Tuesday, July 18, 2006
House snubs marriage amendment
Another attempt to amend the US Constitution to ban same-sex marriage has failed, in the House, this afternoon. Thank goodness. Didn't anyone read it? It says,
Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither the Constitution, nor the constitution of any state, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.
Can you find the inanity? This pronouncement has the humorous consequence that even if a state's legislature and people voted to add a provision their state constitution reading "Marriage shall be legal between two persons of the same sex and shall be subject to all the terms, rights, privileges, and obligations associated by law with marriage between two persons of the opposite sex," courts would not be allow to construe this provision to say what it says. Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado wrote this, and she isn't very bright so it's understandable, but it speaks to the rabidness of the the amendment's supporters that they ignored anyone who pointed out the problematic nature of the language (not to mention the fact that it goes further than even the President wanted it to go, though of course the President has no role in the process of amending the Constitution), concerned that any alteration, even in the name of commonsense, would be read among their core voters as a capitulation to the enemy.
