I'm proud to join [Matt Daniels] and the entire Alliance for Marriage in support of the Marriage Protection Amendment... Your group recognizes... that marriage is the most important social institution in human history and is the most significant factor in terms of minimizing all sorts of social ills.For a legislator representing a state hit by catastrophes, Vitter sure is spending a lot of time slamming illegal immigrants and gays who "threaten" marriage. For someone fresh out of marriage counseling, Vitter sure has balls to co-sponsor a federal "Marriage Protection Amendment" to the Constitution.
YRHT asks: Senator Vitter, do you know what will protect marriage far more than this stupid, destined-to-fail amendment? Do ya? Well-built levees! Divorce skyrocketed after the faulty levees broke and thousands of lives were upturned; but you won't hear Vitter talk about Category 5 levees as much as he'll talk about preventing gays from marrying.
But if Vitty-cent thinks preventing immigration and gay marriage are the most important discussions for Louisianans to be having right now, then YRHT is ready to indulge him.
First, we should review John Avarosis' action plan which encourages constituents to learn more about what Senators are doing to protect their own marriages. I agree that this would be useful to know. Who are the real defenders of marriage and who are the pretenders? Avarosis lays out the rationale for his plan at Americablog:
In a nutshell, the religious right and far-right Republicans have said repeatedly that the "gay marriage" battle is really about outlawing:
sodomy
masturbation
adultery
prostitution
out-of-wedlock
sex
marriages that cannot procreate
We here at AMERICAblog couldn't agree more. That's why we are asking our readers to contact members of Congress who support the anti-gay constitutional amendment, and to ask them if they're defending marriage in their own lives.
MESSAGE: Specifically, we'd like you to ask them to vow that in the past, now, and in the future they will abstain from sodomy (including same-sex and/or male-female analingus, cunnilingus, and fellatio), masturbation, adultery, prostitution, out-of-wedlock sex, and marriages that cannot procreate. We will also ask them about divorce, as there is no greater threat to marriage today than divorce (in addition, the Bible makes clear that divorce is a no-no).
Asking Senator Vitter these suggested questions is not for the faint of heart, especially if you do so in person. Vitter has been known to become "angry, agitated and excited" when asked about his position on gay issues, as he did at a Metairie town hall meeting in 1993. There, he became enraged and assaulted a woman in the audience. Then he proceeded to lose a civil suit about the altercation, and had to pay a fine. So, while I think Avarosis' bold information-gathering strategy is excellent, I would recommend that most people use it over the telephone. Only the most fearless should attempt it in person with Senator Vitter.
But YRHT has another thought. Perhaps we should engage rightwing supporters of this Amendment, and explain to them that the best "defense" of marriage is a good offense. How so? Well, instead of defending marriage from gay activist judges, perhaps they should simply rely on their wives to enforse marriage's sanctity by encouraging them to castrate husbands who violate their vows. For example, Senator Vitter's wife told the press she would cut off her husband's
Indeed, Salon reported on Wendy Vitter's vigilance in these matters. Here's a quote from her preceded by a little background which I trust you'll find helpful:
As Vitter geared up in 2002 to run for governor, his bitter race against [David Treen] came back to haunt him. A Treen supporter, local Republican Party official Vincent Bruno, blurted out on a radio show that he believed Vitter had once had an extramarital affair.
The Louisiana Weekly newspaper followed up. Bruno told the paper that the young woman had contacted the Treen campaign in 1999 because she was upset that Vitter was portraying himself as a family-values conservative and trotting out his wife and children for campaign photo ops. Bruno, who declined to comment for this story, and John Treen interviewed the woman, who said she had worked under the name "Leah."
But after nearly a year of regular paid assignations with Vitter, the lawmaker asked her to divulge her real name, according to Treen, citing the account he said she gave him. Her name was Wendy Cortez, Treen said. She said Vitter's response was electric. "He said, 'Oh, my God! I can't see you anymore," John Treen told me, citing the woman's account to him and noting that Vitter's wife is also named Wendy. And Wendy Vitter does not appear to be the indulgent type.
Asked by an interviewer in 2000 whether she could forgive her husband if she learned he'd had an extramarital affair, as Hillary Clinton and Bob Livingston's wife had done, Wendy Vitter told the Times-Picayune: "I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me."
You go girl!
---
Scout Prime has more.
