George W. Bush
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Lord knows these are desperate times for George W. Bush.
Like a four-year-old who retells the same joke expecting the same level of unbridled hilarity, Bush is hauling out the old marriage amendment in an effort to appease his right wing base. Once again, gays are the punch line for this joke of a president.
"Marriage is the most fundamental institution of civilization, and it should not be redefined by activist judges," said Bush to a room full of supporters and journalists on Monday. "You are here because you strongly support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union of a man and a woman, and I am proud to stand with you."
Bush used the phrase "activist judges" repeatedly in his 10-minute speech.
Funny, but Bush didn't seem to have much of a problem with "activist judges" when they installed him as president in 2000.
But then, Republicans seem to be unable to see the irony in anything. Take this whopper from Bush's speech: "America is a free society which limits the role of government in the lives of our citizens."
Now, I admit I'm not a constitutional scholar, but it seems to me that amending the U.S. Constitution to deny specific civil rights to a specific group of people based solely on your personal dislike of them isn't exactly laissez-faire social policy (for those of you who aren't French, "laissez-faire" is roughly translated to "leave me the f–k alone").
Bush's sudden renewed interest in the marriage amendment is a transparent political ploy, but there's something more sinister at work here, too. According to Bush, activist judges are "imposing their arbitrary will on the people," and "the only alternative left to the people is an amendment to the Constitution, the only law a court cannot overturn."
Yes, the people must fight back! The people must take up constitutional arms, if not pitchforks and torches, against the evil empire of homo-lovin' activist judges. Burn the witches! Burn them!
What troubles me about this whole thing is that not only do we have a president that sees fit to persecute gay and lesbian families for political gain, but we also have a president with acute disdain for the judicial branch of government. The marriage amendment travesty is a case of these two diseases feeding off each other.
That the Bush administration has no regard for LGBT people is despicable. That the Bush administration has no respect for the rule of law is terrifying. Bush has pushed the bounds of presidential powers further than any president before him. According to Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe, Bush has personally reserved the right to ignore more than 750 laws enacted since he took office.
This emperor not only has no clothes, he has no shame. Is it really a surprise that gays are but a stepping-stone in his desperate grab for power?
