GOP Ain’t Gonna Let It Go, Bigotry Works Too Well for Them, or So They Think

I have never been so disgusted. With all the truly pressing problems that our country is facing right now and only five more weeks left of legislative session for the remainder of this year, what do you suppose our GOP House of Representatives’ top priorities are? Why debating an amendment that has absolutely NO chance of becoming law since the Senate has already rejected it, of course:

The House of Representatives could not have been any more obvious if the sergeant-at-arms had wheeled an equine carcass into the well and the speaker had pummeled it with his gavel.

Yesterday's House debate on same-sex marriage was pure dead horse: The Senate last month rejected -- emphatically -- a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to ban same-sex marriage, so there was zero chance the amendment could be approved this year.

And from an AP article titled GOP sees advantage in gay marriage debate:

The House rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on Tuesday, a setback that conservatives hope to turn to their advantage in the fall elections.

"Be assured that this issue is not over," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

But no worry, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the leader of House conservatives, argued that:

…the vote was a successful failure. We poured a little more concrete in the footings of a building that will be built.

So, we have major problems escalating in the Middle East, our sons and daughters dying in Iraq as the violence spins out-of-control, a growing deficit that will burden our children and grandchildren, major corporations waiting for some kind of pension reform legislation, thousands sitting on pins and needles wondering if they will even have pensions by the time Congress decides to act, thousands and thousands of displaced Katrina victims still waiting for relief a year later, hurricane season upon us once again and big questions about our preparedness this time around, and the list goes on and on and the House GOP is debating an amendment that has no chance of passing. How’s that for tending to the people’s business?

Well Dana Milbank tells us they really weren’t too worried about the people’s business because:

… members of the House were answering to a Higher Authority:

"It's part of God's plan for the future of mankind," explained Rep. John Carter (R-Tex.).

Rep. Bob Beauprez (R- Colo.) also found "the very hand of God" at work. "We best not be messing with His plan."

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) agreed that "it wasn't our idea, it was God's."

"I think God has spoken very clearly on this issue," said Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), a mustachioed gynecologist who served as one of the floor leaders yesterday. When somebody quarreled with this notion, Gingrey replied: "I refer the gentleman to the Holy Scriptures."

"Marriage is not about love," volunteered Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), who noted his 31 years of matrimony. "It's about a love that can bear children."

"The world did not start with Adam and Steve," Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) told reporters.

Gingrey, the floor leader/gynecologist, posited that the debate was "about values and how this great country represents them to the world." After the vote, he elaborated: "This is probably the best message we can give to the Middle East in regards to the trouble we are having over there right now." (emphasis mine)

To which Dana Milbank rightly ends his article:

So that was it: The marriage debate wasn't about amending the Constitution; it was about quieting Hezbollah.

To which I end my rant:

How much more of this nonsense do we, the people want to take? Let’s show them at the polls this November just how badly they miscalculated with this thinly veiled political ploy. It is time to reinstate a government for the people, all of the people, not just the ones that meet these bigots’ approval.