{"id":642,"date":"2004-02-25T03:09:02","date_gmt":"2004-02-25T11:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/archives\/2004\/02\/25\/fma-endorsement-fallout\/"},"modified":"2004-02-25T03:09:02","modified_gmt":"2004-02-25T11:09:02","slug":"fma-endorsement-fallout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=642","title":{"rendered":"FMA endorsement fallout"},"content":{"rendered":"

In case you haven’t heard the news yet here’s the skinny: President Bush has announced his support for an amendment to the Constitution that would prohibit same-sex marriages and–according to some<\/a>–civil unions. The Associated Press report on the subject can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fallout has already started to drift to the ground. The opening paragraph from the aforementioned AP report is a good way to begin, I think.<\/p>\n

President Bush wants quick election-year enactment of a constitutional amendment prohibiting gays from marrying each other, but Republicans in Congress are not rushing to heed his call.<\/div>\n

I’m sure you can parse the language on your own, but I think I’ll go ahead and call attention to the words “quick,” “election-year” and “Republicans […] not rushing.” A few remarks from those not-exactly-rushing Republicans:<\/p>\n

Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., a co-chairman of Bush’s campaign in California in 2000, said he doesn’t support a constitutional amendment. “I believe that this should go through the courts, and I think that we’re at a point where it’s not necessary,” he said.<\/p>\n

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the matter should be left to the states, and Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., said changing the Constitution should be a last resort on almost any issue.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/center><\/p>\n

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said he appreciated Bush’s “moral leadership” on the issue, but expressed caution about moving too quickly toward a constitutional solution, and never directly supported one. “This is so important we’re not going to take a knee-jerk reaction to this,” Delay said. “We are going to look at our options and we are going to be deliberative about what solutions we may suggest.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Unfortunately, our Democratic front-runners haven’t exactly been something to be proud of in response.<\/p>\n

Kerry said he supports civil unions, “and I think that that is permissible within state law and it ought to be.”<\/p>\n

“If he really wants to help married couples, what he should be doing is helping them resolve their economic problems, their health care problems,” Edwards said while campaigning in Georgia.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Daily Kos has a brief reaction and round-up of notable quotables<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Josh Marshall has a good analysis<\/a> of why Republican members of Congress might not be too happy with Bush announcing this when he did. Andrew Sullivan responded<\/a> to the announcement with outrage and a feeling of betrayal. He’s also posted letters from some of his readers here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>. The Poor Man thinks<\/a> this is Bush’s Waterloo. I think the best summary of the situation comes by way of Discount Blogger<\/a>:<\/p>\n

See? People in this country probably fall under the following categories:<\/p>\n