Same-Sex Marriage Spooks

The marriage-equality losers, embittered and bruised, live to spook and shriek. Think of the hand rising from the grave at the end of Carrie.

Our own bad horror movie seems to have ended today with the stunning, sweeping, surprise victory for marriage equality. The Vote On Marriage gang and their dupes such as Sean Cardinal O'Malley, ex-mayor/ex-liberal Ray Flynn, and thousands of sincere suburban theocrats failed utterly. They tried every rotten and dishonorable trick and pushed the legal process to its limit -- and beyond -- to try to strip rights from a minority group here.

It was like another style of movie in the end though, like the Westerns I grew up watching. In the end, the good guys won and morality and the American ideals of fair play and liberty won the day.

Process Demons

It would have been a dreadful disgrace for Massachusetts to vote on whether to amend its constitution to 1) define marriage for the first time in theocratic terms, and 2) take away existing rights from homosexuals. Our peculiar laws were set up to act as a safeguard against an impulsive legislature. Instead, the bad guys tried to use that process to reverse a court decision (counter to our constitution) and say for the first time that minority rights are temporary and subject to a plebiscite.

We can thank the lobbying of individuals, MassEquality, legislators and other public officials for the result. In the end, the strident lie about this campaign being about democracy was unbelievable to over three-quarters of our combined legislature. Indeed, the people have spoken. They said, "Go back to your hole and leave freedom and democracy lovers alone!"

From the Grave

Yet, like those horror movies, this has not quite played out. Those monsters who cannot tolerate the idea that people they don't like might have equal rights, fair civil rights are not finished with us.

The rushes in the news predict that those who would overturn same-sex marriage here are in their hole, but they are peeking and ready to grab.

In theory, the anti-SSM folk could start today for the 2012 general election with the same tack. They have to wait three years before trying a similar initiative. Then, it would have to pass two ConCon sessions with a 25% vote of the combined legislature. Only then could it be on the next ballot.

Yet the people here are weary, very weary of the hate, mean spirits, lies, fraud and manipulation. They also see that SSM here has hurt no one and helps many. The polls show that legislators and voters alike are ever increasingly in favor of marriage equality. Finally, as everyone from Gov. Deval Patrick up and down has noted, zero of the terrible things the false prophets opposing SSM predicted happened.

Every Which Way

So, what's a villain to do in defeat?

The hater in chief at VOM, Kris Mineau, immediately made his threats. He said:

"The Governor and House Speaker have been unrelenting in fighting the natural course of advancement on the marriage amendment and the people’s right to vote," said Mineau. "We will look very closely at the circumstances by which legislators switched their vote for ethics violations or improprieties."

"Citizens in 45 states have weighed in on the definition of marriage either through the legislative process or by constitutional amendments. VoteOnMarriage.org vows to continue the fight for the people of Massachusetts to be heard on this issue."

The Boston Globe's conservative clown columnist, Jeff Jacoby had the bigger view. He wrote this proved that some of those dreadful Massachusetts SSM couples might sneak out of state and sue for marriage equality elsewhere. "Only a federal marriage amendment can keep that from happening" was his solution. That's right, boys and girls, change marriage from its form of civil contract into a religious definition, write theology into federal law and redefine marriage for everyone nationwide.

We have seen this on both coasts and occasionally in the rest of the nation. When the anti-gay/anti-equality folk campaign, they promise that they'll go quietly if they lose. If California, if the legislature passed SSM, that would be it. Instead the governor vetoed that, referring to an old DOMA-style ballot initiative and telling representative democracy to take a hike.

Here, when the high court ruled that we have equal rights and that means equal rights, the bad guys said, only if we can't get this on the ballot. After they gave it their very best, totally dishonorable abusive of the process shot, they aren't done. Now the legislature has handed them their hats.

You'd think that they'd have the decency to do as they said. The people spoke. Their elected officials said no dice.

Their response surely will include some lame and doomed court action. It will likely involve another lame and doomed initiative as soon as they can manage it.

For VOM and their ilk, this makes perfect sense. It's their livelihood. By rousing the gullible, they raise money, pay their salaries, and seem to feel important.

Good Riddance

Fortunately, they are a dwindling party. They may soon be reduced to the muttering few, as their tired and defeated supporters turn to other, possibly achievable tasks.

From their self-dug grave, the hands have not stopped reaching out. The legislature and citizens here surely have learned in the past three years to side-step them and soon will learn to ignore them.

If you are of a Christian bent, you might pray for them. They are sorely in need of a change of heart.

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Tags: massmarrier, Massachusetts, amendment, Mineau, Jacoby, same sex marriage, ConCon