Ten Reasons to Ban Gay Marriage

This post is brought to us by the great Neil P. Barton. I'm not sure what his source is, so he may have even written it himself:

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage would be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Brittany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

Even years later...

As crazy as it sounds, the day after the presidential election in 2004 was one of the hardest, saddest days of my life. I remember watching the beginning of kerry's cession speech on tv in my office break room, but having to leave because I started crying in front of my co-workers (which we all know is a "no-no"). I went into my office, closed the door, and listened to the rest of the speech on the radio.

Most of our wounds have healed since that devastating day, but I still get emotional when I think about how much faith, hard work, emotions, passion, and time went into the election and the years/months leading up to it.

Below is a copy of the speech. although it is years after it was first delivered, I think it is still as prevalent and inspirational today as it was on November 5th.

enjoy.

Address to Supporters at Fanueil Hall

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. You just have no idea how warming and how generous that welcome is, your love is, your affection, and I'm gratified by it. I'm sorry that we got here a little bit late and a bit short.

Earlier today, I spoke to President Bush, and I offered him and Laura our congratulations on their victory. We had a good conversation and we talked about the danger of division in our country and the need the desperate need for unity, for finding the common ground, coming together. Today, I hope that we can begin the healing. In America it is vital that every vote count, and that every vote be counted. But the outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process.

I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail. But it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, which they will be, there won't be enough outstanding votes for us to be able to win Ohio. And therefore, we can not win this election.

My friends, it was here that we began our campaign for the presidency. And all we had was hope and a vision for a better America. It was a privilege and a gift to spend two years traveling this country, coming to know so many of you. I wish that I could just wrap you in my arms and embrace each and every one of you individually all across this nation. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Audience member: We still got your back!

Thank you, man. And I assure you you watch I'll still have yours.

I will always be particularly grateful to the colleague that you just heard from who became my partner, my very close friend, an extraordinary leader, John Edwards. And I thank him for everything he did. John and I would be the first to tell you that we owe so much to our families. They're here with us today. They were with us every single step of the way. They sustained us. They went out on their own and they multiplied our campaign, all across this country.

No one did this more with grace and with courage and candor. For that, I love than my wife, Teresa. And I thank her. Thank you. And our children were there every single step of the way. It was unbelievable. Vanessa, Alex, Chris, Andre and John, from my family, and Elizabeth Edwards who is so remarkable and so strong and so smart. And Johnny and Cate who went out there on her own just like my daughters did. And also Emma Claire and Jack who were up beyond their bedtime last night, like a lot of us. I want to thank my crewmates and my friends from 35 years ago. That great ‘band of brothers’ who crisscrossed this country on my behalf through 2004. Thank you. They had the courage to speak the truth back then, and they spoke it again this year, and for that, I will forever be grateful.

And thanks also as I look around here to friends and family of a lifetime. Some from college, friends made all across the years, and then all across the miles of this campaign. You are so special. You brought the gift of your passion for our country and the possibilities of change, and that will stay with us, and with this country forever. Thanks to Democrats and Republicans and independents who stood with us, and everyone who voted no matter who their candidate was.

And thanks to my absolutely unbelievable, dedicated staff, led by a wonderful campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill, who did an extraordinary job. There's so much written about campaigns, and there's so much that Americans never get to see. I wish they could all spend a day on a campaign and see how hard these folks work to make America better. It is its own unbelievable contribution to our democracy, and it's a gift to everybody. But especially to me. And I'm grateful to each and every one of you, and I thank your families, and I thank you for the sacrifices you've made.

And to all the volunteers, all across this country who gave so much of themselves. You know, thanks to William Field, a six-year-old who collected $680, a quarter and a dollar at a time selling bracelets during the summer to help change America. Thanks to Michael Benson from Florida who I spied in a rope line holding a container of money, and turned out he raided his piggy bank and wanted to contribute. And thanks to Alana Wexler who is 11 years old and started kids for Kerry all across our country. I think of the brigades of students and people, young and old, who took time to travel, time off from work, their own vacation time to work in states far and wide. They braved the hot days of summer and the cold days of the fall and the winter to knock on doors because they were determined to open the doors of opportunity to all Americans. They worked their hearts out, and I wish… you don't know how much they, could have brought this race home for you for them, and I say to them now, don't lose faith.

What you did made a difference, and building on itself -- building on itself, we go on to make a difference another day. I promise you, that time will come. The time will come, the election will come when your work and your ballots will change the world, and it's worth fighting for.

I want to especially say to the American people in this journey, you have given me honor and the gift of listening and learning from you. I have visited your homes. I have visited your churches. I've visited your union halls. I've heard your stories, I know your struggles, I know your hopes. They're part of me now, and I will never forget you, and I'll never stop fighting for you.

You may not understand completely in what ways, but it is true when I say to you that you have taught me and you've tested me and you've lifted me up, and you made me stronger, I did my best to express my vision and my hopes for America. We worked hard, and we fought hard, and I wish that things had turned out a little differently. But in an American election, there are no losers, because whether or not our candidates are successful, the next morning we all wake up as Americans. And that -- that is the greatest privilege and the most remarkable good fortune that can come to us on earth.

With that gift also comes obligation. We are required now to work together for the good of our country. In the days ahead, we must find common cause. We must join in common effort without remorse or recrimination, without anger or rancor. America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion.

I hope President Bush will advance those values in the coming years. I pledge to do my part to try to bridge the partisan divide. I know this is a difficult time for my supporters, but I ask them, all of you, to join me in doing that.

Now, more than ever, with our soldiers in harm's way, we must stand together and succeed in Iraq and win the war on terror. I will also do everything in my power to ensure that my party, a proud Democratic Party, stands true to our best hopes and ideals.

I believe that what we started in this campaign will not end here. And I know our fight goes on to put America back to work and make our economy a great engine of job growth. Our fight goes on to make affordable health care an accessible right for all Americans, not a privilege. Our fight goes on to protect the environment, to achieve equality, to push the frontiers of science and discovery, and to restore America's reputation in the world. I believe that all of this will happen -- and sooner than we may think -- because we're America. And America always moves forward.

I've been honored to represent the citizens of this commonwealth in the United States Senate now for 20 years. And I pledge to them that in the years ahead, I'm going to fight on for the people and for the principles that I've learned and lived with here in Massachusetts.

I'm proud of what we stood for in this campaign, and of what we accomplished. When we began, no one thought it was possible to even make this a close race. But we stood for real change, change that would make a real difference in the life of our nation, the lives of our families. And we defined that choice to America.

I'll never forget the wonderful people who came to our rallies, who stood in our rope lines, who put their hopes in our hands, who invested in each and every one of us. I saw in them the truth that America is not only great, but it is good.

So here -- so with a grateful heart -- I leave this campaign with a prayer that has even greater meaning to me now that I've come to know our vast country so much better. Thanks to all of you and what a privilege it has been. And that prayer is very simple: God bless America. Thank you.

Presidential Catastrophes

What are the five worst things that have happened in Presidential politics in the last half century? Here are my picks in order of severity. Feel free to comment or add some of your top picks.

5. Jimmy Carter losing to Ronald Reagan: The Reagan era led to a recession, a step backward in civil rights and social programs, Iran contra, and a friendship with Saddam Hussein. I suppose this is less of a knock on Reagan, though, and more of a contrast between him and Carter. Carter's political blunder was the mishandling of the hostage crisis in Iran, not that he could control that. Carter was dedicated to equality, civil rights, and social justice. What Reagan did was strain relations between the US and the rest of the world, much like GW is doing today (of course, GW is a little better at making people hate us). Reagan also gave us Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy, both conservatives justices.

4. Watergate: Obviously, this has to make the list. Although I do not despise what Nixon did during his presidency, his misgivings led to a loss of respect for and concern about the Presidency.

3. GW Bush's second term: As if the first term were not bad enough, the American people were duped into re-electing the worst President in the last century, possibly ever. Bush's tax the poor, relieve the rich efforts and his attempts to make religion into law are only a few of his domestic shortcomings. I guess the voting public thought the gay marriage amendment was more important than ousting a President that led this country to war under false pretenses and laughed at our civil liberties. The re-election of Dubya allowed him to select Roberts and Alito for the Supreme Court, both conservative justices. Alito replaced Justice O'Connor, a key moderate that sided with progressive social causes in most cases.

2. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy: What can one say about this? There is an unspoken grief the country still feels about that day in Dallas, whether you were alive or not. Growing up, watching documentaries about JFK and his life, you can't help but feel a sense of loss, a sense of missed opportunity. JFK was THE white leader in the civil rights movement. Without him and his successor (LBJ) following his lead, our country may still be in the grips of segregation. To a certain extent, the assassination of his brother Robert was also a huge blow to this country's progress. RFK had a solid chance of becoming president in 1968. Guess who won that year. Nixon. If you want to read a really moving speech by RFK about Dr. King's death, click here. Yes, this is only # 2, and you'll see why below.

1. GW Bush stealing the 2000 election: Why is this #1? JFK and RFK were able to contribute to our society, and their legend and words are still with us today. Al Gore never had that chance, although he is making strides today in environmental awareness. The real sting of it is, Gore was not fairly defeated. I will forever believe that Florida was a huge snow job in 2000. Things happened during that election that are so shady and suspicious. Florida's Secretary of State, Katherine Harris made a list of 58,000 "felons" to purge from the voter roles. The original list of 8,000 was contrived by a company called DBT, and expanded on by Harris to include people with the same surname and the same date of birth. Independent investigators have found that 95% of that list was incorrect. And guess who shares the last name with the Rodriguez's and Cooper's. Democrats. DBT is led by a group of GOP veterans. Katherine Harris is now a Congresswoman. It is amazing no one has been indicted. Of course, we all know what this led to: A war of aggression, a Supreme Court swing, No White Child Left Behind, the list goes on and on. Not only this, though, but I believe we missed out on Gore's presidency. Yes, he sounded boring, but he was passionate and intelligent. Bush's response to 9-11 was so disheartening. After Pearl Harbor, FDR asked Americans to be strong, to help our country, to make sacrifices. After 9-11, Bush told us to go shopping and never mind those guys in sunglasses parked across the street from your grandma. What would Gore have done? We'll never know. But I can take a wild guess that he wouldn't have asked us to buy cars after a terrorist attack, worsened education, turned a $500 million surplus into a $500 million deficit, cut Medicaid for seniors, and tipped the balance of a court that is so important in this a critical time for our country.

Land of the Free. Home of the Hetero.

Here are bits and pieces of a Harrisburg Patriot News article from Wed, June 7, 2006. The article content is between the dashes. Yes 2006, not 1906. A proposal passed in the PA state House yesterday.

--The House voted 136-61 to propose adding language to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriage and the legal recognition of any union "identical or substantially equivalent" to marriage. The bill goes to the Senate, where it would need to pass in identical form. The same bill would have to pass both chambers again in the next legislative session and then win voter approval in a referendum before it could become part of the constitution.

"Without the marriage-protection amendment, what ultimately will marriage and the family look like 30 years from now?" [Rep. Scott] Boyd [R-Lancaster, the bill's sponsor] asked. "Nobody knows, because we have simply not experienced the effects of this newest sexual revolution." --

Can you believe this? First off, what are they so afraid of? Rep. Boyd is apparently afraid that 30 years from now we're all going to be gays jumping around, gettin' married and ruining society.

The law that is in effect right now is discriminatory. Not only does it ban gay marriage, but it also revokes the civil rights of individuals, in this case the economic and personal privileges associated with marriages. A law passed that REVOKES civil rights. I love PA, but I'm not proud to be in a state that condones that. The new proposal intends to make it impossible for judges to declare this discriminatory law unconstitutional by making it PART of the constitution. The legislature is essentially trying to write discrimination into our constitution.

Is this America? Land of the free? Home of the hetero? Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses unless they're gay and want to get married? There haven't been laws passed in America that LIMIT civil rights since the days of segregation. The climate in Washington is one of arrogance, secrecy, religious law, and intolerance. Of course, the Senate voted on a similar federal constitutional amendment and failed to pass it, but the fact that this type of debate can even be raised (not to mention the discourse on illegal immigration) shows what little progress we've made in this country regarding tolerance and acceptance.

Click here to sign the Million for Marriage Petition.