Quote:
Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Amendment to the US Constitution:
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Bush doesn't have to do anything more- it will never get through. At some point he can express regret that it didn't get through, but he certainly need not do much else. He can't get 2/3 of the senate to do anything.
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Thanks for the quote. I think there are some capitalized words in there that maybe shouldn't be capitalized though, Hank. Your spelling issues are really starting to bug me.
The point is not the passage of the amendment any more. The point is that every time there's another twist in the marriage litigation or every time some random county clerk in NM decides its time issue a few same-sex marriage certificates, paragraph 3 of the news story is going to point out that Bush supports a constitutional amendment. If it fails in the Senate that will be pointed out as well.
This was a move to buck up the base, but it seems that the larger effect is hardening the opposition and disillusioning some supporters. If the amendment fails I don't think it's a case where he can just withdraw from the field with honor and a few quotes about regret. I think this is a real catch-22. But of course we won't know until it plays out.
