Gay Marriage

McCain doesn't duck the issue, via NRO:

DeGeneres: "Let's talk about the big elephant in the room. I was planning on having a ceremony anyway this summer, even though it wasn't legal, but I feel that at least I get to celebrate my love. And then, it just so happens, I can now legally get married, as everyone should. To me this is only fair and only natural... What are your thoughts?"

McCain: "My thoughts are that I think people should be able to enter into legal agreements, and I think that is something that we should encourage, particularly in the case of insurance and other areas, decisions that have to be made. I just believe in the unique status of marriage between man and woman. And I know that we have a respectful disagreement on that issue."

It's a butt-bite that where McCain takes the conservative position, it's on an issue I don't care so much about. Actual man-woman marriage, with mortgages, minivans, children, violin lessons, parent teacher conferences, toilet seat disputes, mother-in-laws, hidden bags of Oreos, and credit card debt bordering on the insane will always be the same, no mater what happens outside the institution. Heck, I hope this doesn't sound as bad as it is bound to sound, but, heck, some people have marriages for their dogs. And it doesn't affect anything in my life. My marriage will still have a spiritual dimension that I don't believe "nontraditional" marriage can have. Yikes, I think it did sound as bad as I feared.

Anyway, Ellen said it, she was going to get married anyway. And I think that's fine, whether it's recognized by a state or not. One thing I think almost everyone can agree on: if Ellen's partner one day lies in a hospital bed unable to make decisions for herself, or if she needs health insurance through Ellen's health plan, or anything else in which status as a spouse determines eligibility, well than I think we should have a mechanism that allows them to be treated as such. What is sacred about the marriage between a man and a woman will still be sacred; it exists outside the laws of man.