Further Signs of the Inevitability of Nationwide Gay Marriage

Senator Rob Portman and his family

Further signs that we are on the path to nationwide gay marriage:

GOP Ohio senator Rob Portman, one-time frontrunner to be Mittens' VP, tells CNN he has reversed his negative position on gay marriage, largely due to the fact that his son come out to him two years ago. 

Openly gay Council President Christine Quinn announces she is running for mayor of NYC, the most important city in the country (yes, I said that!), and she actually has a strong chance of winning.

The Denver Post runs a front page photo of the gay Speaker of the Colorado House kissing his partner right on the mouth as civil union legislation is passed. There is a baby bottle on the desk by them for their child. A few right-wingers are highly offended, but the paper does not back down. I still don't get what's so offensive about two men or two women kissing. There was a conservative blog about this stating parents should not have to be forced to explain this shocking display of affection to their kiddies. I remember when I was in college working in the library in the early 80s. Some of the staff were discussing an upcoming gay pride parade and a guy said "Well, I hope no children happen to see it so they don't have to look at any men kissing." Actually, I overheard him say this and I didn't say anything, but it amazes me that there are still people who have a problem with same-gendered couples lip-locking. 

A few speakers at this week's CPAC such as political scientist and author Charles Murray urges attendees to just shut up and deal with it. "With gay marriage, I think the train has left the station," he said. His argument was that younger people who might otherwise be interested in following the conservative movement are turned off by the bigoted, rigid hatred of gay folks and wanting to keep us as second-class citizens. At the same conference, Sen. Marco Rubio says just because he believes in "traditional" marriage--or a state's right to enforce it--that does not make him a bigot. Fifty years ago, people against interracial marriage probably said the same thing.  

Ryan's Hope

Vice Presidential pick Paul Ryan with a typical American voter who makes
under $100,000 a year 

I'll say this for Paul Ryan, Mittens' pick for Veep, he's not boring, but he is a big risk and will plunge the ticket to the bottom. Conventional wisdom had it that Tim Pawlenty or that Portman person from Ohio would be the choice because they were safe. But in the past week, Romney has been effectively put on the defensive by the Obama team's brilliant swift-boating tactics of defining their opponent in swing states. Mittens wanted to change the subject from his tax returns and whether or not he was responsible for the death of that construction worker's wife who lost her healthcare. There were some hand-wringing among lily-livered Dems and media types about how the Obama team had descended to the gutter level of the Republicans ("Oh what a scurrilous, libelous ad!!! I am shocked and appalled!!") His spokesperson Andrea Saul ruined any potential backlash by stating that Romneycare would have helped these poor people if only they had the brains to live in Massachusetts. This caused the heads of Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh to explode because Saul dared to mentioned her boss's signature legislation which inspired the hated Obamacare.

Mittens even whined to Chuck Todd begging the opposition not to bring up his business record at Bain and his taxes because that was "personal" and saying he didn't have to reveal his taxes because he is not a business. I thought corporations were people, my friend.

Anyway, the conversation has been changed but IMHO not in a good way for our friend Thurston Mittens the Third. The focus will now be on Ryan's Budget--a slash-and-burn manifesto right out of Atlas Shrugged. Medicare, Social Security, Planned Parenthood--all are eviscerated or defunded altogether--while rich people continued to enjoy those lovely tax breaks and loopholes. All the Dems have to do is say to senior citizens, or future senior citizens like me, "Vouchers are in your future" and it's a guaranteed win for Obama. The pick also demonstrates that Mittens is in the pocket of the ultra-right wing of the party and that he takes his marching orders from the Wall Street Journal. Can you imagine what kind of a president he'd be? And they accuse Obama of being weak. Ironically, some Tea Party types say that Ryan is not right-wing enough, if you can believe that. The Ryan pick will sure up the knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing base of the GOP but moderates and independents will be turned off.

It will still be a close race because Ryan is no Sarah Palin. He's intelligent, eloquent, and doesn't come across  as a plastic flip-flopping phony like the guy at the top of the ticket. He might even outshine Romney who made the Freudian slip of introducing Ryan this morning as the "next president of the United States." I don't think so. Not even vice.