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[q]The Man Upstairs Is in the House
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, July 19, 2006; A02
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. But 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."
Democrats and a couple of sympathetic Republicans wondered whether, with the House planning to spend just five more weeks in session for the rest of the year, their colleagues were fiddling while Beirut burns.
"We have a conflagration in the Middle East, we have raised the debt ceiling four times to $9 trillion, and this is how the Republican congressional leadership chooses to spend its time?" demanded an agitated Rep. James Moran (D-Va.).
"Let's be honest," said Rep. Jim Kolbe (Ariz.), the chamber's only openly gay Republican. "This bill has been brought to the House floor by the leadership solely because of election-year politics." Citing an "affront to this institution," he pointed out that "this same legislation was considered in the Senate, where it didn't even receive a majority vote, much less the required two-thirds."
[...]
Others sidestepped the relevance question.
"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."
So that was it: The marriage debate wasn't about amending the Constitution; it was about quieting Hezbollah.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801336_pf.html
[/q]
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, July 19, 2006; A02
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. But 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."
Democrats and a couple of sympathetic Republicans wondered whether, with the House planning to spend just five more weeks in session for the rest of the year, their colleagues were fiddling while Beirut burns.
"We have a conflagration in the Middle East, we have raised the debt ceiling four times to $9 trillion, and this is how the Republican congressional leadership chooses to spend its time?" demanded an agitated Rep. James Moran (D-Va.).
"Let's be honest," said Rep. Jim Kolbe (Ariz.), the chamber's only openly gay Republican. "This bill has been brought to the House floor by the leadership solely because of election-year politics." Citing an "affront to this institution," he pointed out that "this same legislation was considered in the Senate, where it didn't even receive a majority vote, much less the required two-thirds."
[...]
Others sidestepped the relevance question.
"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."
So that was it: The marriage debate wasn't about amending the Constitution; it was about quieting Hezbollah.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801336_pf.html
[/q]
