Nevada Begins Slow Reversal of Gay Marriage Ban

A lot of people bemoan how easy it is to get a constitutional amendment passed in the State of California. It's said that it's so easy, the people might make a hasty decision that turns out to be faulty, which was the case with Proposition 8, a change that rescinded the right of same-sex marriage, and was found to be nu-Constitutional by more than one court (and is being decided by the Supreme Court right now).

In Nevada, a citizen-initiated change to the constitution is much harder. It has to pass in a popular vote twice, in consecutive elections. And so it was with Question 2, one of the early anti-gay marriage amendments. As stupid as it sounds (and it sounds pretty stupid), anti-equality forces played up "the sanctity of marriage" in a state that has drive-thru wedding chapels, quickie divorces, game shows that award spouses, Elvis impersonator officiants, and the infamous 55-hour marriage of Britney Spears. A giant douche nozzle named Richard Ziser spearheaded the effort, and attempted to parlay his success into a political career. Fortunately, he lost.

So, how do you undo something like this? Well, it takes even longer. See, the legislature needs to pass it twice to put it up for a vote, and then it has to pass again. Twice again. And Ziser is sure to round up his old gay-hatin' posse, and break out the disingenuous clap-trap about Jesus and "what about the children" and the fabric of society, blah, blah. They'll pretend that we aren't known as a libertarian, live-and-let-live state, that we aren't known for legal brothels, legalized gambling and all manner of vice. Only this time? I don't think it's going to work. The times, they're-a-changin,' and I think this time Nevada will do the right thing. But it will still take years.

[Excerpt]

Gay Marriage Resolution Advances in Nevada

The Nevada Senate took an emotional step toward legalizing gay marriage with a near party-line vote to repeal the state's heterosexual definition of marriage. . .

Read more at: 8NewsNow

The Ridiculousness of Sanctity of Marriage Supporters

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John Ensign Has Been a Baaaaaaad Boy

So. A Senator from my state of Nevada may face criminal charges. Seems like old times. But if you think that former Sen. John Ensign's story is just a simple case of a fling with a staffer, and a payoff. . .well, watch this clip from Thursday's The Rachel Maddow Show. Rachel's been following this story from the beginning, and was one of the few to report on Ensign's C-Street connection (and connection to a host of other C-Street scandals). Rachel's clip below is engrossing, and would make a hell of a movie. But the ending isn't written yet. Will Ensign go to jail?  Will Sen. Coburn? Will C-Street ever be exposed for all the creepy religion/politics stew being cooked up there? The Uganda "kill the gays" ties? Will the Republicans' legendary hypocrisy around morality and "the sanctity of marriage" ever go away, or be laughed about by the general public? Time will tell.

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TERMINATED: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver Announce Separation

Hasta la vista, baby? This is sort of a shocker. I know Hollywood marriages can come to an end any time, sooner rather than later, usually. But for some reason, this surprised me.

[Excerpt]

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver Announce Separation



Image from source, HuffPo



Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he and his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver are separating.



A spokesman for the actor and former California governor issued a statement announcing the news Monday night. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

FOX "News" Still Using Newt Gingrich After "Suspending" Him

"So, that's why my three marriages shows
sanctity, but gay marriage is WRONG."
Image from source, Examiner 

FOX "News" suspended both Newt Gingrich and Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum last week, on speculation that they might run for President in 2012. FOX was given a little bit of a credibility boost by doing this, but that was countered by the fact that they employ at least five possible candidates (Sarah Palin, John Bolton and Mike Huckabee are also on deck). But by removing Gingrich and Santorum, they gave the appearance of at least caring a little bit about journalistic integrity.

In what should come as no surprise at all, this does not mean anything will really change. Instead of being a paid news commentator, now--Gingrich at least--will merely be an unpaid political candidate acting as a news commentator. See? It's so different! On Friday, Gingrich had a heavily promoted appearance on Hannity, and he's currently got a heavily promoted appearance slated for On the Record with Greta VanWhatsername. If you're counting, that's two appearances in two business days after the suspension.

[Excerpt]


A day after he was suspended, Newt Gingrich appears on Fox News



Last night Sean Hannity hosted Newt Gingrich for an interview just one day after Fox News announced a temporary suspension of Gingrich.  Fox News suspended Gingrich because they stated he had “signaled” a possible run for the presidency.  Under the suspension Gingrich will presumably no longer be paid to appear on Fox News, but Gingrich can clearly still appear on Fox News all he wants. . .



Read more (with video) at: Examiner

GOP Stops Bill Preventing Child Marriage

Image from Barbados Free Press

Did you say, "WTF?!?" as loudly as I just did?

[Excerpt]

GOP shuts down bill to prevent child marriage



Preventing child marriage may seem like the most non-partisan of non-partisan issues, but to Republicans scrambling to deny political victories to a lame-duck Democratic House, it seems to be yet another political football. . .
 
Read more at: Raw Story

Photo of the Day: Mrs. Gingrich

And we thought Mrs. John McCain had an alarming stare! This is either Mrs. Newt Gingrich #3 or #4, I've lost count.

Source: OMGBlog

America and the Sanctity of Marriage

Image from Bag of Nothing

In a couple of weeks, The Other Half a I will celebrate one year of marriage. It's not "opposite marriage," in the parlance of recently former Miss California Carrie Prejean. It's same-sex marriage. "Marriage" with scare-quotes, if you prefer. We didn't rush into it, having been co-habitating for nine years, and having known each other for over ten. And so far, the sky hasn't fallen, the Earth has kept on spinning, and straight people didn't abandon their spouses for a hottie of their own gender.

In fact, short of the political squabbles, and the protests over Proposition 8, life is pretty much as it was. At least as it relates to couples, families, children--you know, society--of which our union was supposedly going to "rend the fabric." All of the fear mongering, all of the arguments against gay marriage are--as they always have been--false. Lies, in other words. All that opponents really want is the legal right to openly discriminate against gay people. It's all they've ever wanted. It's why they're also against including gay people under hate crimes legislation, even though religion is already covered. It all boils down to the fact that if gay people are given complete equal rights and protections, the anti-gays might get in trouble if they want to continue to treat us like dirt. Boo-hoo.

The blogosphere is all atwitter (ha!) today over the Obama Administration's DOJ defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The defense is shockingly, inexplicably robust for an administration that is allegedly against the act. I'll admit to being disheartened by it. Disillusioned, even. But I'm also willing to see where this goes. I want to hear what the President has to say about it, and how it all plays out. If it is true that we've been hoodwinked, and that Obama is intentionally throwing us under the bus, I really don't know where I stand, politically. We certainly can't defect to the right, which is worse. And starting a third party seems to have a minuscule chance of any sort of success. Might we be stuck siding with a party leader who doesn't give a rip about a slice of his constituency? Maybe.

Meanwhile, the "sanctity of marriage" argument is losing as well. Remember Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? and Married by America? If you don't, how about The Bachelor or The Bachelorette? These are all game shows where contestants try to "win" a--heretofore unknown to them--wife or husband. Well I just opened the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, and the networks are at it again. Coming soon to a TV screen near you, I Married a Stranger on FOX and Arranged Marriage on CBS! Nice to see that America is so worried about the sanctity of marriage that they are of course protesting these shows with the vehemence of "Yes on 8." Right? Right???