Sorry, this stuff still isn't funny

I am still amazed that the GOP has identified Gay marriage and flag burning as the major threats to America. Most Americans probably see this as pure politics.

"Though Bush himself has publicly embraced the amendment, he never seemed to care enough to press the matter. One of his old friends told NEWSWEEK that same-sex marriage barely registers on the president's moral radar. "I think it was purely political. I don't think he gives a s--t about it. He never talks about this stuff," said the friend."

Hah. Exactly what most people on the left think and more than a few on the right. After all, as I think even Jonah Goldberg noted, if this is such a pressing issue, it should be a pressing issue away from an election year. Howard Fineman, as I noted the other day, thought this was all condescending to evangelicals, but I am not convinced.

"Evangelical leaders insist they know how gay marriage affects their voters--they'll stay home if politicians don't push for the FMA. 'It's the one issue I have seen that eclipses even the abortion issue among Southern Baptists,' says Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention."

See? Despite all the concerns about "life" conservative evangelicals are more homophobic than pro-life.

*****

Haditha makes us all sad and sick. How do Americans do this? Andrew Sullivan puts the blame where I think (at least some) belongs:

Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: Bush, Military Ethics, Haditha: "From the moment George W. Bush exempted U.S. military forces from the Geneva Conventions if 'military necessity' demanded it, he sent a message. From the moment George W. Bush refused to accept Donald Rumsfeld's repeated offers to resign after Abu Ghraib, he sent a message. From the moment, George W. Bush appended a signing statement to the McCain Amendment, arguing that as commander-in-chief, he was not subject to the ban on torture and abuse of military prisoners, the president sent a message."

*****

I told you all that I called my congressman after the recent NSA story broke. Both senators didn't really want my name, but at least my rep wrote back. Unfortunately, his letter displayed republican logic and rhetoric. The entire letter is a defense of gathering intelligence in war. My congressman gives me a paragraph on how such efforts have proved important in history.

See what he did? He turned my concern about oversight and warrants into some irrational leftist who doesn't even want our President to protect Americans. The question then is a choice between gathering intelligence or not. Republicans and Bush, according to this, want to protect Americans, and liberals like me don't.

That really annoys me. When I disagree with most Conservatives, I don't assume they are unAmerican. I don't understand why wanting Bush to get a goddamn warrant makes me soft on national security issues? If I was assured that my Republican representative would have treated either Al Gore or John Kerry with the same trust, I might actually respect that. But I don't believe that for an instant.

Oh well. Back to looking for funny.