Screaming Penguin

The new politics site is not quite ready yet, its getting there but not yet (the new politics site is named noisetangent.com, coming soon, by popular demand, so that politics can be removed from screaming-penguin). So since its not ready, here goes one more political rant. Bush piped up again today that gays should not marry. He says we need to "codify" that. He also says that "we are all sinners . . ." implying his take on homosexuality is that it is "sin". All of this is not very bright in my opinion, not at all. Now I will lay my cards on the table, I am a proponent of equal rights, gay or not, and I dont have a problem with gay marriage, benefits for same sex couples, etc. At the same time I think any private company or institution should be able to make their own call about whom they want to provide benefits to and so on. What I mean is we dont need "anti" gay legislation either. We already have laws against violence and intimidation and they apply to anybody, regardless of sexual orientation. So if a particular private company wants to offer benefits to only hetero couples, then fine, its that companies business. On the same token if a gay person knows the policy of such company they dont have to work there or buy their products, etc. I just dont think legislation needs to be ultra specific or complicated (and in fact I think it makes things worse when it is). Also by equal I mean equal, same rights. Man wants to marry woman, fine. Man wants to marry man, fine, whatever. When it comes to PUBLIC services and benefits and such, things should be equal, regardless of any factor, equal. To each his own when things are consensual between all parties involved (and note that this SIMPLE word, consensual, kills the "pedophilia" and "bestiality" and such moronic slippery slope arguments that traditional conservatives like to use against homosexuals. Like it or not, homosexuality is natural, normal and has absolutely no link to any "deviant" behavior such as these.) But my personal views aside, thats NOT why I think it was dumb for Bush to bring this up. I know he and many others totally disagree with me and consider consensual homosexual sex to be "deviant" and or "sin". Yet even so I dont think equal rights such as marriage have a chance of ever becoming a reality any time soon so this is just a battle the President should have chosen not to fight. There is no need to fight it because it wont happen on any kind of widespread basis in the next 10-20 years (some states may allow it and such, but VERY few, a handful, and I dont see that changing anywhere else, regardless of court rulings about other matters such as anti-sodomy laws). After a period of 10-20 years I believe widespread legal recognition of gay marriage will happen, regardless of anything anyone does now, because ignorance will subside, future generations will be more realistic and knowledgeable, and so on in the same manner as xenophobia has been reduced by time and understanding. With all that is going on in the world does the President really need to focus on getting an amendment passed that wont allow gays to marry? Is that what he needs to be doing? Is that what ANYONE in our government needs to be spending time and money on right now? Its just silly. And even though I dont think there is any chance of gay marriage passing on a widespread basis anytime soon I also think its an even longer shot to get an AMENDMENT passed to ban it! Its a waste of time and money and energy and for what, so that people who are committed to each other and want to have long term relationships recognized as legal entities cannot? Also the President is basically saying its OK that people ARE GAY but they just should not marry? He says "we all sin" and so on. What the hell does that mean, its wrong, but its ok if we let it happen as long as we dont make it legal? I dont even understand this wishy washy half position. If he thinks its such a "sin" then shouldnt he just say all homosexuality should be banned, not just marriages? Or would THAT actual stance for what he believes simply be TOO BOLD and politically ridiculous? Well, I think it would be but so is saying gay marriage should be banned, same thing, ridiculous. The President is dumb for even voicing his opinion on the matter, it will further alienate him from many people (myself included) and it wont affect the reality of gay marriage now or in the future either way.   Bush wants marriage reserved for heterosexuals: CNN