Here comes the hate

The senate will begin debating the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment today.

Bring on da hate, bring on da stupidity.

Democrats say the amendment is a divisive bow to religious conservatives, and point out that it conflicts with the GOP's opposition to big government interference.

"A vote for this amendment is a vote for bigotry pure and simple," said Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) of Massachusetts, where the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriages in 2003.

The House also is expected to take up the measure this year.

Fueled by election-year politics, the gay marriage issue is the most volatile Congress will consider as it returns from a weeklong Memorial Day recess.

It hardly needs to repeated that this is a sham. The amendment has no chance of passage. Only one Democrat says he will vote for it, and it doesn't even enjoy the support of enough Republicans to make it out of the senate chamber. The amendment is still-born.

There is only one question to ask. How cheaply are conservative voters willing to sell themselves?

For all his election-year rhetoric, George W. Bush has done precisely nothing to address the "problem" of gay marriage, as defined by the religious right. He and the Republicans tell the base what they want to hear when they need the votes. As soon as those votes are counted, Bush and the GOP go right ahead with their real agenda, which is the redistribution of national wealth from the lower- and middle-classes to the superrich. Example: Social Security "reform."

The leaders of the religious right, realizing they have been taken for fools yet again, express varying levels of disappointment, from peevishness to outrage. They make threats about withholding their support next time around. Next time around, however, Bush says all the right-sounding things. Conservative voters forgive and forget. More importantly, they vote. For Republicans. Again.

The pattern repeats itself election cycle after election cycle.

So, here we are again. Two years ago, Bush convinced conservative Republicans that the second the oath of office finished passing his lips, he would mount a white steed and ride across the land, flaming sword in hand, lopping the heads off of every homo and abortionist who fell under his righteous gaze. Look how that turned out.

Today, Bush offers the base his symbolic support for ratifying bigotry into the constitution of the United States. Ironically, he is offering them less than he ever has. He is, in fact, offering them nothing. The amendment is doomed. But, he needs to get his voters to the polls to protect the Republican majority in congress, and he knows that this is all it takes.

Pavlov rang a bell to make his dogs salivate. All Bush has to say is "gay marriage." He doesn't even need to feed them first.

How long will conservatives allow Bush and the GOP to treat them with such withering contempt? They have proven that they are willing to be taken for fools. The result is that their party and their president take them for fools. Here we go again.