Last night, I got pissed off during The Daily Show. Doesn’t happen often. In fact, I can’t ever remember a previous experience when anything on The Daily Show made me spitting mad. The guest last night was Mike Huckabee. I’ve never really disliked the guy and pretty much thought of him as a somewhat misguided but well-meaning individual, but after his responses during the interview with Jon last night, I completely despise the man. The topic? Gay Marriage.
Here’s a taste, and it’s not even the most awful thing he said:
The basic purpose of a marriage is not just to create the next generation, but it’s to train replacements…
I’m sorry, but … I feel sorry for anyone who thinks training “replacements” is the basic purpose of marriage. How sad and dismal those marriages must be. What about companionship, love, support, and all the other things I believe are some of the basic purposes of marriage? Hmmm … maybe Lin and I shouldn’t be married, seeing as we have no plans whatsoever of creating any replacements. We sort of thought that having someone to share life’s ups and downs with was a good enough reason to get married (not to mention a tax break or two). Guess we were wrong all along. It’s really all about the breeding!
And what the hell does he think is going to happen if gays can get married? Are the heterosexuals going to stop breeding? Does he think everyone will have to marry someone of the same sex? How the hell will gays getting married stop heterosexuals from continuing to create too many human beings for the planet to support?! Hardly.
Anyway, I suggest everyone watch the whole interview, because it’s always good to know where public figures stand on issues like this. Maybe if you didn’t despise Huckabee before, as I didn’t, you may change your mind. It’s an excellent inteview, by the way. Not the responses, which will likely make you angry, but Jon did a great job of getting Huckabee to show himself as the ass he really is.
The words Gay and marriage just don’t fit together for me. I have no problem with a legal gay union, I just don’t think marriage is the proper word. On that note, a same sex partner, if legally bound, should be entitled to medical benefits the same as a wife in a marriage.
Not saying I’m right, just putting my thoughts out there.
Personally, I think all “marriages” (i.e. the contract the state takes part in and which confers marital rights) should be civil unions, and then if people want a religious ceremony in the eyes of their particular God, they go do that with no legal paperwork involved.
All of these problems arise because marriage as it is defined in the US today is a mix of religious and state law. You have to have a license from the state, and the state says who can then perform the ceremony (they must be “licensed” or at least registered to perform said ceremonies). These two things need to be separate.
And people just need to get over it. Gay people having the right to tax breaks, property rights, and whatnot, isn’t going to effect them at all. It certainly isn’t going to stop babies being born.
The idea of marriage is the problem. The state should not be involved, other than to the extent that people concerned about property would have recourse to the courts to sort out trusts, partnerships and corporations they’ve entered, and the state would have jurisdiction over the welfare of minor children. People otherwise should be free to observe any personal or religious peculiarities in private ceremonies.
This will never be a possibility, of course, since our economic model will never countenance any deviation from the old buy-and-die, rugged individual nonsense, and with no recognition of public health as a national priority, we won’t see universal Medicare any time soon. If everyone were insured and if all income earners were were taxed individually, I doubt many, gay or straight, would think they needed a government contract to cohabit.
What we really need to be worried about is the ability of so many charming psychopaths to be elected governor. It tells us more about ourselves and our culture than most of us want to know.
Justorb, I also was a bit miffed at Huck last night. Gotta love Jonny, eh? He holds his own, speaks for me and with tons of humor! :dizzy: