Congress Debates Gay Marriage

Foxnews ^ | 3-3-04

[Indy Pendance]

WASHINGTON

[Republic If You Can Keep It]

I hope that Frist will force an up or down vote on this before Election Day.

[inquest]

Frist: We simply will not let activist judges redefine that definition of marriage

So by implication you're willing to let activist judges redefine just about everything else?

[Stellar Dendrite]

"And Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is a member of the subcommittee, said the debate "is not about activist judges. It's about politics — an attempt to drive a wedge between one group of citizens and the rest of the country, solely for partisan advantage."


hey ted, looks like all of that ethanol intake has driven a wedge between your brain cells

[King Black Robe]

Oh hurray I can start liking Republicans again. Good job Frist.

[DJtex]

If the Democrat Senators filibuster this, it's almost as good. The real issue is not Bush winning re-election--75% likely in my opinion--it's how many Senators and Representatives the Democrats lose. I think that once Karl Rove is confident of Bush's re-election the focus will shift towards the need for a Congress that's not obstuctionist to help him the next four years.

I think that Bush may have very long coattails this year.

[rodneyd]

Good for you Bill, go get them. All of this is silly anyway. A homosexual has the exact same civil rights that I do. So this is not a "civil rights" issue, it is a "special rights" issue. What is this "gay families" thing. I guess this is to imply that those unfortunate children being used as pawns in all this are "gay" already. I fully believe that this is all going to backfire on the liberals in a torrent of republican voters in November that reelects our good president for another 4. Then Frist in 2008. I'm from TN and am familiar with Bill Frist. He has the courage to stand up.

[Always Right]

And Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is a member of the subcommittee, said the debate "is not about activist judges. It's about politics — an attempt to drive a wedge between one group of citizens and the rest of the country, solely for partisan advantage."

The 'wedge' issue will become a wedgie to the Democrats.

[Spruce]

I used to not care. The more they push, the more angry I get. They shoulda just left it alone.

[Paleo Conservative]

Frist: We simply will not let activist judges redefine that definition of marriage

So by implication you're willing to let activist judges redefine just about everything else?

We need to put out this first. I think we need two or three constitutional amendments, but I'm afraid only a marriage amdendment has any possibility of getting through Congress. I think the states need to take the radical step of calling for a constitutional convention.

There needs to be an amendment giving a mechanism for the political branches of government the power to overturn federal court decisions at all levels. I think it should be possible to overturn lower court desisions before a circuit court of appeals or even the Supreme Court can hear a case. I think that there should be two mechanisms for doing this. One that allows Congress by supermajorities in both the House and Senate to overturn a decision and another bypassing Congress altogether allowing a supermajority of state legislatures to overturn federal court decisions.

There also needs to be an alternative method of removing federal judges other than just the impeachment-conviction process. Only a handful of judges have ever been removed in 215 years. I seriously doubt that anywhere close to the number of judges deserving impeachment and conviction have ever been impeached. I think a super majority of the state legislatures should be able to bypass the Congress to remove judges.

[Paleo Conservative]

I used to not care. The more they push, the more angry I get. They shoulda just left it alone.

Your reply is very vague. Which side "shoulda left it alone."

[Indy Pendance]

I just posted this re Specter and his pro-homo support.

Arlen Specter & the Homosexual Lobby

Next year, after the election, Specter is slated to take over the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will consider the FMA and any other such proposals.

[Spruce]

The homos. They shoulda just let it alone.

[Paleo Conservative]

If the Democrat Senators filibuster this, it's almost as good. The real issue is not Bush winning re-election--75% likely in my opinion--it's how many Senators and Representatives the Democrats lose. I think that once Karl Rove is confident of Bush's re-election the focus will shift towards the need for a Congress that's not obstuctionist to help him the next four years.

I think that Bush may have very long coattails this year.

BINGO!

[Paleo Conservative]

Next year, after the election, Specter is slated to take over the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will consider the FMA and any other such proposals.

Another argument for term limits and bypassing Congress on this amendment.

[teletech]

I hope that Frist will force an up or down vote on this before Election Day

Me too, but I seriously doubt he has the necessary cajones to call a vote. I hope I'm wrong.

[inquest]

Assuming your ideas for structural changes are good ideas, passing the FMA will make it all but impossible to get those ideas brought under consideration. Once the FMA is ratified, the public will simply go back to sleep until the next time some activist judge strikes a raw nerve. But if the FMA fails, then there will still be a strong enough current of political anger to tap into for your amendment ideas. There will likely be more public support for it also, since it won't be seen as a partisan attempt to ram a single-issue matter into the Constitution.

Nonetheless, I still wouldn't advise giving up on the impeachment route just yet. All it takes is one impeachment for judicial activism in order to set a precedent. If our energies were focused on that instead of on amending the Constitution, we might very well succeed in doing that.

All in all, however, defiance of unconstitutional orders remains the method with the greatest prospects, under the current circumstances.

[Recovering_Democrat]

THESE FEDERAL LUNATIC JUDGES MUST BE STOPPED!!