BY DAN
KENNEDY
Serving the reality-based community since 2002.
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Monday, December 01, 2003
Another gay news day. After
a week away, same-sex marriage is still a huge news story, and it's
likely to remain that way for some time to come.
The big news, of course, was the
Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll
showing that 50 percent support the state Supreme Judicial Court
decision ruling that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to
wed, and that 38 percent are opposed.
That's not quite the "solid margin"
that the Globe portrayed it as, but it's surely better than
the reverse would have been. For legislators trying to decide whom to
pander to, it sends a powerful message.
On Friday, former state attorney
general James Shannon argued
that the man who currently holds that job, Tom O'Reilly, has a
reading-comprehension problem. Reilly has been trying to fudge it,
saying the SJC would be satisfied with a civil-unions law, even
though such a law would fall short of full marriage rights. Responded
Shannon:
It is hard to understand
how any of our political leaders can argue that the recent Supreme
Judicial Court decision could mean anything but extending civil
marriage to same-sex couples.
Which brings us back to
today:
- New York Times
conservative columnist William
Safire comes out
cautiously for same-sex marriage, joining his right-leaning
colleague, David Brooks (no longer freely available online), who
was quite a bit more enthusiastic about it last week. And
syndicated conservative columnist George
Will yesterday came
close to endorsing it, albeit not without some inane blather about
polygamy. (At least this time Will left the critters
out of it.)
- Syndicated columnist
Robert
Novak explains why
same-sex marriage is the last thing that George W. Bush wants to
deal with during his election (whoops! I almost said
re-election) campaign. Even better, the Prince of
Darkness's online column is accompanied by an ad promising
"Relationship-minded Gays & Lesbians Pictures, Profiles, Chat
and More!"
- Today's Globe
surveys
state legislators and finds that it's by no means a slam-dunk that
a joint session of the House and Senate will approve a
constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage when it
convenes in February. The earliest an amendment could go on the
ballot is in 2006. If the legislature fails to approve it in
February, it would be even later (if ever) than that.
Keller on Kerry. For some
reason I don't think Jon Keller likes John Kerry. Yesterday, WLVI-TV
(Channel 56) broadcast a Keller at Large half-hour special
on Keller's encounters with Kerry over the years.
And though I suspect Keller would
have something critical to say even if Kerry walked on water, the
program contained some valuable insights into why Kerry's
presidential campaign simply hasn't taken off.
While acknowledging Kerry's bravery
in Vietnam, in his later opposition to that war, and in his dogged
pursuit in the Senate of international money-launderers, Keller noted
that Kerry has committed "many instances of fence-straddling and
rhetorical trimming."
The issues range from Iraq to
education reform, from the Clinton "scandals" (where Ted Kennedy was
much more forthright in supporting the president) to the Title V
septic-system regulations, about which Kerry professed zero knowledge
even though environmental groups had hailed him for supporting the
legislation that created those regs.
For good measure, Keller whacked
Kerry for buying an $8600 motorcycle during a year when he gave only
$175 to charity.
Kerry's big tactical mistake was to
refuse an interview with Keller. No doubt he could have chewed up
long chunks of the clock, shifting the focus away from what Keller
wanted to say and toward what he wanted to say.
Then again, Kerry's entire
presidential campaign so far has been one tactical mistake after
another. Democrats who are terrified at the prospect of Howard Dean's
winning the nomination in a year when foreign policy is likely to be
the biggest issue can only be disheartened by Kerry's inability to
rev it up.
More shameless
self-promotion. I'll be on The Pat Whitley Show, on WRKO
Radio (AM 680), on Tuesday at 10 a.m. to talk about Little
People. And on
Wednesday at 7 p.m., I'll be doing a reading and signing at the
Barnes & Noble at Boston University, in Kenmore
Square.
posted at 9:16 AM |
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Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
