Ah, do you smell that? It's the smell of wedge issues! It must be election time!
Today, about a week after the Republicans in Congress decided that gay marriage and flag burning were more pressing issues than… apparently anything else, the Senate rejected a ban on gay marriage.
In fact, the amendment didn't even get an up-or-down vote as the vote was 49-48 to limit debate and bring the amendment to a vote, 11 votes short of the 60 votes needed. Thus, the measure was killed. For those keeping score the 49 votes to keep the measure afloat were only one more than the last time the measure was considered in 2004.
But while homosexuals all across America celebrate by having a brightly colored Faux-tini, it's important to note that the Republicans already knew there was no chance in hell of the amendment passing. Even Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO), the amendment's sponsor, didn't think it would get enough votes.
So why? Why would they they give priority to an issue that didn't have a chance in hell of passing? Because it's election time, my friends, that's why.
Just like in past elections they're going back to the strategy they know best–divide and conquer. They call these issues "wedge issues" for a reason, because they divide Americans from one another, and by using these issues to divide Americans from one another the Republicans think they can once again conquer. This time in the upcoming Midterm elections.
It's a dirty scheme for short term political gain that only hurts America in the long run.
What's worse is while they give priority to these issues other issues get ignored… you know, like Iraq or gas prices or all of the people without health care or…
You get the picture, and anyone with common sense will consider these and a host of other issues far more pressing than gay marriage or flag burning.
I hope the American people are smarter than this. I hope they have learned. I hope that they see that the Republican Party has only wasted their time for an attempt at political gain at a time when there are so many other far more pressing issues that must be addressed.
