Tag Archives: Respect For Marriage Act (RFMA)

The Week’s Best Cartoons 12/17

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Holidays, Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

This week there were a number of easy targets for the talented cartoonists, including Elon Musk, Kyrsten Sinema, Kevin McCarthy, the former guy, and more.  The cartoonists picked up those balls and ran with them and, as usual, our friend TokyoSand over at Political Charge was in line to catch them!  Thank you, TS!!!

How ironic that the deeper we get into the holiday season, the more the news is covering the antics of incredibly selfish people. Check out how editorial cartoonists covered the likes of Kyrsten Sinema, Trump, and Elon Musk.

Be sure to check out the rest of the ‘toons!

Not A Nice Man

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, religion, Social commentary

The following is from an email by evangelical Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an ultra-conservative ‘Christian’ hate group …

Earlier this week, President Biden signed the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, which not only codifies same-sex marriage into federal law but also opens wide the door to endless litigation and persecution of those who hold to a biblical and natural view of marriage.

I won’t mince words. There’s no denying that this is a tremendous blow to religious freedom in America. Countless God-fearing Americans could face the wrath of activist bureaucrats, leftist politicians, and militant LGBTQ activists as they seek to live out their deeply held convictions.

That’s why I’m humbly asking for your support in the final weeks of 2022. We must raise $400,000 by the end of the month to continue pushing back against the Biden agenda in 2023.

Who will stand up to this insidious assault on the children of America? With your help, we will!

I’m betting that enough people will believe his lies, his fear-mongering, and his ‘doomsday’ scenario about the “assault on the children” that he won’t have any trouble getting that $400,000 … most will come from people who work hard every day trying to pay their bills and put food on the table, and Perkins will have no remorse, for he is not a good man.  He is a bigot inside and out, so much so that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has listed Perkins’ group as an “anti-LGBTQ hate group” whose “false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science” in an effort to block LGBTQ civil rights have led to violence.  And what, I wonder, does he think his $400,000 will buy?  Does he think he will reverse the law with it?  Will he pay members of Congress to vote to strike down or reverse the law?  Or perhaps he’ll just pocket the money. Oh, and just as an aside, Mr. Perkins’ personal net worth is around $200 million.  Seems if he needs funding, he could write himself a check.

It will be poetic justice when one day, one of his five children comes to him and says, “Dad, I’ve got something to tell you … I’m gay.”

Things I Was Pleased To See

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, Holidays, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Today for a change of pace, I thought I’d share with you a few things I was pleased to see in the news recently.  No, don’t worry … I’m not going soft, but sometimes it is nice to partly balance the negative with the positive.  I’ll be back with more snark later today, no doubt.

🏳️‍🌈Yesterday, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law with more than 2,000 people on hand to cheer!  While some claim the law does not go far enough, and I would agree, it is nonetheless a huge step in the right direction.  The law protects both same-sex marriages and inter-racial marriages, requiring the federal government and states to recognize legally performed marriages in other states. It also repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 bill that recognized marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”

It is likely this bill would still be languishing somewhere in the Senate, but a sense of urgency prevailed when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, of all people, indicated that the Court should revisit the 2015 Obergefell v Hodges ruling that guarantees a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Of late, the Court has not shown itself to be on the side of human rights.  The Respect for Marriage Act even had a bit of support from Republicans in both the House and the Senate, which I find very encouraging.  It’s time we all learn to just accept each other for who we are without trying to run the lives of others for them.

In Oregon, the outgoing Governor Kate Brown took a step that I fully applaud.  She announced that she will commute the sentences of all 17 individuals on Oregon’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  As an opponent of the death penalty, I am beyond pleased to hear this.  Says Governor Brown …

“I have long believed that justice is not advanced by taking a life, and the state should not be in the business of executing people — even if a terrible crime placed them in prison. This is a value that many Oregonians share.”

She also directed the Department of Corrections to dismantle the state’s death chamber.

According to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), civil rights giant and former U.S. Representative John Lewis, who spent decades fighting for racial justice, will be honored with a postage-stamp next year!  I cannot think of a single person more worthy of this honour.  The USPS said the stamp “celebrates the life and legacy” of the leader from Georgia, who risked his life protesting against segregation and other injustices in the violent Jim Crow-era South.

“Lewis spent more than 30 years in Congress steadfastly defending and building on key civil rights gains that he had helped achieve in the 1960s. Even in the face of hatred and violence, as well as some 45 arrests, Lewis remained resolute in his commitment to what he liked to call ‘good trouble.'”

And lastly, a bit of humour out of Florida.

In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Colonel Lou Caputo, left, costumed as the Grinch, and Deputy Andrew Leird, right, wave at a school bus rolling on the Florida Keys Overseas Highway Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, in Marathon, Fla. When drivers are pulled over for slightly speeding through a school zone, Caputo offers them the choice between an onion or a traffic citation. It’s a holiday tradition in the Keys that Caputo began 20 years ago to educate drivers that Keys schools remain in session through Dec. 16.

No Snark Today — Just Good News!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Global Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Typically, my posts bring you all the bad news, but today I actually have a couple of good news pieces, starting with the news that as I write this, Brittney Griner is on a plane heading home to the U.S. after some ten months imprisoned in Russia.  President Biden announced early this morning …

“Moments ago, standing together with her wife Cherelle in the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittney Griner. She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home after months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances. Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along.”

Ms. Griner was arrested in February on “drug smuggling” charges, for having inadvertently packed a vaporizer cartridge containing less than a gram of cannabis oil.  For this, she was sentenced to nine years in prison in August.  A rather harsh sentence for what wouldn’t even be a crime in the U.S., but that’s Russia.  Negotiations for her release, as well as another U.S. citizen being held by Russia, Paul Whelan, have been ongoing and today she was released in a one-to-one prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.  Negotiations for Mr. Whelan’s release are ongoing.

Welcome home, Ms. Griner!

And huge kudos to the House of Representatives today for passing the Respect for Marriage Act (FfMA) that will protect same-sex and interracial marriages by a vote of 258-169.  Last month, the bill passed in the Senate by 62-37 with 12 Republicans voting for it.  Today, 39 House Republicans joined all Democrats in passing this legislation!  This came as a surprise to me, especially after the 12 Republican senators came under serious criticism by their party for working across the aisle.

The bill doesn’t go as far as we might like, as it would not force states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples but it will require that people be considered married in any state as long as the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed.  The bill also would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA). In addition to defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, DoMA allowed states to decline to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. That law has remained on the books despite being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling in United States v. Windsor and its 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which guaranteed same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry.

Next, the bill heads to the Oval Office for President Biden’s signature, which is all but guaranteed.  👍👍

And that’s the good news of the day, my friends! No doubt tomorrow I will return to my usual snarky self.  Meanwhile, just a few cartoons …

A Beacon of Light and Hope

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Yesterday was a red-letter day for human rights in the U.S. Senate.  The senate passed a bill, the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA), that, if it passes in the House of Representatives, will codify protection for same-sex marriage.  Now, that in itself is an accomplishment worthy of a big WHOO HOO!!!  But even more encouraging, the bill was passed by a margin of 62-37 with 12 Republicans voting in favour!  I had been reading for days about the Republican/conservative backlash against this bill, so when I heard that 12 Republicans voted to protect same-sex marriage, I was stunned … in a good way!

Republican Susan Collins joined forces with Democrat Tammy Baldwin and worked across the aisle to rally support for this bill.  Those Republicans who voted in favour deserve recognition.  In addition to Susan Collins, they are …

  • Rob Portman (Ohio)
  • Thom Tillis (N.C.)
  • Mitt Romney (Utah)
  • Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
  • Roy Blunt (Mo.)
  • Richard Burr (N.C.)
  • Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.)
  • Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.)
  • Dan Sullivan (Alaska)
  • Joni Ernst (Iowa)
  • Todd Young (Ind.)

Thank you, Senators!

The RFMA repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 1996 law that bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.  It also requires that every state recognize a valid same-sex marriage.  It does fall short of requiring that every state issue licenses for same-sex marriages. The reason for this distinction is to keep the bill from being overridden by the Supreme Court who has previously ruled that the federal government cannot “commandeer” states to enforce federal laws or pass specific statutes. If Congress compelled states to license same-sex marriages, the judiciary would invalidate the law as a violation of this anti-commandeering doctrine.

There has been a very real concern that the Supreme Court is poised to strike down Obergefell v Hodges, the case that requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages.  Once signed into law, the Respect for Marriage Act will make it more difficult for the Court to overturn the 2015 decision.

As an added bonus, the bill would also protect inter-racial marriages if the ultra-conservative, backward-looking Supreme Court were to decide to overturn the 1967 ruling in Loving v Virginia the ruling that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Next, the bill moves to the House where it is expected to pass, possibly by the end of this week.  If they table it until January, it will be doomed to fail, but at present there is no reason to think it won’t pass the House and be signed into law by President Biden at least by the end of the year.  Score one for human rights, for civil rights, for LGBTQ rights!  Score one for bipartisanship.

The Right To Be You

Posted on by under History, Law and justice, Racism & Bigotry, religion, Social commentary

I think that the ‘wall of separation’ between Church and State is critical to maintaining the democratic foundations of this nation.  If 100% of all people who vote and pay taxes in the nation were of the same religious beliefs, then it might not be critical, then a theocracy might be workable.  But in this nation where there are so many different religions, to form a theocracy would be to enslave a large portion of the populace.  Yes, I said ‘enslave’ and that is precisely what I mean.

Let me start out with an example:  What if I told you that there is a bill before Congress to ban the production and consumption of pork and pork products?  (No, there isn’t really such a bill … this is a hypothetical … bear with me here).  The reason?  Well, two of this nation’s major religions, Islam and Judaism, prohibit the consumption of pork and pork products, so in a nod to those two religions, the government must ban pork products.

“BUT … I’m neither Muslim nor Jewish!!!! I want my bacon!!!”

… you decry.  Well, you may have a point there.  But then … I’m not Christian, so why should I have to live under the laws of that religion?  Why should I be forbidden from having an abortion, or marrying a person of my own gender?  Do you get what I’m saying here?  Are you picking up what I’m laying down?

There is no single religion that is sanctioned by the government or by the United States Constitution, contrary to what some would have us believe.  ‘They’ claim that the U.S. is a Christian nation, but NO, it is NOT.  There are Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, and in addition, some 23%, nearly a quarter of the population, are ‘unaffiliated’ atheists and agnostics.  We may not be Christians, but we work hard, we send our children to public schools, and we pay taxes just like the Christians do!  Why should we be treated as second-class citizens, as strangers in our own land?

There are many issues swirling around in the political maelstrom these days … divisive and controversial issues made more so by the white nationalist and white supremacist movements of the day.  But none, I think, is more important than this one, for the Supreme Court appears to be willing to sacrifice that ‘wall of separation’ in order to appease the right-wing evangelicals, even though said evangelicals comprise only about 25% of the populace.

One of the reason Europeans came to this country some 400+ years ago was to escape religious persecution.  And here we are, in the year 2022, trying to persecute women, Blacks, Muslims, atheists, and LGBTQ people in an effort to turn a democratic republic into a plutocratic theocracy!  Obviously, the lessons of history went straight over our heads.

I find it beyond worrisome when our elected officials make divisive comments like when Lauren Boebert refers to non-Christians as “the enemy”.  So … tell me, Ms. Boebert … if I am ‘the enemy’, why am I still paying taxes?  But she is not alone … numerous politicians and religious leaders are objecting to LGBTQ rights …

  • In response to the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) currently making its way through Congress, Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota says that “In many respects, passing a bill like this really sends a pretty strong message that religious beliefs don’t matter.”
  • Matt Staver of Liberty Counsel, a well-known evangelical group, said that the RFMA “has many far-reaching implications, including pedophile marriage, same-sex, child-bride, incest, polygamy and any other perversion of marriage.”

Lies, lies, and more lies.  But the lies are believed by the vulnerable.  The lies are the seeds that sow hatred and violence, that seek to exclude rather than include, that will lead to a nation forever divided if we allow it.

The biggest thing this country has had going for it is its diversity.  Theoretically, at least, we welcome people from all countries, people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions, but it seems that today, far too many shun that very diversity upon which the nation was founded.  Remember those words at the base of the Statue of Liberty?

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Do those words mean nothing today?  Should they instead read, “Send me only your white-skinned wealthy Christians”?

Separation of church and state is critical to a democracy.  Those who would claim otherwise have a different vision of what this country is, or should be, than the majority of us do.  It’s a shame that we have to pass laws to protect people’s right to be who they are, don’t you think?  I dream of a world where everyone simply accepts others as they are, no condemnation, no forcing people into boxes that all look alike.  But, until we have that world, we need laws … and in this case, we need to maintain that wall of separation between church and state.

Could Somebody Please Explain …

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, religion, Social commentary

You just don’t realize how many bigots there are in the world until something like the Respect For Marriage Act (RFMA) comes up.  Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed this bill that would require the federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages in the U.S.  In my opinion, the bill doesn’t go far enough, but that’s a discussion for another day.  Suffice it to say that I fully support the RFMA and am only saddened by the fact that we need to pass a law to give people the right to be who they are, to love whomever they choose.  Like everything else, there is a political divide on this issue, but nonetheless, 47 Republicans in the House actually voted for the bill, and at least four Republican senators have expressed that they will vote for it when it reaches the Senate floor.

Wouldn’t you know, some people are furious about it?  The ignominious Franklin Graham said …

“I was confused by the 47 Republicans who followed suit. God says that marriage is to be between one man and one woman—not two men, not two women. The GOP used to believe that too. Will you pray for God’s intervention as this bill moves on to the Senate? Only He can save us from our evil and rebellious ways.”

The House Freedom Caucus issued an ‘official statement’ saying …

“The radical Left has launched an all-out campaign on America’s traditional values and sacred institutions. It has weakened the nuclear family, attacked the norms of masculinity and femininity, and now it wants to further erode the sacred institution of marriage.”

Fox ‘News’ host Mark Levin weighed in …

“All 47 Republicans who voted that way are gutless buffoons. That’s the truth.”

And others, including religious ‘leaders’ and journalists had their say.  Now, folks, here’s what I want to say to these people …

Help me to understand your views. If two people of the same sex marry, how does that harm you?  It doesn’t take away any of your rights, it doesn’t make you homeless or take away your job, it doesn’t affect your health or well-being, so … why do you care?  Nobody is telling you that you must marry a person of the same sex … who you marry is up to you, just as who I marry is up to me and who anybody marries should be left up to them.  What, exactly, is your objection?  I am thoroughly confused and need you to explain it to me.

Some people claim objections on religious grounds, but again … nobody is saying that anyone has to marry someone of the same gender!  With thousands of religions and religious variations in the world, it would be impossible to please every one of them, and here in the United States, there is no state-sponsored or mandated religion.  The nation was founded, in part, based on freedom of religion. It’s the same as I’ve long said about abortion … if you don’t like abortion or it goes against your religious values, then fine – don’t have an abortion!  But don’t presume to tell others what they can or cannot do.

I appreciate the 47 courageous Republicans who stood against the ‘party line’ on this issue and voted their conscience.  Unfortunately, they will likely pay a price within their party and perhaps with their constituents.  And all because … what???  Because about half the people in this nation believe they should be able to regulate or control the lives of others?  Because those same people are so close-minded that they cannot accept those who are not their clones?  Frankly, I think that those who are so vocally opposed to same-sex marriage should maybe take a good hard look in the mirror at their own values, for I see something lacking:  humanity and compassion.  If that’s what religion brings about, cruelty and bigotry, then I think perhaps religion is a large part of the problem in the world today.