We now pronounce you Thom and Dickie …

 

Our *dynamic duo* in the US Senate just had to flip us off one more time before the Burr Era on Capitol Hill officially comes to a rather unspectacular end:

The Senate voted 62-37 on Wednesday to advance legislation codifying protections for same-sex and interracial marriage, signaling the bill has secured enough Republican votes to pass the landmark bill into federal law.

All 50 members of the Democratic caucus and 12 Republicans voted to advance the legislation, limiting debate on the measure and moving closer to its final passage. The crucial procedural vote comes after months of negotiations by a bipartisan group of Senators—Democrats Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina—to draft an amendment that would secure the remaining Republican votes needed to reach the 60 vote threshold.

On Wednesday, Collins, Portman, and Tillis along with their Republican colleagues Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Mitt Romney of Utah, Richard Burr of Virginia, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Todd Young of Indiana, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia voted to move towards a final vote on the bill.

The vote is a major victory for the LGBTQ rights movement and signifies how far the Republican party, and the country as a whole, has moved on the issue of same-sex marriage in the last decade. A 2021 Gallup poll found that a record-breaking 70% of the U.S. population supports same-sex marriage, including 83% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans. In 2013, just 53% of the U.S. public and 30% of Republicans supported the issue. The bipartisan support for a bill protecting same-sex couples—thought unthinkable by many political strategists a decade ago—symbolizes the lasting success of the fight for marriage equality. After decades of fighting, it appears that for much of the American public, the issue has been settled.

Baldwin, who in 2013 became the first openly queer politician elected to the U.S. Senate, tells TIME that she’s worked for years to make sure “people in the LGBTQ community can protect their families in the same way that opposite-sex couples can.”

Soooooooo — “queer” is now Okey-dokey?  I can remember getting screamed at for daring to utter that word in the presence of the alternative lifestyle crowd.

Sooooo –  the kind of marriage that has been the norm since the beginning of civilization is now minimized as “opposite-sex couples”? They make what’s been normal look and sound like a radical alternative lifestyle choice that represents maybe a handful of Bible-thumpers.

Richard Burr of Virginia ???  How long has that loser been up there wasting space? And they still can’t get his home state right?  (Actually, that’s good. Maybe a lot of folks won’t blame us for him.)

Burr & Tillis have been allegedly representing a state that voted 61% in favor of lawfully defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

They both claim this bill will not harm churches or other religious organizations in ANY way.  Some on the religious right, like The NC Values Coalition, see things a wee bit differently:

The US Senate today advanced HR8404, or “Pathway to Polygamy” bill which federally recognizes same sex marriage and also state-sanctioned polygamous marriages allowing one person to be married to multiple partners. The legislation also fails to protect religious freedoms of churches, tax-exempt entities and businesses. 

“This bill redefines marriage between one man and one woman to include same-sex couples, requires federal recognition of some polygamous marriages, and puts freedoms of religious entities at grave risk,” said NC Values Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald.“Voters are tired of sending elected representatives to Washington who betray their values. We need true leaders who stand for truth and their constituents’ values; instead, Senators Tillis and Burr are charting a collision course with their base voters.” […]

I can soooooooo remember Tami playing footsie with Tillis for so many years, to the dismay of so many conservatives.  *Boy, that karma really is something, eh?*

We tried to tell people what a lying back-stabbing weasel Thom is.  And he continues to prove us right. MORE:

[…] The original version passed by the US House in July, was denounced by the NC Values Coalition and national groups in a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Senate advanced an altered version. However, changes to the bill do not address the underlying problems of threats to marriage and religious freedom, and crafty adjustments were made to mask significant consequences. For instance, the substitute bill still allows traditional polygamous relationships where one person is married individually to multiple people. 

This bill acknowledges it may possibly infringe on religious/conscience beliefs but only states that those who had their rights infringed may still invoke existing legal protections, such as the First Amendment or Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Simply put, the bill puts religious freedom in jeopardy, but the solution is to apply existing law in hopes the plaintiff is not subject to a liberal, activist judge. 

“Senators Tillis’ and Burr’s votes are an assault on religious freedom, because the bill puts faith-based adoption and foster care agencies, businesses, non-profits and churches all in the line of fire for litigation. Instead of standing up for the religious freedoms of North Carolinians, they chose the side of activists and political expediency. Senator Tillis actually led efforts to secure votes for this legislation, and voters will remember this during his next election,” said Fitzgerald.

Burr doesn’t care. He hasn’t cared in a long time.  He has more important things to do — like getting back to The Outer Banks to scream and holler about that pizza place. 

Tillis has actually been telling us he’s in bed with the gays for a long time.  He got honored at that gay fundraiser in 2019.  He told us gay rights was the most important issue to him. He took home a nice pot of money.  Sadly, voters were slightly more worried about Cal Cunningham cheating on his wife than Sleazy Thom aiding and abetting the radical gay cabal’s campaign to destroy churches and marriage. 

The bill Tillis and Burr back will weaponize the feds to come after you if you dare to communicate your opposition to gay marriage. Don’t try to balk at making a lesbian wedding cake or hosting a gay “marriage” post-ceremony reception.  You’ll have federal agencies you’ve never heard of on your six.

It’s an outright lie to claim the bill protects First Amendment rights of religious people.

Noses have been held and held and held as we’ve mindlessly returned Tillis and Burr to DC.  In return, they’ve flipped us off and supported stuff like this JUST to disrespect our faith and values.