Because they have nothing better to do…

And also because they’re a bunch of assholes, conservative Republicans in the Senate, backed by Bush, have begun their push for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage… again. The last time was in July 2004, when they tried and failed. Most political pundits agree that the measure has just as slim a chance of passing this time around.

For a little while anyway it has made Bush and conservative Republicans all lovey-dovey again—after somewhat rocky relations between them in recent months over issues like the war in Iraq, the Dubai Ports deal, and Bush’s expansion of presidential powers. Same-sex marriage is one issue that still rekindles their old flame.

I cannot help but think that this will backfire for the evangelicals to whom the proposed amendment panders. Plenty of Americans are uncomfortable with the idea of same-sex marriage, but plenty of those same Americans also recognize that this amendment demonstrates our government’s cock-eyed priorities. The Culture Wars may work well for the Right at the state and local levels, but many Americans do not want to see them occupy precious time and energy at the federal level, especially as American soldiers continue to lose their lives in Iraq.

Americans understand that they have the evangelicals who have hijacked the Republican Party to thank for this amendment. While many so-called “morality” battles are fought at the local level in places where evangelicals constitute a majority, the proponents of intolerance and a “Christian America” are subject to greater scrutiny when the debate moves into the federal arena. The national spotlight is far less flattering to the Religious Right and their “Take Back America for Jesus” movement.

Locally (in some places), their agenda may have broad support, but at the national level evangelicals are still perceived as a group of bigoted fanatics who bear an uncanny resemblance to the Taliban. The evangelicals still haven’t learned that there is such a thing as bad press. You’d think they would have learned their lesson from the Scopes Trial.