I had an NY Times account but I guess not. Maybe I'm thinking of another news site.

by Tom Hanc on 10/12/2009 07:52:01 PM EST

And once again, you post a link and nothing else...

by RedPossum on 10/12/2009 10:02:54 PM EST

I'm going to say something controversial here, but in the context of the other major issues of today, unfortunately, the repeal of Prop 8 _can_ wait another day.

  I was in California in 2008, and I voted against Prop 8, and think that it is a national and statewide embarrassment that we don't allow the freedom for grown men and women to make this choice.  I myself am not gay, but I have at least 20 gay friends (perhaps more, pending if other friends of mine are gay and I don't know it), and I fully sympathize (as much as I can) with their pain and support their struggle for equal treatment.  I know that the above can theoretically sound condescendng, but I don't know how to phrase it in any other way which is more enlightened;  I am strongly in support of nationally legal gay marriage.

But health care is something that _cannot_ wait.  1000 people die a week.  Our Afghanistan strategy cannot wait--we are losing some of our best soldiers, and with every passing week, terrorists are at least in theory being recruited to likely plot (with varying levels of competence) against the United States and our allies.  Dealing with nuclear proliferation cannot wait--a single bomb can kill thousands and lead to a reaction that kills millions.  Pollution regulations, stem cell research, enforcement of gun laws, pandemic containment--all of these are issues which cannot wait, because all of them lead directly to death when not addressed.  The housing crisis leads directly to homelessness and subsequently (sometimes) to deaths related to sickness caused by homelessness.  Attempting to combat global warming could possibly reduce irreversible mass flooding ramifications a generation from now.

Being a second class citizen is not fun, and any oppressed group of people, especially one that is oppressed for the silliest of bogus reasons, has a right to be angry and to fight every day for progress.  But a ban on gay marriage doesn't have a legacy of directly killing people the longer we wait.  I of course don't see why we can't tackle many issues, including this one, at the same time.  But on the national priority list, it is honestly not in the top 10 most urgent issues right now.
 

by Milltycoon on 10/13/2009 07:08:24 AM EST