Monday, January 30, 2006

Why would it matter?

So there is a new issue coming up soon that we in PA have to be aware of (if we aren't already). You know that the BWH stole the Ohio election and others partially because they found ways to get the Gay Marriage amendment on the ballots. Well, that didn't happen in PA, but it's about to. The Gay Marriage debate is underway here and it's talked about (among other places) here in this article. The headline of the article is :

If marriage isn’t defined as only a union between one man and one woman, state Rep. Arthur D. Hershey believes people will want to marry animals

You know what? I was thinking about this and getting ready to say something like Hershey was a stupid fuck and that nobody would want to marry their cat, but then I started to think more. Why would I care if someone did? I won't engage in a debate about whether it is right for homosexuals to marry and I won't debate about how marriage is defined in law and the bible. The reason I won't is because it's simply stupid to.

The facts are that it is totally acceptable for two people in love to decide to marry. The facts are plain that marriage in today’s society brings many legal benefits like tax status changes, shared health insurance, rights for spouses in health matters, etc. Everyone (and I really mean everyone) believes that this marriage right should be allowed for all couples. The problem is that puritanical bible-thumping Red Staters hate gays plain and simple but they cannot go out and say it. They have to frame the debate in a way that allows them the same result (no marriage for gays) without them looking like small brained follower scumbags.

In some ways I respect the Red State lawmakers in that they really have outsmarted quite a number of people in America and have used that advantage to do whatever they want. In other ways I don't respect them because they don't come out and say what they really believe and in some ways that's worse. But they are politicians and that's what they do for a living so overall I think they are doing a wonderful job.

That last sentence doesn't seem right does it? Well, it is. I totally respect Karl Rove and his minions and I would want them to do no different. Who I am really pissed at and who I think is really failing the nation are 3 groups:

First are the Democratic politicos. They are supposed to be opposing the Republicans at all times, holding them back at all costs. They may not have the numerical advantage, but they do have the ability to fight and to make the overall war as close as possible. They aren't doing that at all on the federal or state level. All they are worried about is keeping their jobs "so they can fight another day". My question is when? Let re-election take care of itself and fight you jackasses!

Second is the media. They really are letting us down. It is the medias job to say the kind of things I'm saying here. To find the truth and expose it to the people. But of course they don't for any number of reasons. The media actually is doing us a disservice my purporting to give us news when all they give us is propaganda. I would argue that if they don't want to give us real news they should simply admit that they are entertainment companies and give up the false pretenses.

Third is the easy one. We still can elect whoever we want in this country and all of these problems ultimately come down to you and me. We are lazy, ignorant and clueless. We don't think, we don't question and we don't make good decisions because all we really care about is American Idol. The next big election is coming up and we'll have a chance to change things. I'm not asking you to vote Democratic. I'm asking you to make your vote count. I'm asking you to study the candidates you have available to you and choose the one that you really feel would best represent you. If we did that, we would really be taking a step in the right direction!

2 comments:

Rebecca said...

Politicians and everyday citizens always manage to find good reasons to justify their causes and deny that they're outright bigots. I appreciate your commentary here - ultimately, whose business is it who anyone marries? I keep wondering why anyone cares.

And if people believe the biggest threat to our world right now is gay marriage, I pity them. How do we get people to vote with their brains and not out of false fears, though? It seems that Karl Rove and his minions have found an excellent formula for preying on voters fears and biases to get them to the polls.

Unknown said...

You hit the nail on the head. Rove and the GOP have figured out how to win elections in todays America and that is all about 2 things : 1) shaping the message (and also controlling the media spin, etc.) and 2) rigging the elections (and that includes legal tricks as well)

The sad thing is that America refuses to wake up and smell the coffee...