Frist Plans June Vote on Gay Marriage (with poll)

Sigh...Here we go again.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday he plans a vote in early June on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, a move likely to fail but sure to spark a fiery election-year debate.

Do the Republicans flip a coin to decide which dead horse they will flog in each election year? Heads:abortion, Tails:gay marriage...

Can we (Democrats, liberals, all sane people) NOT let them get away with it this time?!  PLEASE?!

When they say: "gay marriage"...we need to say "What about unemployment, the Iraq War, the minimum wage, civil liberties, the environment...etc. (Fill in the blank.)

Democratic candiates, are you having trouble deciding what to say?  Try this...

On Jan. 1, 1981 the minimum wage was raised to $3.35 an hour...19 days later we got stuck with Ronald Reagan.

Fast-forward to 2006...25 years...25 YEARS and the minimum wage stands at $5.15 an hour.

Yep.

Less than a $2.00 raise in 25 years.

Gay marriage will ONLY be an issue if we allow the Republicans to MAKE it an issue

OK...there you have a little "talking point" on the minimum wage...pretty easy now wasn't it?!

How about the Iraq War & National Security? Try this quote from General Wes Clark:

"If the Democrats were in power,' he strenuously argued, `we would have gone after Bin Laden, we would never have wasted over $200 billion of the nation's wealth, we would never have ignored the threats of North Korea and Iran, we would never have ignored Putin's power grabs and suppression of Russian Democracy, we would never have completely ignored China's growing economic threat, and we would never have undertaken a policy of such ill repute that it creates more enemies in the world than friends."

Repeat that quote from Wes Clark early & often.

Paying attention Democratic candidates?!? If you allow the Republicans to control the talking points, then they will win...

STOP LETTING THE REPUBLICANS CONTROL WHAT WE TALK ABOUT!

Here's the link to the Frist article.

•  Tip Jar

  Comments...suggestions...

  Let's keep the Republicans on the ropes for a change!!

  by Ranting Roland on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:25:27 PM PDT

  •  It would certainly steal their thunder

    to definitively out Ken Mehlman, David Dreier and other gay rethugs the day the cat-killer announces his newest attack on gays.

    by Smallbottle on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:29:24 PM PDT

    •  Wish someone had

      of Santorum and a Basset Hound

      by Tamifah on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:55:42 PM PDT

      •  Ouch

        That's ruff.

        by jorndorff on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:59:26 PM PDT

        •  Arf!

          meant to say "video of Santorum and a Bassett hound"

          the day before said vote would be the perfect day to release it.

          by Tamifah on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:03:39 PM PDT

          •  that's OK

            audio will do nicely.

            by G2geek on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 09:20:03 PM PDT

  •  don't underestimate this BS.

    
    Don't underestimate it one bit.  

    This crap is intended to pander to the righties and get them to the polls.  

    It would be useful to remind them -the righties- that Frist is the man who tried to introject himself into the private lives of a couple faced with an intimate end-of-life decision.  This is a man that not only wants government in the bedroom, but government at the death-bed.  

    I swear to God, I hope some day that sick little creep gets caught with his literal pants down, "DNA" included.

    by G2geek on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 09:38:30 PM PDT

•  so annoying

  I hope a massive amount of Democrats vote "present" and say, screw this, there are more important issues facing the nation.

  Here's what I don't get: this amendment failed in 2004. That was less than two years ago. Why are they trying again? Do they honestly think they can get 2/3 of Congress and 3/4 of the states to ratify this when they came nowhere near close just two years ago?

  What a waste of taxpayer money!

  by Nathaniel Ament Stone on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:27:49 PM PDT

  •  Well...

    ... I guess they'll do anything when election season rolls around!

    Here's a talking point for you:  Democrats will do anything in their power to help this country; Republicans will do anything in their power (and more!) to generate a talking point.

    I'm tired of talking points.  I want real policy debates, even if we occasionally lose.  Damn it.

    by socratic on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:36:48 PM PDT

    •  Talking points

      I would like real policy debates if we occasionally lost, but right now...this year...we just need to win.

      by Ranting Roland on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:41:23 PM PDT

•  Frist

  should be prosecuted on murder charges, but I digress. The move is likely to fail but if the Republicans were TRULY serious about this issue, they would have tried to bring it up everytime it was defeated. They would have twisted arms just like they did in the Medicare bill to get it passed back in 2004. It's just too bad that the fundies are too damn brainwashed to see that the GOP doesn't really give a damn about gay marriage as much as it does with tort "reform," bankruptcy "reform," the Energy Bill, etc.

  by UCSBClassics53 on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:29:29 PM PDT

•  Frist's Worst Nighmare! (courtesy of Pootie)

  

  by PhillyGal on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:31:12 PM PDT

  •  Thanks Philly-Gal

    That was tooooo funny!

    by Ranting Roland on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:32:25 PM PDT

  •  Autopsy team?

    Opened him up and found Disney animatronics.

    by Maine Atticus on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:42:20 PM PDT

  •  print it poster-sized

    and bring it to Frist's public appearances.

    It will speak for itself.

    He will not be amused.  

    (Note, it may be necessary to conceal in order to get it inside.  But hoo-boy!, what a big stink it will raise, and what a media circus.  That will get attention back on Frist as Cat Killer, which is a meme that most Americans can understand even if they don't get all the legal stuff about corruption.)  

    by G2geek on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 09:35:14 PM PDT

•  It will be interesting

  to see what happens.  He wants to put Dems in a position to vote "No " on the amendment so that their opponents can say "X is for gay marriage."  The real question i whether anyone, including the Senate, will find gay marriage worth talking about.  It really depends on what else is going on and whether someone decides to give W a blowjob in the Oval Ofice or not.

  Let's face it, sex trumps all other issues!

  by tc59 on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:32:28 PM PDT

•  Last time it didn't even get 50 votes on cloture.

  It didn't even get 50 votes, less than the 60 needed for cloture and 67 needed to pass.

  There are more Republicans this time, and Ken Salazar replaced Ben Nighthorse Campbell who was a no vote.

  That being said, this won't even get 60 votes to end debate. The only Democrats who favor the amendment are Ben Nelson and Byrd while it is opposed by Chafee, Snowe, Collins, Sununu, and McCain.

  by Idioteque on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:33:13 PM PDT

•  "Pay no attention to the man ....

  behind the curtain."  

  you will whip yourselves into a frenzy over gay marriage so that we may continue to distract you from the issues at hand.  and then we will whip you into a frenzy over 'manimals' and stem cells and the need for even more, ever-lasting tax cuts.  you will do this because I command.

  so sadly ironic that Evangelicals and Southern Baptists allegedly have the highest divorce rate.  they are all such friggin' hypocrites!! actually, the nation could probably benefit from a rational discussion on 'marriage', and the tremendous pain inflicted on children and the cost on society from the rampant divorce rate -- which has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality.  but this marriage discussion should only come after energy, election reform, universal healthcare, deficit reduction, and a thousand other problems that have so nastily festered under Herr Bush.

  by Doolittle Sothere on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:33:56 PM PDT

•  how about a vote on whether

  bill frist is a complete horse's ass or just the puckered circle below the tail.

  by rasbobbo on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:39:52 PM PDT

  •  No

    the puckered circle is his mouth.

    by Maine Atticus on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:43:13 PM PDT

  •  Poll

    This is the first time I've done a diary with a poll & found out that you can't vote in your "own" poll.

    I blame Bill Gates...ya know...just "because".
    

    by Ranting Roland on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:44:11 PM PDT

•  No...

  <div class=blockquote>When they say: "gay marriage"...we need to say "What about unemployment, the Iraq War, the minimum wage, civil liberties, the environment...etc. (Fill in the blank.)</div>
  In general, you're right.

  But when Bill Frist says "gay marriage," we should be saying "insider trading."

  by Devin on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:42:57 PM PDT

•  Call it what

  it is: an election year ploy. They've had two freakin' years to bring this crap up and they are just doing it now?

  Honestly, If I hear "gay marriage" one more time in a political campaign, I am going to start throwing rotten tomatoes. This does nothing to better the lives of average Americans.

  It's a bone to throw out at the ooga, booga, bedwetters of the GOP. Fear, fear, fear, and more fear is all they have to sell.

  I think America has fear fatigue. What about you?

  Americans have always chosen freedom over totalitarianism. Gays will eventually get equal rights. Even Alan Simpson said that if all the GOP is going to be is the party of overturning Roe v. Wade and banning gay marriage then they better plan on losing a lot of elections.

  by Ga6thDem on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:45:24 PM PDT

  •  You really want to throw tomatoes?

    Here's the thing........

    Get a mold made of a pregnant belly. (It is better if a woman wears it.)

    Strap the mold to a willing person and fill it with tomatoes. Over this mold,have a layer of foam. Over the foam, wear a t-shirt that says, "I chose LIFE!"

    Go to a wingnut rally.

    Ready--- aim----- fire!

    by Maine Atticus on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:53:41 PM PDT

    •  huh?

      dont get it

      by Tamifah on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:04:18 PM PDT

      •  disguise for tomatoes

        The artificial pregnant-look belly is a device for concealing the tomatoes in order to sneak them into an anti-choice rally.  

        Once inside the rally, and up close near the stage, the apparent pregnant woman and her apparent husband reach into the fake belly, pull out the tomatoes, and engage in the time-honored ritual of throwing them at the fatuous idiot on the soap box, preferably while hollering "Bull shit!" or similar words.  

        This is not assault with a splattery weapon, it's a traditional expression of disapproval toward fatuous idiots on soap boxes.

        Whipped-cream pies would also be nice, but are terribly difficult to conceal.  

        (Note: in order to work, this has to make use of throwing-objects that are safe & edible, and are aimed at the intended target in a manner that cannot cause harm.  The goal is to embarrass rather than to injure.  Otherwise, yes, you can be charged with assault & splattery, uh, battery.)

        by G2geek on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 09:31:13 PM PDT

        •  Thanks!

          You explained it perfectly!

          by Maine Atticus on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 09:45:52 PM PDT

        •  Thanks

          great explanation

          STEALTH TOMATOES!!!!

          by Tamifah on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 10:47:39 PM PDT

•  I agree...

  and...just so you can let your Senators know...

  Click here to sign a petition to support marriage for ALL people:)

  AND

  Click here to send a letter to your Senators asking them to oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment!

  We should let our Senators know where we stand NOW....give them plenty of time to let them know where we want their votes to fall...

  and I think we should put extra extra pressure on the Republican Senators in blue states...particularly Snowe and Collins and Chafee...but also our common traitor...Lieberman...

  by Elise on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:59:58 PM PDT

•  OMG

  Yes Bill Frist, please do have a vote in the Senate about amending the Constitution to say that poor gay Tamifah can't every legally become some other dood's house frau.

  I hope Harry Reid pulls out every procedural trick he can to get you pricks to work on something that actually matters between now and then.

  Jackass.

  by Tamifah on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:01:21 PM PDT

•  And when is the religious right

  going to wake the fuck up and realize that this is just election year pandering to the base...which they will lose on...

  by Elise on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:02:10 PM PDT

  •  Sadly

    I'd have to say this is just "red meat" for the religious right.

    Frist is doing this for 2 reasons:

    1. To make sure the religious right doesn't stay home on election day. (He know's they're the difference between victory & defeat in some districts.)

    2. It's the kick-off for Frist's run for the presidency in 2008.

    by Ranting Roland on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:07:10 PM PDT

    •  Well....there's no way he'll be able to run

      for President....I expect he'll have some trouble with his investigations into insider trading and all that...

      but NO Repug wants the religious folks to stay home on election day...that's for sure!

      by Elise on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:24:40 PM PDT

•  Every time I see Frist doing anything at all...

  I wonder why he is there at all.  Isn't he facing indictments from the SEC for something?  It eludes me...why isn't that being mentioned by one Dem or another every time he opens his mouth?

  by Gustogirl on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:04:22 PM PDT

•  I hate this shit!

  They trot this out in June and then of course in late June, just in time for July 4th, they bring up the damn flag burning again.  Arghhhh!  We have to spell it out and hammer it home.  Cynical manipulation.  Pandering.  It's disgusting.  Is there any point in addressing this in a rational way?  Noooooooo.  Frist is even building political capital by getting CNN to run a story in February about how in June he's going to start garnering votes for an amendmant that he already KNOWS will fail.

  Cat-killing, pond-sucking, anal-retentive, brill-cream using son-of-a-heifer.

  by Naranjadia on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 09:13:07 PM PDT