bully cudgel

The New York Times today includes an article titled "Backers of Gay Marriage Ban Use Social Security as Cudgel." Here's a link to it, but that will expire in a week, no doubt. Apparently, the Arlington Group (whose membership includes the unsavory likes of Dr. James C. Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Paul Weyrich) sent a "confidential letter to Karl Rove" dated January 18. A couple of lowlights from the letter, as quoted in the Times:

• "We couldn't help but notice the contrast between how the president is approaching the difficult issue of Social Security privatization where the public is deeply divided and the marriage issue where public opinion is overwhelmingly on his side," the letter said. "Is he prepared to spend significant political capital on privatization but reluctant to devote the same energy to preserving traditional marriage? If so it would create outrage with countless voters who stood with him just a few weeks ago, including an unprecedented number of African-Americans, Latinos and Catholics who broke with tradition and supported the president solely because of this issue."


• "When the administration adopts a defeatist attitude on an issue that is at the top of our agenda, it becomes impossible for us to unite our movement on an issue such as Social Security privatization where there are already deep misgivings."


• "[President Bush] even declined to answer a simple question about whether he would use his bully pulpit to overcome this Senate foot-dragging."

Um. Wow. Where to begin? I mean, "African-Americans, Latinos and Catholics"?! Hoo-hoo! I hate when they satirize themselves, it takes all the fun out of it. Oh, wait. They freaking always satirize themselves. Sigh.

Remember the good old days back in the Clinton era when the press uncovered that secret letter from Bernie Sanders, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and George Soros to George Stephanopoulos demanding that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" be fixed in exhange for supporting NAFTA? Yeah. Me neither.