In June, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said, with a straight face, that a constitutional amendment on “flag desecration” was the single most important issue facing the nation. He wasn’t kidding.
Of course, not all Republicans agree with Hatch — some think a constitutional amendment to ban gays from getting married should be at the top of the national policy agenda.
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), the lead sponsor of the constitutional ban on gay marriage in the House, spoke this weekend at the Family Research Council’s “Values Voter Summit.” […]
Musgrave declared that gay marriage “is the most important issue that we face today.” She told the audience that “when you’re in a cultural war like this, you have to respond with equal and hopefully greater force if you want to win,” and warned that the “future is grim” if gay marriage is not banned.
It’d be amusing if it weren’t so sad. Look at the congressional agenda: lawmakers couldn’t pass a budget, or most of the 11 required spending bills, or legislation on lobbying reform, immigration, the minimum wage, or offshore oil drilling. But for Musgrave, the “most important issue that we face today” is an anti-gay amendment to the Constitution. No wonder this is a do-nothing Congress.
Fortunately, as it turns out, we may not have Marilyn Musgrave to kick around much longer.
Colorado’s 4th congressional district (the fightin’ fourth) has been solidly Republican for quite a while, but even this red district is getting a little tired of Musgrave’s nonsense. In 2004, an underfunded Democrat, Stan Matsunaka, only lost to Musgrave by six points, 51 to 45%.
This year, state Rep. Angie Paccione (D) has a real shot at beating Musgrave outright. The latest SurveyUSA poll, released last week, showed the incumbent with a narrow, four-point lead: 46% to 42%.
As for Paccione’s response to Musgrave’s latest nonsense, the Democrat said yesterday, “Holy smokes, we’re at war, we’ve lost nearly 3,000 people and thousands more are maimed. We have over 46 million Americans without health insurance.”
We can only hope voters in Colorado’s 4th have their priorities straight.