Soapbox

Captian Courageous

We average Americans can rest easy tonight, knowing that the U. S Senate is on a never-ending quest to make this country a better place for mom, apple pie and Lassie. Putting aside for a moment those petty distractions such as health care and the war, they have focused their laser-like sights on a new constitutional ammendment to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, thereby pummelinging states’ rights and preventing that horror of horrors, gay marriage.

A few of our champions of justice, while quick to condemn the icky idea of gay people being allowed to be like everybody else, are still a little hesitant to tack a bill of “non-rights” on the end of the hallowed Bill of Rights. Not all of them, though. Say what you will about him, Senator Rick Santorum does not shirk his duty when it comes to making someone a second-class citizen.

“I would argue that the future of our country hangs in the balance, because the future of marriage hangs in the balance,” he said in a speech before the senate. “Isn’t that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?”

Oh my God. I had no idea we were in such danger! Thank you for your vigilance, Captain Courageous! Why I can see the headlines now:

“Gay couple terrorizes nation with marriage license! Martial law declared!
Terror Alert level raised to Pink!”

The ultimate homeland security?
No, it’s just the ultimate bullshit. Is there nowhere these guys won’t play the terrorism card? First the Bush administration compared abortion to terrorism, now Santorum is equating people like my friends Byron and Steve with Osama Bin Laden. Rick, don’t you think you might be overplaying it just a tad?

The future of our country hangs in the balance? Over gay marriage? Clearly this is a guy who has no freakin’ idea what life is like for the average American today!

Tell you what, Senator, I guarantee you, if you ask someone who is out of work, who can’t find a doctor to treat their kid because they’re a Medicaid patient, someone who got out-sourced and is now working at Walmart or who is afraid they will have to put their spouse in a Nursing home but knows they’ll lose their house if they do- they will tell you that worries about gay marriage becoming legal is NOT the thing that keeps them awake at night! While they may not approve of homosexuality and or gay marriage, most middle class Americans are too concerned with just paying their mortgage and hoping their kid isn’t killed in Iraq to lose any sleep over it.

Get a life, Rick, and leave everyone else’s alone! Better yet, why don’t you spend your time and energy into passing legislation that will help people instead of discriminating against them. If you were really concerned about marriage, you would advocate that all couples get counseling before being issued a marriage license, and work to provide free services to low-income couples whose marriage is in difficulty. You would be trying to prevent divorce instead of preventing marriage!

Instead you are trying to establish a new section of the Constitution: just after the Bill of Rights you’d put the Bill of No Rights for People we Don’t Like.

Do you really think this is the proper role of the federal government? How scary that a guy like you is a U.S. senator. We’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel.