Saw this rather moving video over at Andrew's. The math is here. Apparently the cat used to be anti-gay marriage, and flipped.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
The only thing missing from that is a hearty "Have you no shame, sir?!? Have you no shame?!?"
Seeing how that Senator in the clip used to be anti-gay marriage, he hardly seems like the type of guy who should be trying to shame people. Such antics might make for a Sports Center type clip on Olbermann's show, but I question how well shame is as a tactic in changing peoples minds on this issue.
If anyone's curious, the best way to follow the Vermont marriage law is The Twitter feed of Vermont Freedom to Marry. Links to live streams, too.
Don't ask me how many times I've refreshed it, I've lost count.
Can't watch the video at work, but my favorite part from the article:
Former state legislator Chuck Hurley, president of the conservative Iowa Family Policy Center, said gay marriage opponents would step up the pressure on Gronstal.
"He is denying 2.1 million Iowans of voting age of the right to vote on an issue of great importance to 550,000 schoolchildren," said Hurley. "Mike Gronstal needs to humble himself and listen to the people."
I mean... schoolchildren? Seriously? I'd laugh at the tactic if it hadn't been so effective in the past. Let's hope we can come out swinging on that one and knock it down as fast as possible. Um, did I just mix my metaphors? Sorry about that.
didn't you know? that's how teh gay spreads...through childrens...
And Vermont joins the chorus-- they just got the 100 votes they need to override. Iowa beat us, but not by much!
I like that I heard the news here before any other source. Go TNC's blog!
Why do you say he used to be against gay marriage? As far as I know, he's always been very supportive of civil rights, including marriage equality, for gays and lesbians. But he's been around a long time in Iowa politics, so I guess it would not be surprising if his views have evolved in the past 25 years.
he says in the article "It's time we got used to them." that to me indicates some sort of change. I don't know his record on supporting gay civil rights or civil unions, though. Maybe it's just the marriage part that he change his mind on.
"The gay marriage issue flared in the Senate on Monday afternoon, when Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, accused Gronstal of "pure obstruction." McKinley demanded action on a resolution that would start the process of amending the constitution and noted that Gronstal voted for the ban on gay marriage in 1998.
Gronstal conceded his earlier vote but said he'd changed his mind."