Failed amendment will be back

Anyone who thinks today’s U.S. Senate vote on a proposed constitutional amendment is the last word on the issue is sadly mistaken.

Cultural conservatives are prepared to go to the mat on this, while the GOP leadership sees it as a way to distract its conservative base from the Bush administration’s incompetence in Iraq and failed economic policies at home.

So, while the amendment is dead in the Senate for the rest of the year, it will make an appearance in the House and in an array of election races through November. Ugh.

Seven Republican moderates, by the way, who have been holding the president’s bag — in confirming Judge Alito, for instance — showed a bit of spine today, which could/should be seen as good news, though they remain unreliable and far from independent.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet