Pursuit of Happiness

The Monsters in the Closet

The last of Mitt Romney’s values on his website is Marriage. It consists of only two short paragraphs, the opening paragraph mentions that he learned those values at home, the second paragraph he basically reinforces that it is very important to him to “preserve traditional marriage.”

I wonder what he was taught about marriage when he was a child. Often I imagine Romney as a child looking at old family albums with pictures of his great-grandparents and their multiple wives… How was this explained to him? After all, he was a child growing up in a country where polygamy was and still is not only prohibited but sanctioned. How did his parents explained to him that his great-grandfathers loved this country so much that they preferred to flee this country in order to keep collecting wives? I wish someone would ask Mitt Romney about this, about how, if given the opportunity, all the Mormon men will be polygamists, himself included. The Mormon faith or cult as many claim this religion really is, diminishes women and render them as sexual toys created by their god for men’s own pleasures. How can a man that is a Mormon whose great-grandparents were not only polygamists but fugitives, whose uncontrollable desire to satisfy their penises was greater than obeying the law, criticize those that are pursuing to get married because they are of the same sex? How can this man, with that history, say that he will make a Federal Amendment to the Constitution to reflect that marriage is the union of one man and one woman? He will not only be going against what so many of the citizens of this country want, but he will be going against what his church and religion stands for. The only reason why Mormons fled to Mexico was to be able to be polygamists, the only reason they returned and remained in this country was, beside the revolution, because it is illegal to be a polygamist in Mexico and in almost any other country in the world, at least, any “civilized” country.

I guess that Romney thinks that if there are sanctions for his religion to have multiple wives and it is illegal according to the laws of this country, then it should be illegal to marry a person of the same sex. If “they” can’t be happy, no one else should be happy… the eternal excuse of the mean at heart, the homophobics and the emotionally envious.

Gay marriage will not, in any way, change the value of heterosexual marriages. The old rhetoric of the “sanctity of marriage” doesn’t hold any water, the United States has the highest divorce rate of any other country in the world. When we have people in this country that “respect” marriage as much as they respect chewed gum stuck on the sidewalk and whose marriages have made a mockery of that “sanctity” such as Kim Kardashian (married 72 days), Mario Lopez (married 2 weeks), Carmen Electra (married days) and the record-breaking Britney Spears whose marriage lasted a whooping 2 days! What fucking “sanctity” are these politicians talking about?

While the Democrats have their fair share of sexual improprieties, we are not the ones shouting the loudest about any “sanctity” and most of us are not against same-sex marriage. However, the Party of “NO” has a very outstanding record about how much they believe in this “sanctity” and uphold the “value” of marriage between a man and a woman.  Just for fun, here is a list of the most prominent Republicans that value the institution of marriage more than anyone else:

John McCain – current Senator of Arizona. John McCain, who gained notoriety and a status of hero for the simple fact that he was captured by the Vietnamese during the Vietnam War and who sang like a canary was left with injuries where to this day he can’t raise his arms above his head. While he was in Vietnam, his then wife was in a car accident that had left her crippled; upon his release and after receiving intense therapy for his injuries, McCain who believes so much in the “sanctity” of marriage had a few extramarital affairs. After “pecking” here and there, he settled for the daughter of a prominent beer distributor at which time he asked his then wife for a divorce. It is so good to have “family values” that we can count on!

Danny Lee Burton, current Representative from the state of Illinois. One of the most ardent opponents to Bill Clinton, who said at the time "If I could prove 10 percent of what I believe happened, he'd be gone. This guy's a scumbag. That's why I'm after him” and “"No one, regardless of what party they serve, no one, regardless of what branch of government they serve, should be allowed to get away with these alleged sexual improprieties,” the man that was so outraged by Bill Clinton for his extramarital affairs turned out that he had an affair with a state employee that produced a child! His wife passed away of colon cancer in 1993, and he married the internist who cared for his wife while she was fighting cancer… Sure, we are to believe that they had nothing to do with each other while his wife was terminally ill!

John Ensign, Senator of Nevada from 2001 – 2011. Who has forgotten about this scumbag? He once said “Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded. For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation.” What a hypocrite, as most in the Republican Party are! This jewel of a man, not only had an extramarital affair, but allegedly asked his parents to pay $96,000 to the mistress’ husband as “severance” pay... or was it more a payment in the hopes that he would keep his mouth shot? Who knows and who cares, the fact still remains that Ensign really values the sanctity of the institution of marriage.

Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina from 2003 – 2011. Don’t cry for me Argentina comes to mind when I hear his name, this guy whose “family values” break the mold not only was unfaithful to his wife, but performed a disappearing act on the Appalachian Trail and reappeared in Buenos Aires where he was enjoying wonderful nights of presumably wild sex with his mistress, all while the state citizens were paying for him to get laid. He was forced to resign and to reimburse the public funds money he used to support his private “fun.” Another great example of the “family values” upheld by the Republican Party.

Larry Craig, Senator of Idaho from 1991 – 2009. Another great example of morals and ethics. Larry Craig while in Congress consistently voted against LGBT issues, he was a firm advocate of the “Sanctity” of marriage and against the moral “corruption” of homosexuality. In 2007, Larry Craig was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for soliciting an undercover police officer. At the time he insisted that he was picking up a piece of paper from the floor to wipe his ass, how filthy is this? Again we can see how much the far Right value marriage and how much they are against homosexuality… Nothing worse than a closeted homosexual.

Timothy Hutchinson, Senator of Arkansas from 2002 – 2008. Baptist. A pro-life (surprise!) candidate that values life so much that he supports the death penalty. Needless to say, he also opposed same-sex marriage and he is such a “Christian” that he also opposed expanding hate crimes legislation. He values marriage so much that he divorced his wife of 29 years to marry an aid, now a lobbyist.

Henry John Hyde, U.S. Representative for Illinois from 1975 – 2007. He was one of the loudest voices in Congress during the Bill Clinton’s witch-hunt… oops, I mean, Impeachment Hearings. Mr. Hyde had kept secret at the time that for 4 years, from 1965 – 1969, he committed adultery and this became public knowledge in 1998, when the woman, Cherie Snodgrass, accused him of hypocrisy in an article published by the Internet magazine Salon.com where she declared that they had an affair. Mr. Hyde didn’t denied this but brushed it off as an indiscretion of his youth. We must keep in mind that he was 41 years old when he began the “youthful indiscretion”!

Kirk Fordice, Governor of Mississippi from 1992-2000. In 1996 he signed an executive order banning recognition of same sex marriage in Mississippi and an amendment to the State Constitution defining marriage as the union between a man and a woman, further banning recognition of same sex marriages from other states. This man that upheld the “sanctity of marriage” was caught cheating on his wife of 44 years with his high school sweetheart, divorced her to marry his mistress. The new marriage ended in divorce. I guess this guy truly believed in marriage!

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House from 1995 – 1999. Newt Gingrich exemplifies what the morals and values of most of the GOP.  A guy without scruples who is one of the loudest voices defending “family values” yours not his, of course! This poor excuse of a man doesn’t know the meaning of loyalty and faithfulness and has been consistent in having a mistress.

Michael Joseph Bowers, Georgia Attorney General from 1981 – 1997. Another republican that believes in the sanctity of marriage that had a mistress for a decade. A mistress that used to be a Playboy Club waitress, Anne Davis, and who Michael J. Bowers was so kind and rescued her from such demeaning position and made her his secretary. Talk about having the proper qualifications for a job!

I will never understand how the Republicans have the audacity of preaching when they can't keep their pants up, there is no doubt that they believe that if you repeat a lie long enough, it will become true... After all, isn't that what they've been doing all along?

Four Letter Words

Yesterday the citizens of North Carolina voted in favor of Senate Bill 514, better known as Amendment 1, banning same sex marriage and domestic legal unions. This bill claims that only marriages between a man and a woman are valid, rendering all other unions, particularly same sex marriages illegal. 

I am, up to a point, happy that these people did this to themselves. In their never-ending hate and bigotry towards homosexuals, they as usual, shot themselves in the foot.

This new amendment will strip couples that live together outside marriage to include their partners in their insurance as they have enjoyed up to today. This amendment might affect women from being protected by the law from domestic violence from their partner, since law enforcement agents will no longer see their mate as a spouse. According to an UNC study, the amendment might question the legality of “contractual agreements and equitable claims between unmarried couples together; and (2) child custody and visitation determinations.” 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey from 2009 there are at least 186,366 couples in North Carolina that live together but are not married, 91 percent of them are heterosexual. According to the latest Census, almost half of all marriages in North Carolina end in divorce. As of 2010 the total population in North Carolina was of 9,535,483.  The population over the age of 18 was of 7,253,848 and 3,042,733 were over the age of 50. This means that approximately 4,211,115 were in what is commonly considered the "marrying" age. This amendment will affect approximately 372,732 people that are living out of wedlock and where only 33,546 are gay. I don’t think you need to be a mathematician to realize who will hurt the most by this new amendment… Isn’t it funny how hate can bite you in the face?

North Carolina has one of the highest divorce rates in the country, so it’s not as if they held the “sanctity” of marriage to such high standards. I will never be able to understand the opposition to marriage between two consenting adults, regardless of gender, race or religion.  How would a marriage between two women or two men, negatively affect a marriage between a man and a woman? Are heterosexuals afraid that gay marriages might last longer than theirs and therefore it will look more valid or valued? Or are they afraid that same-sex marriages might last longer than theirs and therefore making gay marriage more “sanctified” than their own? I honestly believe that is what they fear.  As it happens with most things, what motivates them are their own insecurities.

People in this country are using every vile excuse they can find to go back in time. They keep wishing to return to an era that besides of the golden era of Hollywood and of what can be considered the beginning of the African-American musical influence in what was up to that time an insipid musical repertoire of Caucasian America nothing else was as good as they fantasize it. Quite frankly, not even what I just mentioned was as good as they think, except for a handful of “classics.” The time in history where the Republican and Tea Party want to take this nation back to, was a very sad era where only the Caucasian Americans had rights; women, blacks, native Americans and the rest were considered sub-citizens. I refuse to accept this; we must fight this regression together as a country and as a people.

I rather live in a country where what matters most is the respect we have one another, where my neighbor can love whoever he or she chooses, where we all have the same right under the sun and under our Constitution. A place that constantly moves forward never to look back, unless it is not to repeat the same mistakes; but never wishing to go back and always moving forward. A country that puts its sight on a brighter future, where we are all the same regardless of sexual preferences, racial differences, religious beliefs or financial status. I know that we still have a long road ahead of us, but the road must always lie ahead of us, not behind us.

I am very proud of our Vice President Joe Biden, that so candidly spoke in favor of same-sex marriage this past Sunday on Meet the Press. He might have opened a can of worms, but may the Flying Spaghetti Monster bless him for it!

Perhaps it was the candor with which VP Biden expressed himself coupled with the fact that the world didn’t end after he offered his personal support that moved our President, Barack H. Obama, to openly support gay marriage today.  I don’t know, all I can say is that for the first time in American history a President has had the guts to say this to the world and I've never been prouder of my president than I was today.

Four letter words and they have such opposing meanings: LOVE and HATE… which one do you prefer to honor?

North Carolina Divorce Statistics (2010): (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvss/divorce_rates_90_95_99-10.pdf

North Carolina Marriage Statistics (2010): http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvss/marriage_rates_90_95_99-10.pdf