�Compassionate Conservatism� indeed. Obviously he�s never had to take a phone call from the partner of a deceased person who can not have access to said loved one�s bank records because they were never married, even though they lived together for twelve years (a call I had to take when I worked at the Credit Union years ago) or had to tell the partner of a dying man that no, he can�t see him in the hospital�s Intensive Care Unit because they are not legally married.

And why do you idiots care so much? It�s not even going to cost you any fucking money to let gay people get married. Why does it matter to you at all?

There are a lot of issues on which I can at least understand the opposite point of view. This is not one of them.

July 31, 2003

Bush Backs Bid to Block Gays From Marrying

By NEIL A. LEWIS

WASHINGTON, July 30 � President Bush said today that while he believed Americans should treat gays in a welcoming and respectful manner, he remained firmly opposed to gay marriages and that administration lawyers were working to ensure that the term "marriage" would cover only unions between men and women.

At a Rose Garden news conference today, Mr. Bush used a general question from a reporter about his views on homosexuality to plunge into the hotly debated issue of gay marriage and offer reassuring words to many supporters.

His response contained his trademark political mix of an expression of tolerance accompanied by a firm conservative position on the actual policy.

"I am mindful that we're all sinners," the president said, and borrowing from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, added:

"And I caution those who may try to take the speck out of their neighbor's eye when they got a log in their own. I think it's very important for our society to respect each individual, to welcome those with good hearts, to be a welcoming country."

Mr. Bush then added: "On the other hand, that does not mean that somebody like me needs to compromise on issues such as marriage. And that's really where the issue is headed here in Washington, and that is the definition of marriage. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and I believe we ought to codify that one way or the other and we have lawyers looking at the best way to do that."

Mr. Bush's comments about codifying a way to prohibit same-sex marriages suggested to some lawyers that he was becoming more open to the idea of a constitutional amendment to ban them�

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

~~~

And does anybody else think that our attempts to focus on the Saudis �charitable contributions� which may have actually gone to help fund Al Qaeda smell suspiciously like we�re trying to get people off the trail of our own failures to avert the terrorist attacks on 9/11?

I�m not saying we shouldn�t look at Saudi Arabia, I�m just saying why are we not investigating ourselves more thoroughly?

My opinion? Well, you probably don�t want to hear it. Suffice it to say that if we didn�t know the attacks were going to happen, we should have. Either way, our �intelligence� operations need to be investigated.

Of course the fact that the committee�s report on the attacks was completely and thoroughly edited by the White House prior to its release indicates to me that the proper investigations will never happen. Big surprise, I know.

July 31, 2003

Links of Saudis to Charities Come Under Senate Review

TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN with DON VAN NATTA JR.

A Senate hearing today exploring Saudi financing of terrorism will focus on several Muslim charities that are closely linked to members of the Saudi royal family, groups that are also cited in classified sections of a Congressional report on the September 2001 hijackings, according to law enforcement officials and others with knowledge of the document.

These sources said that a prominent Saudi figure also mentioned in the report is Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, Saudi Arabia's powerful interior minister and a brother of King Fahd. They said the report concludes that senior Saudi government officials helped finance terrorist groups through charitable organizations and individuals.

Since shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, some Saudi charitable groups have been investigated by American and foreign law enforcement agencies. Several prominent Saudi officials and leaders of the groups have strongly denied that they finance terrorists and say these groups do legitimate humanitarian work.

Prince Nayef's responsibilities involve regulating Saudi charities, and for years he has denied that Saudi Arabia has been a benefactor of terrorism.

Among the Saudi charities that will be the focus of testimony before the Senate's Governmental Affairs Committee today are Al Haramain Charitable Foundation, the Muslim World League, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the International Islamic Relief Organization. All four of these charities have denied any links to terrorist activities. It is unclear if these groups are named in the deleted parts of the Congressional report�

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

~~~

In personal life news, John is coming down this weekend, after all. He has some business he supposedly needs my help on (see Word for the Day, below). However, Sunday, I am going to visit my old friend, Jody, so I'll only really be seeing him Saturday. He usually gets in pretty late on Fridays so it's kind of just shower and go to bed.

Pray for me, people. Because its been a long time since I've had sex (well, you know, three weeks or so). I need to stick to my guns and keep our relationship platonic.

And I am weak.

~~~

Word of the Day for Thursday July 31, 2003

factitious fak-TISH-uhs, adjective:

1. Produced artificially, in distinction from what is produced

by nature.

2. Artificial; not authentic or genuine; sham.

last / next



~~~~~~~~~~~peace, love and smooches~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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