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The
State of the Union is Straight
January
23, 2004
By dsc
We gays and lesbians know something of bullies. Mr. President,
you sir are a bully. You showed your true nature when you
said this at the State of the Union address this week:
A strong America must also value the institution
of marriage. I believe we should respect individuals as
we take a principled stand for one of the most fundamental,
enduring institutions of our civilization. Congress has
already taken a stand on this issue by passing the Defense
of Marriage Act, signed in 1996 by President Clinton. That
statute protects marriage under Federal law as the union
of a man and a woman, and declares that one state may not
redefine marriage for other states. Activist judges, however,
have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard
for the will of the people and their elected representatives.
On an issue of such great consequence, the people's voice
must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary
will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people
would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend
the sanctity of marriage.
The outcome of this debate is important - and
so is the way we conduct it. The same moral tradition that
defines marriage also teaches that each individual has dignity
and value in God's sight.
Mr. President, some of us were scared of bullies in school.
We felt so bad about ourselves we somehow felt we deserved
the second class treatment we were getting. Well no more Mr.
President. We will fight you and we will win.
We will fight you in the House. We will fight you in the
Senate. We will fight you in the state legislatures. We will
fight you in the churches. We will fight you in the streets.
We will fight you in the gutters where you chose to take us.
We will fight you and we will win. When you wonder why we
kicked your ass, it will have been this "If judges insist
on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only
alternative left to the people would be the constitutional
process."
We know what "judges forcing their arbitrary will on us"
is like. That is why you were at the rostrum delivering your
hateful speech. The Constitution handed down by our founders
is not the arbitrary will of judges. It is not some paper
written after one of your all night binges. It is the floor
plan of the house that is our democracy. And squatters don't
get to put additions on the house. We will fight you, and
we will win.
Who are we? We teach your kids and fix your cars. We cook
your food, and invest your money. We grace your screen and
landscape your yards. We cut your hair and quarterback your
team. We have organized the Continental Army, painted the
Sistine Chapel, cracked the Enigma, represented you in the
Texas House, and even defended the country during your absence
without leave in Alabama.
But that is not why we have a right to marriage. One doesn't
earn rights. They are bestowed upon us by our creator. And
similarly the fact you are an unelected fraud isn't why you
don't get to take them away. For a right to be a right, we
shouldn't have to beg a potentate for them on bended knee.
You are not our creator and you don't get to take away what
he has bestowed.
There are many reasons that you deserve a one way ticket
back to Crawford but first among them is this speech. You
have used a pulpit that Franklin Roosevelt used to defeat
Hitler, Truman used to save Europe, Kennedy used to reach
for the stars, Johnson used to fight a war on racism and poverty,
and Clinton used to try to bring health care to all to sow
division. You are the first President since Wilson to use
that pulpit to advocate an amendment restricting people's
rights. For that you should be sent back to Crawford to ride
an SUV on your fake ranch. And sir, we will send you there.
Mr. President, history will judge you harshly. We will be
happy to hasten that day. We don't hate you Mr. President,
we hate what you have done. Your craven presence in the citadel
of Democracy is more than we can bear. But it will almost
be worth the joy of seeing you sent back to Texas and knowing
we helped do it. We will fight you and we will win.
We are not angry, we are outraged. You have turned us into
gays and lesbians first and Americans second. We deserve better.
The country deserves better. You are neither compassionate
nor conservative. True compassion wouldn't permit a two tiered
system of rights and true conservatism would honor our Constitution.
Our constitution is not some laundry list on which you can
spill white out at will. True conservatives leave things alone.
They protect our rights they don't trample them. Real conservatives
know what history is, sir. You are no conservative. We will
fight you, and we will win.
Mr. President, our rights are not milk money to be taken
to feed your steroid habit. We know how to deal with bullies
like you, we stand up to you and kick your ass. We won't scurry
in fear. We will fight you, and we will win. Count on it and
remember it when you take that long ride back to Crawford.
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