Wednesday Open Thread [5.8.13]

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I wrote this last night about the fact that Ernie Lopez, Gerald Hocker and Greg Lavelle ending their statewide political futures with their votes against marriage equality yesterday and about the chances that Cathy Cloutier, on the other hand, had elevated her statewide future based on her yes vote:
The problem, though, is the Republican Party. When I say that the next Republican Governor of Delaware will support marriage equality, I say that because no one who doesn’t support marriage equality will ever win a statewide race going forward. They will barely crack 40% of the vote. So for a Republican to win, he or she will have to be for marriage equality. BUT… For the foreseeable future (at least until 2016), the Republican Party’s base is violently against marriage equality, and no Republican candidate can win the primary or get the nod at the state convention without being against marriage equality. Maybe the victory today will speed the death of the rabid bigots at the heart of the state GOP, and I hope it does. But assuming it doesn’t, the GOP is caught in a horrible catch-22: it can only nominate anti-gay candidates, and it can only win with pro-equality candidates.
And this, in response to how losing could be so addictive to our state GOP:
How can losing be so addictive? Easy. It allows these social conservatives to play a role they love so well: that of the victim. They love whining about how oppressed they are. And nothing proves their oppression more than defeat after defeat after defeat at the ballot box and in roll call votes in the General Assembly. And nothing brings in the dollars of retired old bigots more than hate and fear and victimhood.
Jonathan Bernstein agrees with me, or I guess I agree with him (depending on who wrote what first) in his latest article in the Washington Monthly.....

El Som is out in Indiana, so no Post Game Pre Game today

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I will however be posting an update of the Vote Tracker, my own contribution to following the workings of the General Assembly, this afternoon, and in that update I will highlight what other very important bills passed the House yesterday while all focus was on the Senate. I will also provide info as to what is on the agenda for Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy some more photos from yesterday's victory by way of the Delaware House Democratic Caucus' Facebook page.

The Bigots’ Response

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They are calling for the immediate repeal of the marriage equality law, I suppose not realizing that the 12 Senators and 23 Representatives are not going to repeal a law they fought hard to get passed. And apparently not realizing that once civil rights are expanded to new groups and classes of people, they are hardly ever rolled back. Indeed, the Hate Amendment in California is the only example I can think of, and even that attempt is about to be struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Here is a rescued comment from one Ecia. I moderated her (or his) comments on the prior Marriage Equality thread because she (or he) started spamming the thread with this drivel. But I decided to highlight this comment to reveal how bigoted and stupid the opponents of equality are. Here is her (or his) comment:
Calling For Repeal SB75: As The State Government has completely ignored the legitimate concerns of the People of Delaware, there is an urgent call for A Special Election to REPEAL SB75 or to do something to correct this unjust law that Desecrates God's Word.
Let me stop you there. The General Assembly ignored your bigotry. They did not ignore the legitimate concerns of the People of Delaware. To the contrary, they addressed a very legitimate concern: equality for all. What is it with conservatives thinking they always speak for all the people of the state or country. And they loudly pronounce that they are speaking for all the people and all the people agree with them. They doth protest too much. They know their minority and bigoted views are not shared by the majority anymore and it scares the living shit out of them, so they have to scream louder that they do speak for all, I guess thinking that if you shout a lie loud enough and often enough it turns out to be true. But I digress... Second, a special election? Did a Representative or Senator die or resign? No. So there can be no special election. But Ecia is talking about a referendum here. Thankfully, we don't have referenda in Delaware. Not because I fear losing a referendum. In fact, the forces of good and equality would win such a vote. I just don't think it is right to have a vote on someone's rights. How would you like it Ecia if we voted on whether you could get married to the one you loved?
"A just law is a man-made code that squares with moral law or God's law" If necessary, I am prepared to go to jail before complying with any law that so blatantly desecrates the most sacred gift from God, The Institute of Marriage.
Unless you are a Clerk of the Peace, as a citizen this law does nothing to you. It does not force you to comply with anything. [Come inside for more]