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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Marriage of convenience

Marriage of convenience

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A lot of talk about how marriage equality is now an issue that works in Democrats’ favor. You know what that means. It means Republicans give up on the issue and start looking for some new shiny “cultural issue” to distract people with.

The theocons who profess to care deeply about the “sanctity of marriage” will go gentle under that good bus, the way they always do.

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70Comments

  2. 2.

    ed

    I would say it also means that the right wingers (in this case, the GOP), a few years from now, will claim they were for Marriage Equality all the time and it was the Liberals (Dems) were totally against it. You know, as with the case of Civil Rights. See also Fascism, Liberal. Assholes.

  5. 5.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    some new shiny “cultural issue” to distract people with.

    Well, there’s always the Mexicans and Lindsey Lohan.

  6. 6.

    Davis X. Machina

    The theocons who profess to care deeply about the “sanctity of marriage” will go gentle under that good bus, the way they always do.

    Their mouths will be stuffed with gold.

  9. 9.

    Bob Loblaw

    It’s abortion. Always abortion. Forever and ever and ever.

    Everything else is subordinate, and therefore sacrificial. Successful patriarchal plutocrats need to keep the bigots agitated to maintain political cover, and while their quiver of fake causes dwindles, they’ll always have the impurity of female sexuality to fall back on until the very patriarchy itself falls.

  10. 10.

    Lev

    @Bob Loblaw: Abortion is the tried-and-true issue for them, but public opinion on it really hasn’t moved for decades. And the new crop of Republicans seems to be of the “no exceptions and no contraception” category, which really only represents about 15% of the public.

    If the pro-choice movement were to actually make this point, over and over, 75% of the country would be pro-choice.

  14. 14.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @ed: They will also start complaining about how the newly married gays are getting a tax cut for getting married and that heterosexual couples should also get a tax cut to balance things out.

  15. 15.

    Bob Loblaw

    @Lev:

    If the pro-choice movement were to actually make this point, over and over, 75% of the country would be pro-choice.

    And they won’t because abortion makes people all squishy.

    That’s why it works to keep the evangelical base in a state of fitful intensity, without losing ground with other competing constituencies. The right never has to “win,” they just need to keep their side in perpetual fear of losing. It’s damn near foolproof. Nobody likes to have to defend the practice of abortion anyway, that’s why the discussion hovers in the nebulous world of choices and liberties.

  17. 17.

    Shygetz

    You know what that means. It means Republicans give up on the issue and start looking for some new shiny “cultural issue” to distract people with.

    Nope…it means the Republicans start developing a system of deniable wink-wink-nod dog whistles like “traditional family values” to keep the bigots nodding along and wistfully remembering a better time when queer stomping was a socially acceptable way to spend a Friday night.

  19. 19.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Just been watching CSPAN can anyone tell me why the democrats are voting no on the Afghanistan resolution?

  20. 20.

    ed

    Right on gnomedad @12.

    Now might be a good time to remind everybody that George Bush, Jr. wanted to amend the motherfucking Constitution to “preserve the sanctity of marriage.” Assholes.

  22. 22.

    Mike in NC

    While on the subject of the sanctity of marriage…

    The bond between David Koch and Scott Walker is not the only relationship between a reactionary billionaire and a rightwing politician contaminating the U.S. political scene. Attention also needs to be paid to what’s going on between Sheldon Adelson and Newt Gingrich. Adelson — the fifth wealthiest person in the United States, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $23 billion — has made a major bet on Gingrich. Since 2006 he has contributed $7 million to Gingrich’s fundraising entity American Solutions for Winning the Future. Through this 527 vehicle (and a regular political action committee with the same name), Gingrich is raking in loads of cash as he teases the country about whether he plans to run for President while mouthing off with a variety of reckless policy pronouncements.

    http://www.southernstudies.org/2011/03/voices-meet-the-scandal-plagued-billionaire-behind-newt-gingrich.html

  24. 24.

    The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    And in a few decades we’ll get to see wingnuttery on the state level find successful ways to totally marginalize gay marriage to prohibitive levels while not technically trying to outlaw it.

  25. 25.

    JPL

    Republicans like to scare people. What country will be building nukes to destroy us? I don’t think it will be Iran because that has been tried before.

  26. 26.

    JohnR

    No big deal. Whenever these guys lose, it just becomes one more resentment to add to the list. Even when they lose they win.

  27. 27.

    JGabriel

    @Southern Beale:

    It’s not about abortion it’s about S-E-X. S-E-X is icky. To Republicans, anyway.

    To be fair, I too find the idea of Republican sex icky.

    .

  28. 28.

    daveNYC

    @Shygetz:

    Nope…it means the Republicans start developing a system of deniable wink-wink-nod dog whistles like “traditional family values” to keep the bigots nodding along and wistfully remembering a better time when queer stomping was a socially acceptable way to spend a Friday night.

    Good luck with that. Gays are a hell of a lot less ‘other’ than the other groups that the dog whistles work so well against. They’ll probably get some buy in, but not nearly what they can manage against furriners or the heavily tanned.

  29. 29.

    Parallel 5ths (Irish Steel)

    @Bob Loblaw: Agreed. Abortion is a win on so many fronts for the right. Represses the poor, women, irritates liberals, delights the fundies. It’s the Dark Side of the Moon of issues and it will never leave the charts.

    If there was no abortion they’d have to invent it and then try to outlaw it.

  30. 30.

    Culture of Truth

    If they do move away from gay marriage, I’m guessing the new wedge issues will be a cult of Christian victimhood, where their right to practice their religion, i.e., creationism textbooks, prayer, etc., will be contrasted against gay and the muslims getting to do whatever they want.

  32. 32.

    JPL

    OT.. SPOILER ALERT
    Did anyone pick that team that just upset the other team in their NCAA bracket?

  34. 34.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    …and this is different from the way that Democrats just gave up and completely folded on gun control how exactly?

  35. 35.

    joe from Lowell

    What do you mean “start?”

    In 2004, a Marriage Protection Amendment was the centerpiece of George W. Bush’s reelection platform.

    Seen any of that in 2008? How about 2010?

    You want a shiny object? The Burlington Coat Factory Mosque is a shiny object.

  36. 36.

    superking

    I’m sure all those state constitutional amendments and statutes banning gay marriage will be speedily repealed.

  37. 37.

    jibeaux

    @Geoduck:

    Also, they don’t want you single or engaged-mama-ing. Sets a bad example, don’t you know, for wanton hussies like Natalie Portman to be inspiring girls everywhere to go get pregnant…
    The best I can tell their idea of what you should do with an unmarried pregnancy is to either find someone, anyone, to marry, and barring that, time travel to before the sexytime.

  39. 39.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    The theocons who profess to care deeply about the “sanctity of marriage” will go gentle under that good bus, the way they always do.

    No they won’t. This is one of those God’s Wrath Issues.

  41. 41.

    Shygetz

    @daveNYC: Are you kidding me? They combine minority with sex…it’s the perfect storm of resentment for the bigot subgroup of Republicans. Gay hate’s not going away, it’s just going to become an underground sensation like racism.

  42. 42.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    @jibeaux:

    Also, they don’t want you single or engaged-mama-ing. Sets a bad example, don’t you know

    Unless your mom is republican with big tits, then it’s okay for her daughter to be a high school drop out and knocked up.

  47. 47.

    scav

    OT giggle for those that need it (OK, with dark undertones but I’ll take what I can). Either the AP or the Beeb has gone all birther! from the Beeb livestream:

    2025: Hawaii, which was also struck by a tsunami after the earthquake off Japan, is another nation struggling in the aftermath of the disaster. The wave caused millions of dollars worth of damage to homes, businesses and boats, reports the Associated Press

  49. 49.

    joe from Lowell

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ:

    …and this is different from the way that Democrats just gave up and completely folded on gun control how exactly?

    The Democrats didn’t drop gun control until they’d already taken a drubbing over it.

    The Republicans are out ahead of this one.

  50. 50.

    joe from Lowell

    @Bob Loblaw:

    It’s abortion. Always abortion. Forever and ever and ever.

    That’s not quite right. Republicans use anti-abortion appeals to ingratiate themselves to the base, but then they downplay it in the general election, because it’s not a winning issue for them among the broader electorate.

    Gay-bashing used to be a winning wedge issue for the Republicans among the broader electorate, but now it’s not, so they’re using it the way they use the abortion issue.

  51. 51.

    Chris

    You know what that means. It means Republicans give up on the issue and start looking for some new shiny “cultural issue” to distract people with.

    It also means that fifty years from now, you can look forward to Republicans saying “we were always on the side of the gays!” You can look forward to them dead gay rights advocates, turning them into patriotic icons, and saying that they would totally have endorsed this or that and that if they were still alive, they’d totally be conservative. And all the good stuff they’re currently doing to civil rights.

  52. 52.

    scav

    @Chris: Don’t forget their saintly role as practically an underground RR sheltering loads of closeted gheys in their staff and ranks while publicly denying it, saving them from the ravenous dem hordes.

  53. 53.

    The Moar You Know

    …and this is different from the way that Democrats just gave up and completely folded on gun control how exactly?

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ: Lot of Democrats, myself included, think that gun control is a bad idea.

    Back on topic: Do what I do; befriend the office Republicans, and then ask ’em if they’d rather have all the Muslims in the world executed or all the gays.

    It’s Muslims all the way, baby.

  54. 54.

    JPL

    @Chris: In the south it is often said, the Civil war wasn’t about slavery either.

    And all the good stuff they’re currently doing to civil rights.

  55. 55.

    Monala

    @Mike in NC:
    Sheldon Adelson… a familiar name. He, Dennis LeHane, and Mark Wahlberg are three famous people who grew up in the Dorchester section of Boston. A lot of Dorchester nonprofits have approached these men to ask for support–especially because they and their families were helped by many of these same nonprofits when they were kids.

    Mark Wahlberg has been pretty generous to his old ‘hood. Not so Adelson and Lehane. Of course, the old hood is a lot more colorful now than it was when they were kids.

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    @jibeaux:

    The best I can tell their idea of what you should do with an unmarried pregnancy is to either find someone, anyone, to marry, and barring that, time travel to before the sexytime.

    If that were true, they wouldn’t be mad at Portman, who is actually engaged to the father of her child-to-be and (IIRC) will actually be married by the time her child is born. No, I think they want unmarried pregnant women to disappear for 9 months and reappear without a baby. Ideally, the baby should be put up for adoption so there’s a steady supply of racially acceptable babies available for rich, childless couples to adopt.

  57. 57.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @ed:

    I would say it also means that the right wingers (in this case, the GOP), a few years from now, will claim they were for Marriage Equality all the time and it was the Liberals (Dems) were totally against it. You know, as with the case of Civil Rights.

    Oh, no question. Retconning history is a perpetual wingnut project.

  59. 59.

    Cheap Jim

    I don’t know. I thought that the bill here in Maryland would pass, then apparently all sorts of delegates got cold feet. And without a vote, you can’t even point out the ones that have to go.

  62. 62.

    Mnemosyne

    @jeffreyw:

    Puppeh!

    But is it just me, or is Mr. (or Ms.) Puppeh going to grow up to be a St. Bernard? Maybe it’s the camera angle.

  63. 63.

    Peter

    I knew it was a dead issue the moment state legislatures started taking serious votes on it. No matter what the results of those legislative efforts were, even if they failed completely, the fact that those politicians were willing to stick their necks out on it meant that the Gay Marriage Boogeyman was dead, or at least on life support.

  67. 67.

    Mike in NC

    @Monala:

    Of course, the old hood is a lot more colorful now than it was when they were kids.

    Interesting. My mom was born in Dorchester, c. 1928. I grew up in Roxbury and Hyde Park.

  70. 70.

    Pat

    Well, if I had Newt Gingrich, of all people, in my camp proclaiming the sacredness of the institution, I would probably go out and find the bus myself!

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