I am prone to think in metaphors. Upon reading the news about George W. Bush publicly pronouncing his "policy initiative" of a proposed amendment to ban same sex marriages, I thought immediately of Nero, fiddling merrily as Rome burned to ashes about him. Nero, as the story goes, was so detached from reality and so mad with a sense of his own infallibility that he devoted his attention to amusing himself and his close circle of sycophants while the core of his empire was aflame and falling to destruction. Neglect of his responsibilities as the leader and steward of the Roman Empire led to both internal decay and vulnerability to external threats. Yet Nero, in his stubborn arrogance, refused to listen to advisors or respected critics and played on with his fiddle.
Our modern day American Emperor also fails to heed the serious warnings of deterioration of this country’s infrastructure, suffering of citizens not fortunate enough to live in the top 5% income bracket, and demise of respect for the country among leaders of other world powers and lesser players on the global stage. The fresh example of the Katrina disaster still has not been adequately addressed as we head into this year's hurricane season. The deficit is larger than ever in the history of the nation, yet Bush seeks to further bankrupt the country with tax cuts and continued resource drains in the Iraq conflict. Bush has no plan for resolving or ending US involvement, and says that such decisions will be left for his successor to clean up. One by one the "Coalition of the Willing" forces in Iraq are dwindling, as country after another abandons the US and withdraws their participation in the unpopular and unfocused conflict. The US cannot even muster the support of other superpowers over resolution to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons capability. While the US empire may not currently be literally in flames, the heat of the embers of a coming conflagration are apparent to anyone with the awareness to see the signs and to feel the level of discomfort among the American people.
Looking back over the past 50 years, I have tried to recall or imagine an instance in which the issue of “gay marriage” has or could actually have affected my life in any concrete negative sense. Try as I might, I could not remember a single instance in which the existence or prohibition of same sex marriage would have altered the course of my life. I suspect that for the overwhelming majority of Americans, the same is true. For that portion who happen to be gay, the possibility of a civil union that enables them to participate in society on the same level as other committed relationships between heterosexuals probably would have been a plus, rather than a minus. And I am at a loss to understand precisely how permitting gays to wed would negatively affect my life. They consume goods, pay taxes, use health and education resources, contribute to the workforce and grow old, retire and die just like heterosexuals. And as for moral rectitude, I have heard far more appalling and offensive attitudes expressed by heterosexuals than from any gay person I have been acquainted with. Moreover, the level of divorce among heterosexuals has now exceeded 50%, while the stability of gay relationships [to the extent known] is no worse and appears to be greater than that of heterosexuals. I fail to see the dire threat to the public requiring amending the Constitution.
When I think of issues that I believe that the President should be paying attention to as the “leader” of this nation, health care, education, rational energy and environmental policies, concluding the US involvement in Iraq and restoring the stature of the US in the sphere of global leadership all come to mind long before any notion of same sex marriage could ever arise. These more immediate issues are ones that touch the lives of millions of Americans and are likely to impact each and every one of us. They are issues of the “common welfare” that the president is sworn to protect and promote. Instead, George W. Bush spends his time and energy fiddling around with non-essential issues and pandering for the amusement of his insular “base” of close-minded and equally oblivious sycophants.
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