Gay marriage: an obvious solution

I have always felt that a simple solution to the gay marriage debate lies in redefining the government's role in sanctioning personal relationships. Legally, there should only be one option available to everyone. It would be called something like a civil union. If for religious reasons a couple decides that they would like to enter into some extra special god sanctioned relationship through their priest or robot overlord that would still be allowed. However, it would have no bearing on their legal relationship with the state.

This has two benefits:
1. It helps to further separate the government from religious activity and sanction which in my opinion would be good. This helps to kill the religious argument that gay marriage somehow dilutes the far superior hetero-marriages by treating them equally. Because 'marriage' would now be a private affair, it would be left up to individual churches and other community organizations to decide if they would like to offer the gift of marriage to all or not.
2. It makes it more obvious that those who are against gay marriage are against it for sinister homophobic motives, rather than moral "pro-family" reasons that they like to hide behind.

It should be noted that a number of mainstream churches and temples already perform marriage ceremonies for same sex couples.


This issue of equality also creates a better society in my opinion. If two people of the same sex love each other what harm does do anyone else if their relationship is codified in the law like any other? In fact, if marriage is such a good thing for society how does precluding homosexuals from the practice harm society? They already live together, and if anything legal marriage would only help to bring them into mainstream society. A gay friend of mine once mentioned how hurtful it would be to her that I could marry anyone tomorrow regardless of love and she wouldn't be able to marry the love of her life, possibly ever. I don't plan to marry anytime soon but I can't argue with the point. From my perspective any marrage I enter into would be more legitimate and not less if she were allowed to marry as well. I hope the path of history is on her side. I fear otherwise.

These happy days

We (possibly just me until I build a readership) now have the first executive orders from Obama to scrutinize. The freeze on Bush's midnight regulations and trials in Guantanamo while they undergo legal review is good. But what about the freeze on White House staffers pay? I have always felt that the low pay offered to state and federal workers is the primary reason that there is a revolving door between Government and corporate lobbying. Why should someone who could make $500,000 a year working in compliance for an investment bank be forced to make only $60k for a boss (Obama) who is worth million of dollars.
This low pay seems to lead to more insidious results as well, with pay relatively low for people of the skill and ability that a White House job demands, two kinds of people will be especially drawn to these jobs: Those who crave power, and those who are already rich. That's a shame

On the inauguration:
While Rick Warren wasn't a bright spot, I can accept a large portion of American's follow and respect him. One redeeming factor is that the first openly gay Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson gave the invocation at the lincoln memorial. Too bad HBO censored it out of the broadcast.

First Post

One is forced to wonder why Blago, thought he had a chance to survive in office after this scandal broke.  Certainly, pissing off the Democratic leadership of the Illinois legislature, United States Senate, and the President-elect would not fit into my plan for helping Blago keep his job.  Of course this sort of behavior isn't very unique.  Just look ant how Ted Stevens and Kwame Kilpatrick have acted in the past 4 months.  
I would think that self-preservation would overtake these politicians egos once they have been caught, maybe after successfully holding power and abusing for so long they lose sight of their own vulnerability.  It should be noted that Eliot Spitzer had the class presence of mind to resign after his significantly more minor scandal broke out.