More priorities (or f*** them, because bashing them gets the rubes out to vote for me)

And so, with OBL (who?) still out there now four years and nine months after 9-11, with the war in Iraq generating over two thousand dead American service personnel, tens of thousands wounded, untold thousands of dead Iraqis, and hundreds of billions in costs of the war, with the federal deficit at record levels and only poised to get worse (as Congress debates eliminating the “Paris Hilton” tax, a/k/a the fairest, most efficient tax on the books, i.e., the estate tax), with National Guard troops being rushed to our Southern border, with terrorists apparently operating just north of our Northern border… the most burning national issue available as far as the President and Senate are concerned is, of course, amending the Constitution to prevent same-sex marriage.
This stuff writes itself. Yes, New York’s Court of Appeals has a case before it on this issue, entirely a matter of state law (absent this proposed federal constitutional amendment which, of course, is going nowhere) which might make the Empire State join Massachusetts as the only two states to legalize same sex marriage (California’s courts are also wrestling with this, but not quite the highest court yet, I don’t believe.) Massachusetts has single sex marriage, of course, and a Republican governor, and life seems to have gone on there, without the Apocalypse, or frankly, much change in life in general. Funny, that. (Few understand that the issue is a matter of simple fairness and the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution: numerous governmental goodies and rights are tied to marriage, and courts are now finding that the prevention of members of a committed couple from obtaining these goodies and rights solely on the basis of gender violates this provision.)
The traditional Republican base (i.e. before Ronald Reagan perfected Nixon’s “Southern Strategy”) of “small government conservatives,” if any of its members still existed (or dared show themselves) would doubtless be outraged at this needless intrusion into the private lives of Americans by an aggressively intrusive big federal government. Ah, but the religious right base of big-government social conservatives couldn’t be happier… as usual, they fail to realize that they are being played for fools, because yet again, all they are getting is lip service on their pet social issues, while their individual members, generally not members of the super-rich, are being f***ed economically, and yet play on just so they can get lip-service to their pet social causes… An amazingly destructive deal for all but the super-rich and the ruling class, all things told, but then, no one ever went broke (or got thrown out of office, apparently) by underdestimating the intelligence of the American people… (naturally, too stupid to realize that Rush Limbaugh personally benefits from tax cuts to himself at the expense of higher state and local taxes and reduced services to the rubes and zombies that listen to him.)
Thing is, though, the wedge act seems to be wearing a bit thin. The Presidential approval rating is now in the 20’s, with no particular reason absent something both unforeseen and extraordinary, to improve much. And it is the President’s party fighting to hold onto its majority (which it probably will; see above.) But frankly, if the best that Grand Old Party can do is trot out last election’s pet social wedge issues… well, you really start to wonder if maybe they’ve run out steam… Indeed, this shtick is so old and so stupid, that even “the base” might see through it for the transparent load of useless bunk that it is.
That’s not how you bet, of course.