April 24, 2010

The GOP Needs Candidates with Backbone

By Karen Karacsony
While recently attending a candidate forum, I heard a prominent Republican candidate answer a question about gay marriage with the declaration, "I don't think the government should have anything to do with marriage."Huh?Fellow Republicans, let us be clear: The government has a whole lot to do with marriage. After all, we do not purchase marriage licenses at our local 7-11, but instead receive them from a government office -- and only after governmental officials have received the proper fees and documentation to certify the marriage. In fact, if we were to view a California License and Certificate of Marriage, we would see the uppercase words STATE OF CALIFORNIA at the top of document, followed later by the words (again in uppercase) AUTHORIZATION AND LICENSE IS HEREBY GIVEN TO ANY PERSON DULY AUTHORIZED BY THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. Surely, we can agree that the issuing of marriage licenses is as much a governmental function as the issuing of California driver's...(Read Full Article)