January 30, 2009

Out With The New, In With The Old

Posted at 10:19 AM by Andrea Verykoukis

Paul StamJust in case you’re still feeling uplifted by last week’s historic inauguration, NC Republican Rep. Paul Stam is here to pull you back down. Not only did he try for the umpteenth time to change the rules the NC House works under, he did so in order to constitutionally bar same-sex couple from marrying. Poor old Stammy wants to be able to make tough decisions, just wike the big boys, the committee chairs.

Stam turned to the Defense of Marriage Act, which would constitutionally prohibit same-sex couples from marrying, as an example of why he’s upset the majority party is hogging all that pain.

‘We’re the only state in the Southeast without a marriage amendment,’ he said, owing to the bill not being heard ‘because of these rules.’”

Waaaah. Same-sex marriage is already illegal in North Carolina, but not illegal enough for the Staminator. His marriage apparently needs more Tough D, because the scary gays are out to … what? Attack it? Subvert it? Colonize it? What’s he afraid of, exactly?

In these ridiculously grave times, the fact that Rep. Stam has even a minute to spare whining about non-issues is surprising. The good thing about it is that it shows how mired in yesterday the state GOP remains. I bet there’ll be no love – of any kind – for people who want to waste time on problems we don’t have when election time rolls around again.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Ma.gnolia
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • E-mail this story to a friend!

6 Comments

6 Comments Add yours »

Jerimee 30 Jan 2009 11:01 am

Stam has also been encouraged vigilante violence against Latino citizens and applauded as Civitas speakers promoted using “racial tension” as a tool to motivate the GOP base.

One day the GOP will stop promoting bigots to positions of power. But as long as they persist, Americans will be able to stand against intolerance every election day.

Adam Linker 30 Jan 2009 12:04 pm

The N&O must be so proud about their endorsement.

James 30 Jan 2009 7:17 pm

I’m sure they are.

J

PS Any chance of getting comments on the main website posts?

I think Chris’ piece today about the length of sessions and the lengthening of terms (from two to four years) is worthy of debate, but I hate to keep having those debates at my place.

Jeffrey Sykes 31 Jan 2009 10:17 am

The DOMA bill has been sponsored by a majority of house members, yet Black and now Hackney refuse to allow the bill, duly approved in committee, to come to the floor for a vote.

Is that democratic (small d)? It seems more autocratic than anything.

I’m glad you all approve.

For all the progressive yammering about the voice of the people, change and openness, Democrats can act pretty scary at times with your dictatorial tendencies when it comes to the subjective will.

Enjoy the crest. Troughs follow by definition.

gregflynn 31 Jan 2009 10:08 pm

When Republicans file a bill to outlaw divorce I’ll start to believe they really want to defend marriage. Straight marriage is threatened by straight people, not by gay people.

Jeffrey Sykes 3 Feb 2009 12:29 pm

Greg: I didn’t ask about the bill. I asked about the procedural tactics used to block the bill from being duly voted on by the members of the General Assembly.

Do you believe it is appropriate for one man to block a bill that is sponsored by a majority of the state house?

Add your comment

Please keep comments on topic and be respectful of other commenters. Inflammatory comments will be edited or removed.

NC Policy Watch