Excercise in Futility

Today President Bush held a national press conference today addressing the possibility of a Constitutional amendment that would protect the status of marriage. This amendment if passed by 2/3 of Congress (a formidable task in itself) would ban gay marriage. Many believe that this effort was a move to regain popularity and approval ratings from social conservatives that were responsible for Bush's re-election in 2004. While no doubt Bush is trying to boost his approval rating, critics argue that by addressing gay marriage, he is actually just putting up a smoke screen to take heat off of other more pressing issues such as Iraq, Iran, Katrina, and other such debacles. While the issue of gay marriage is no doubt important, Ramble On suggests that issues such as the horrific Indonesian earthquake, increased violence in Iraq, the recent terrorist cell detained in Toronto (with tangible links to the U.S.), and the issue of Iran and their nuclear development should all take precedent over the moral issue of gay marriage. In 2004 President Bush's backing of an amendment to ban gay marriage only had 48 supporters in congress, well short of the 66 needed to pass the bill. As of now there are 55 Republican seats in the Senate, and almost all moderate Republicans are skeptical of approving such legislature, this coupled with the fact that only 1 democrat (Ben Nelson, Nebraska) has openly stated that he will back this bill proves that this recent surge is no doubt a futile effort.