A Stitch in Haste

"The best of America is reflected in the many citizens who have adopted children as their own. Mothers and fathers are the most important influences in a child's life, and children with caring, involved parents can better realize the full promise of America. Parents help their children thrive by encouraging them to aim high, work hard, and make good choices that will lead to healthy, satisfying lives. On November 18, loving families across America will celebrate National Adoption Day by finalizing their adoptions of children from foster care. This day will also raise awareness of the many children still waiting to be adopted and encourage more Americans to choose adoption."
--President George W. Bush, October 30, 2006

"I believe marriage is a union between a man and a woman. I believe it's a sacred institution that is critical to the health of our society and the well-being of families, and it must be defended."
--President George W. Bush, October 26, 2006

Only two kinds of people could make those mutually exclusive statements within a few days of each other: schizophrenics and politicians.

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Meanwhile, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears has an op-ed calling for "strengthening marriage" --

[S]tudies have consistently shown that children raised outside marriage suffer disproportionately from physical and mental illness; are more likely to drop out of school, abuse drugs or alcohol, and engage in violence or suffer it in their homes; and are less likely to attend college. Child Trends, a nonpartisan research organization summed up the evidence in 2002: "Children in single-parent families, children born to unmarried mothers, and children in step-families or cohabiting relationships face higher risks of poor outcomes."

Isn't this all the more reason to allow gay marriage — to reduce all these terrible risks to children, especially disadvantaged children, by sanctioning a whole new category of married parents?

Actually, the piece has a quite noticeable lack of discussion of same-sex marriage, one way or the other. Which, from a gay perspective, could be read either constructively (i.e., "phew, not another bigot screed") or cynically (i.e., "read between the lines").

Tony at Rolling Doughnut (who is not gay) comes down on the "cynic" side. I'm undecided.