oh my God... did I just gain some respect for Dick Cheney

[anriana]

Didn't he say multiple times while in office that he didn't support it?

[Tanasi]

Cheney couldn't done anything about gay marriage from his office as VPOTUS. Marriage is regulated by the individual state governments not on the federal level. Should he have said something before now??? I guess that depends upon your opinion about gay marriage.

[smileyeagle1021]

Marriage is regulated by the individual state governments not on the federal level.

as a slight side note... WRONG WRONG WRONG. Marriage is recognized by the federal government as well as the state... don't believe me, pull out your 1040 from last year and tell me what one of the first questions it asks you is.
Just because they aren't issuing individual licenses, they most definitely are still involved.
Also, if they weren't involved there would be no 'need' (sic) for the horribly misnamed DOMA.

*gets off soapbox*

[Tanasi]

The first question my 1040 asks is my name and then my SSN. The federal government does say who can or who can't get married. If they could I would suspect a bill would be brought up in the US legislature.
Marriage doesn't enter the 1040 until calculating taxable income and deciding on the tax table to use. Not too long ago taxes were higher for filing married as opposed to married filing seperatly or single.

[smileyeagle1021]

Marriage doesn't enter the 1040 until calculating taxable income and deciding on the tax table to use.

the point still being though, marriage is something that affects the federal level. I can be in just as steady and committed relationship as my married heterosexual neighbor, with identical household income... my neighbor will pay less in federal taxes. And that's just what comes to mind without even thinking. I'm sure you could find other things, but for now, I think taxes is a big enough issue to mull over.

And it still is a valid point that it is one of the first things they ask, first is your name, second is your SSN, third is your spouse's name, fourth is their SSN, and the 8th is your marital status for purpose of filing. Now, I know I have a simplistic view on life at times, but I've always had the understanding that the more important questions are always the first ones asked.

[DesignFox]

just playing devil's advocate...would it matter who could get married if the tax breaks and other government "benefits" of marriage didn't apply?

If we threw all that shit out the window...would it really matter? Just food for thought.

[Gravekeeper]

Great. His lesbian daughter has shown him the light.

Now Cheney needs an Iraqi daughter, a disabled daughter, a daughter who lived in New Orleans, and a daughter unlawfully detained at Gitmo.

Then he may somewhat come to resemble a human being.

Only if one of them concedes to donating a heart. ><

[lordlundar]

Only if one of them concedes to donating a heart. ><

I think you need one to donate.

[AFPheonix]

The problem is if he got a new heart, he'd just kill it off with a massive cholesterol injection right away, so it would be a futile effort.

[smileyeagle1021]

just playing devil's advocate...would it matter who could get married if the tax breaks and other government "benefits" of marriage didn't apply?

If we threw all that shit out the window...would it really matter? Just food for thought.

if all the government benefits of marriage didn't apply, I for one would consider it a moot point. If the only 'benefit' was that the government recognized my relationship, I wouldn't give a crap. I don't need the government telling me whether or not it's OK to love who I love. But when it comes down to the real world where a $25 marriage license for straight couples is only achievable for gays and lesbians with multiple different contracts and lawyers in a process that ranges from several hundred if you the majority of the work yourself to several thousand if you have the lawyers do most of the work, and you still don't get the tax break.
Oh, and that $25 marriage license are almost never contested in the courts, Terry Schiavo's parents tried, and they failed miserably, the hundred to thousands of dollars worth of contracts can easily be contested in courts.

[Gravekeeper]

The problem is if he got a new heart, he'd just kill it off with a massive cholesterol injection right away, so it would be a futile effort.

Or consume it for sustenance.

As for gay marriage. Don't give a damn. You should be able to marry whomever you want. Problem is religion keeps butting in on what is ultimately a civil issue, honestly.

Of course its all legal up here in Canada so moot point for us. -.-

[DesignFox]

if all the government benefits of marriage didn't apply, I for one would consider it a moot point. If the only 'benefit' was that the government recognized my relationship, I wouldn't give a crap. I don't need the government telling me whether or not it's OK to love who I love. <snip>

But my point is, if there weren't government benefits attached to marriage, would the concept even be an argument?

I'm 100% behind the idea that anyone should be able to marry the love of their life, regardless of what gender that person is. But would anyone even think twice about it if it was purely a spiritual matter?

[smileyeagle1021]

But would anyone even think twice about it if it was purely a spiritual matter?

I doubt people would think twice. If it was purely spiritual churches would do whatever they wanted to with regards to marriage, and if one church decided it wanted to allow gay marriage then the other churches that don't agree would of course raise a little fuss about how what this other church is doing is wrong and tell their congregation they should feel lucky to be in a church that hasn't given into sinful desire, blah blah blah, and then people would move on. Churches are already doing that.

[joe hx]

Or consume it for sustenance.

that reminded me of L'il Cheney on L'il Bush... always biting the head of something and sucking the blood out of the body...

[Estil]

Now all of a sudden I don't feel so wierd for voting against the marriage between a man and a woman amendment back in 2004 even though I'm mostly a conservative (except that I'm anti-death penalty and pro-gay rights) and thus voted for Bush/Sen. Jim Bunning/Rep. Ron Lewis.