Though Bush himself has publicly embraced the amendment, he never seemed to care enough to press the matter. One of his old friends told NEWSWEEK that same-sex marriage barely registers on the president's moral radar. "I think it was purely political. I don't think he gives a s--t about it. He never talks about this stuff," said the friend, who requested anonymity to discuss his private conversations with Bush.(I have to admit that I can't believe I buried this quote in my post below. I'm bumping it up with its own post. I wonder if Bush is going to change his speech tomorrow and say "I DO give a shit!")
Of course, the larger lesson here is that even with a super conservative president, with a super conservative vice president, and a super conservative administration, these guys don't give a damn about the religious right's extremist intolerant agenda. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson and the men at the Concerned Women for America will always, always, always be the crazy-aunt-in-the-attic of the Republican party.
And the even larger lesson here: Congress is being forced to vote on something incredibly controversial, and incredibly damaging to the Republicans' image with independents and moderate Republicans, right before a crucial election, and their own president isn't even on board.
And the final lesson here: Most Republicans in Congress probably don't give a shit about the amendment either.
