Uneasy Rhetoric

So it looks like gay marriage is going to be one of the lead issues of the 2004 presidential campaign. Given that the issue is a distant fourth in most Americans’ minds (when given four choices), this is unfortunate. By November, Bush will have taken what he thinks is the moral high ground and we’ll have heard no end of hair-splitting from the Democratic nominee who will try to answer the age-old question of progressives in tight races: “how do I support gay marriage without supporting gay marriage?”

Answer: take Sharpton’s words: “saying I’m against gay marriage would be the same as saying I’m against Black marriage.”

Gay marriage is the issue of the campaign. Sadly, this story in the San Francisco Chronicle, about the administration playing fast and loose with science, isn’t. It doesn’t even rank up there with whether Bush served in the national guard (he did and he was honorably discharged, end of story, time to move on to better ways to attack Bush).

The next time someone tells you we live in a knowledge economy, remind them who is running the show. For all the hype about our knowledge, and for all the hand-wringing about how our kids are falling behind in math and science, the sad truth is America is still a meritocracy of money and not of mind.