll get to the rest later” approach that will be a legal and administrative nightmare.

Better informed Democrats, please.

I think a train wreck animation would work better.

The list of events hops from the “Beer Belly Olympics” to the McPOW/Miss Alaska rally, like something you’d expect on the sign outside Springfield Elementary or Rev. Lovejoy’s church in the Simpsons.

Life imitates art, I guess.