The FMA will not pass. There aren't enough votes. The Democrats know that. The Republicans know that. The White House knows that. The White House and the Republican majority have aggressively blocked any discussion of homeland security in order to debate the FMA--which will not be passed--because the White House needs desperately to throw a bone to the religious right, and to minority communities who are interested in fighting bigotry only when it is aimed at them.

The African American community in particular is practicing a destructive sort of politics. Not only are many African Americans condemning another minority, but in doing so, they are helping to advance the already alarming spread of AIDS in their own community. Harsh attitudes toward homosexuality and bisexuality keep African Americans on the lowdown and in the closet.

While our nuclear plants, bridges, highways, planes and trains go unprotected (and while the civil rights of millions of Americans go unprotected by the Patriot Act), the White House refuses to even discuss homeland security. That's your tax money at work.

When the next terrorist attack takes place, who will be the first to stand up and say "Gee, I'm so relieved we spent so much time trying to deny citizens the right to obtain a marriage license?"