Where Is The Love?

Below the Belt: A Biweekly Column by NOW President Kim Gandy

June 15, 2006

No surprise to those of us who watch their antics regularly, The Washington Post reporter Juliet Eilperin confirms that the House of Representatives has become an unfriendly place.

Beginning with the elevation of Newt Gingrich to Speaker of the House, Eilperin describes partisan warlike tactics and strategic maneuvers the Republicans have used to get their way, while they excluded Democrats from discussions and decision-making—tactics like providing copies of bills so late that Democrats aren't even able to read them before the vote is taken. And limiting floor discussion to two-minutes—no time for real debate, but plenty of time to hurl insults at your opponents for the cameras.

All the meanness, the insults, the war strategy reminds me of a middle-school playground. Should these be the defining characteristics of our democracy?

And it's not much better in the Senate. One exchange on the Senate floor last week still has me shaking my head. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), equipped with family photos, shared with his Senate colleagues that he is "really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we've never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship."

Since when is intolerance something to be proud of?

Two days after Inhofe's "impromptu speech," I attended a dinner for the new president of Chile, Hon. Michelle Bachelet—a strong president and former defense minister who is an avowed feminist. A victim of torture during former dictator Augusto Pinochet's regime, Bachelet has vowed to integrate love and compassion into her presidency.

"Because I was the victim of hatred, I have dedicated my life to reverse that hatred and turn it into understanding, tolerance and—why not say it—into love," she said. "You can love justice and being generous at the same time."

Love and tolerance. Don't bother—no one in the administration seems to know what the words mean. They're too busy trying to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment, which discriminates against millions of loving families, because they're more worried about appealing to their intolerant "base" than giving LGBT Americans the same rights as everyone else.

NOW officers and staff were proud to participate in the Capital Pride Parade here in Washington, D.C., where LGBT advocates—gay and straight—gathered to put their love on display. Despite the vicious, prejudiced attacks against them—right in this capital city—they were out in the streets, teaching the radical Right what love and tolerance are all about.

And the Right could sure use a lesson in that, especially in hardback form. How sad that Ann Coulter's latest book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, in which she spews bigoted spittle at 9/11 widows, is climbing the bestseller lists as we speak.

I find it more than ironic that, after they've spent five years using Sept. 11 to advance their doctrine (which has spread hate throughout the globe), one of the Right's loudest patrons has so little respect for the victims and their survivors.

Ahem, respect. Perhaps one of the most obvious situations calling for respectful behavior is when someone passes away. But maybe it's not so obvious. This week Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Colleen Graffy told the BBC that the suicides of three Guantanamo detainees were "a good PR move." Detainees' deaths' heralded as good political spin. When did our government sink so low?

So, where is the love? Why can't Bush and Congress be more like President Bachelet? Maybe if members of the House of Representatives weren't so busy insulting each other, if senators weren't so busy preaching intolerance, if the Bush posse wasn't so busy spinning death, they'd have time to address the country's deeper problems.

Let's make that "if" a reality. Let's get pro-love. Let's vote for candidates who love our rights, and stop the retro motion of the current administration in its tracks.

I'm headed to the attic, to look for those old love beads. Peace!

For equality,

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