Sanity- 1, Republicans- 0

Well, as expected, the Senate voted against the gay marriage amendment and it goes now to die a much-deserved political death with other GOP overreaches like the Schiavo incident and Social Security privatization.

In more encouraging news, the move appears to have worked against the Republicans, as I noted on Monday. Rather than energizing the base, it reminded them (ala the $100 check plan because of gas prices) how desperate the Republican party is to hold onto power and how out of touch they are with the real issues in this country. In that regard, it is almost good this was brought up again this year... it exposed the anti-gay-marriage movement for the farce that it is.

On this note, conservative pundit Bill Bennett was on the Daily Show last night and he and Stewart debated the gay marriage issue. Stewart took him to the woodshed. Stewart did what he does best... takes these issues and boils them down to their most basic points. In doing so, he exposed how silly the right-wing argument about this is and by the end he even got Bennet to admit- albeit in his own 'activist judges' way- that the debate is over and gay marriage is coming. You can see video- here. Money section-

Stewart: So why not encourage gay people to join in in that family arrangement if that is what provides stability to a society?

Bennett: Well I think if gay... gay people are already members of families...

Stewart: What?!

Bennett: They're sons and they're daughters..

Stewart: So that's where the buck stops, that's the gay ceiling.

Bennett Look, it's a debate about whether you think marriage is between a man and a women.

Stewart: I disagree, I think it's a debate about whether you think gay people are part of the human condition or just a random fetish.

Watch the full interview; it's a great back-and-forth.

[PS- Not all good news... Macy's in Boston caves to conservative activists and removes a gay pride window display. And this is in a state where gay marriage is legal. Pretty pathetic.]

[PPS- The House is expected to give this nonsense a try next month. Sigh.]