When it comes to the grand stands of ultra-conservatives they've been loosing many battles. Woman got the right to vote, blacks got civil rights, and immigration is still legal. Yep, thats right the south didnt raise again, at least not in the way they thought it would, and it seems like everything they stand for is crumbling around them. The abortion issues in this country has all but disappeared in this election as well as affirmative action. Where are there banners to stand-on?? Well, they decided too take make there last great stand on with gay -marriage a victory here would strengthen the base. Well, it seems to be another dead end, but dont be mistaken they will fight this out to the very end. Most Americans do not care fore gays getting married they are for unions but against marriage. This is the position Sen. Kerry took. President Bush wants a Constitutional amendment banning it for ever. THe president really doesnt want it , but knows he has to support it in order to calm his extreme right wing and ultra religious base. We as people need to be realistic. In this country the excuse of marriage being scared and thats why we cannot allow gays to be married is stupid and a absolute lie. Marriage in this country is no longer the bond it once was to most people. It is too me and my parents and in case you're wondering I'm straight, however I dont care if gays get married.When will this country finally decide to willingly live up to it's true purpose, which is to give liberty and freedom to all its citizens. This country has goto stop being the world-est biggest Hippocrates. We can not ban game marriage on the state or federal level. If we do this would be the worst example of state sponsored seond-class citizen-ship since slavery and civil -rights. Justice for all indeed???

Are you for real?
... I don't even know where to start ripping your paragraph apart. Let's just go with, 'Your whole paragraph sounds like crazy flawed ideological coo coo, baby!"

(FYI)
I think you should know a good majority of the USA is against gay marriage. Last time I heard it the statistic, it was 63% against! (someone correct my if I'm wrong, I think I might have heard 73%).

I'm getting the vibe from you that 'conservative' is bad and 'liberal' is good. You need both parties to achieve some sort of 'middle road'. Why? Because too much of either/or is very bad!

(PS)
Oh... and please stop listening to late night radio. You sound like a left wing Micheal Savage -- and please, PLEASE, stop using extreme and ultra.

News Flash!!!! Just b/c people in the nation are against gay marriage doesnt make it okay for them to outlaw it. Also, I notice you simply ignored the second class citizenship argument. By the way it wasnt a time too long ago when the so called majority of americans thought that interracial marriage was bad so dont give me that bull with polls. And the whole elementary civics lesson not needed on Liberal vs. Conservative and how mediation is best..well..Duh..

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Palin/McCain - '08

Really? Why, then, do we agree to outlaw other practices we find abhorrent?

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What have you done for your people today?

Yes, under the Constitution, marriage (and sex, child-bearing, etc.) is a FUNDAMENTAL right and a law abridging that rights must be "necessary" to achieve a "compelling" governmental interest.

Does the government have a "compelling" state interest in banning gay marriage? I certainly don't think so, but that is just my opinion. Whoever wins tomorrow will probably put justices in place (in the Supreme Court) who will answer that question.

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"George W. Bush surrounds himself with smart people the way a hole surrounds itself with a donut." —Dennis Miller

guarantees citizens the right to marry and have children...

I'd certainly love to see you justify this claim with actual evidence.

Catz

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Palin/McCain - '08

Of course, I believe people are born with the right to everything so long as they are not imposing on others. But the consensus seems to be that we only have rights if the government says we do. And that's fine. The Constitution does not guarantee the right to marry and have children.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

No problem. I am going to do this in sketch form because I have done far too much typing today. If you have any specific questions, I will be happy to answer them tomorrow.

Marbury v. Madison: It is the Supreme Court that interprets the Constitution: "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is."

The critical importance of Marbury is the assumption of several powers by the Supreme Court. One was the authority to declare acts of Congress, and by implication acts of the president, unconstitutional if they exceeded the powers granted by the Constitution. But even more important, the Court became the arbiter of the Constitution, the final authority on what the document meant. As such, the Supreme Court became in fact as well as in theory an equal partner in government, and it has played that role ever since.

http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/...democrac/9.htm

The Court then held that marriage was a fundamental right in Loving v. Virginia:

"These statutes also deprive the Lovings of liberty without due process of law in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.

Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival. Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535, 541 (1942).

Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State. "

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/script...ol=388&invol=1

And then Zablocki v. Redhail expounded further:

"Although Loving [v. Virginia] arose in the context of racial discrimination, prior and subsequent decisions of this Court confirm that the right to marry is of fundamental importance for all individuals.... "

"More recent decisions have established that the right to marry is part of the fundamental "right of privacy" implicit in the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. [Cases not included]"

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/proj.../zablocki.html

Obviously, the Court has never held that same sex marriage is a fundamental right, but after replacing Bowers v. Hardwick with Lawrence v. Texas, I believe that the Court will recognize the right in the near future. This is why the far right wing is trying to get a Constitutional Amendment in place.

It is very interesting to note that the road to legal gay marriage has, so far, tracked the road to legal interracial marriage. History has a way of repeating itself.

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"George W. Bush surrounds himself with smart people the way a hole surrounds itself with a donut." —Dennis Miller

Technically you are right, but you are still wrong. The Constitution doesn't absolutely guarantee either of those things, but both are considered fundamental rights and a law abridging a fundamental right must pass a legal test that almost no law survives: "The law must be necessary to achieve a compelling governmental interest."

That is a huge burden and so few laws get past it that most people who know about these things just assume that a law that abridges one of these rights will fail.

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"George W. Bush surrounds himself with smart people the way a hole surrounds itself with a donut." —Dennis Miller