The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) this week issued a statement criticizing Democrats for their lukewarm opposition to the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment. That's good, but the NGLTF statement, titled "That's What Friends Are For - Where are Democrats on the Federal Marriage Amendment?," starts off in typical fashion with a laundry lists of complaints against the Bush administration that has nothing to do with gays. Instead, NGLTF's Matt Foreman writes:
"You've got to hand it to the Bush administration: they take care of their own. Wealthy folks have received tax breaks; Star Wars defense contractors are reaping billions; pollution controls on business are being eased; national forests have been opened to logging."
Thus having shown the GOP that there's no way short of hell freezing over that gays (on behalf of whom NGLTF claims to speak) would ever support their party, regardless of the Republicans' stance on gay rights, NGLTF then criticizes the Democrats for not scuttling the Federal Marriage Amendment despite overwhelming gay support for their party:
"[K]illing the amendment requires only 34 votes, and there are 48 Democrats, five of whom are retiring at the end of this year. In other words, every single Democratic Senator considered "at risk" this fall could be "let off the hook" on this vote, if necessary, and the amendment would still be defeated. ...
" I don't understand why our community should have to spend one more hour, one more dime, make one more phone call or write one more letter to make sure an anti-gay, anti-marriage constitutional amendment is dead on arrival in the U.S. Senate. ...
"We thought we could help head this off and give some cover to those now getting squishy on us by getting a few senators from safe (let me say SAFE) seats not up for election this year to say unambiguously that they would oppose any amendment seeking to restrict marriage rights. ... Turns out not even THEY would come through."
But here's a point worth noting: no Democrat reading the NGLTF statement, which equates gay interests with the whole left-wing political agenda, would ever fear that gays would abandon the party that stands against Bush's tax cuts, military spending, and attempts to loosen excessive business and environmental regulation, no matter what the Democrats do or don't do as regards the Federal Marriage Amendment. Thus does NGLTF undercut its own efforts.
[Addendum]: It occurs to me on re-reading this
piece that NGLTF's statement is an excellent example of a
near-total lack of understanding about market economics.
Metaphorically, in a town with just two grocery stores, Foreman is
telling the managers of the Red Supermarket that we will never shop
with you (and cursed be anyone who does), while complaining to the
managers of the Blue Supermarket that their customer service
stinks.
Heritage Relents.
The Heritage Foundation has, apparently, removed Paul Cameron's
pseudo-scientific studies from its research database (see
Wednesday's item, "Shameful Heritage').
Andrew Sullivan and others had also called Heritage to task
over its inclusion of Cameron's crank polemics as if they
represented legitimate social science research on homosexuality.
Sometimes, embarassment works.