The State of American Politics

If you are like me, you are out there wondering what has happened to American politics. I am approaching fifty years old, and in my entire life, I don't remember the politics being so divisive and mean-spirited. I'm not just talking about the presidential race either. It's across the board, and both Democrats and Republicans are to blame.

The election can go either way at this point. I have no idea who will be elected President. When I hear stories about firms hired to register voters throwing away voter registrations they feel belong to Democrats, I suppose the whole election is up for grabs. And then of course, as with every election it seems, we start hearing stories around this time about how we lack voting machines that are accurate.

As a citizen, I do not want Bush to be our President for four more years. I think he has failed our country in Iraq. I don't feel we are any safer now than we were four years ago. If anything, he has made us more of a target by pissing the entire world off at us. I don't like the way he has divided our country and turned so many of us against each other. In so many areas, he has done to this country what Osama bin Laden was unable to do, turn us against each other.

The Republican Party has been bought, it seems to me, by the radical religious right. Abortion, gay marriage, and school prayer, all have meaning in the religious arena. But, in terms of civil policy, they do not and should not have a say. We call this the separation of church and state, and the line must be drawn in clear and concise terms. At the present, we have a government that is hell bent on severely blurring that line, and much public policy is being formed based solely on religious grounds. That's very dangerous.

At the state level, 12 states will vote on November 2nd on whether to pass a state constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage and, in some cases, even the ability for gay couples to form legal contracts or civil unions. In those states, the arguments being presented against doing that are based on how it will effect unmarried heterosexual couples and what negative legal effects it may inadvertently have on them. No thought is given to how it will effect the legal arrangements of gay couples. They are, after all, people too, aren't they? Are they not still, American citizens?

Think about that for a minute. They are actually placing an amendment into their constitution for the soul purpose of limiting the rights afforded to citizens. All of this is based on religious dogma. It has nothing to do with protecting marriage or protecting children, and the proponents of these hateful amendments can provide no reasonable examples of how allowing gay couples to marry will harm the current state of marriage. It is simple bigotry wrapped up in religious thought and imposing itself into civil matters. The alarming thing is, it's working. We are allowing this to happen.

So, what happens to those of us who don't buy into the religious dogma. Well, we are the outsiders. Right now, in this year, the easy target is homosexual couples. But don't expect that to last. Once the states have finished applying discrimination against gay couples into their state constitutions (and I believe most all of them will succeed in doing that), someone else, some other group, will be the next target. This is the slippery slope that we are going down.

And all of this flies in the face of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which states that no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. It is extremely troubling to me that we are about to have twelve states abridge the privileges of a significant number of their citizens, and deny them equal protection of the laws and yet, no one seems to care.

So if we get to the point that our own United States Constitution no longer matters, what does that leave us with? Answer: a religious state governed by the views of the religious majority.

I took a long walk today at lunch time. I've been depressed lately. When I turn on the news, it's more of the same. Finger pointing and accusations. Right now, the topic is finding who is to blame for the shortage of flu shots. Tomorrow, it will be something else.

So today, I made a decision. In a couple of weeks, my partner and I will officially be voted into second-class citizenship by millions of my fellow citizens in possibly twelve states in this great country of ours. I've reconciled myself that. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but I've done it.

Although I may live long enough to see some sort of recognition of the relationship I have with my partner of 30 years in my state of Connecticut, I will never live long enough to get married in the United States to see it federally recognized. I've reconciled myself that as well. I will never realize what it feels like to be a full fledged citizen with equal rights to everyone else in this country.

So it would seem that my depression isn't because of me. It is because we are about to truly live in a class system where there are not only different economic levels of citizens, but, there will be a class of citizens who do not have equal rights. We've been through this before in this country, and for the first time in my life, I understand exactly the frustration and disappointment that lead to the race riots in this country.

What am I going to do about it? One thing. I'm going to stop caring so much about issues and people who obviously care nothing for us. Today on my walk, I realized that aside from my country declaring openly that I will not be able to be equal, I've always known that I haven't been equal. Yes, I've been able to sustain a lasting relationship with the man I love, buy a home together, live a quiet life together, and, through it all, have happiness in our home. I am going to go back to that. I'm going to go back to simple joys, such as lighting a fire in the fire place on a cold night, making some hot spiced apple cider, and talking to Kent about our day, our lives, and what really matters, our love for each other.