Dumb and Dumber

I've been fighting the mother of all colds since I returned from Oklahoma (Oklahoma's revenge) and haven't felt much like posting. But, I couldn't pass this one up.

You, of course, recognize our great leader who dropped by Denver yesterday to boost the reelection campaign of Marilyn Musgrave, Colorado's 4th District Congresswoman who, in a prior post, I've described as:

Marilyn Musgrave, Colorado’s Fourth District Congresswoman, believes – as quoted in the Denver Post – that “…Some of the things in the culture wars are not easily understood, but people get this one. And they feel very strongly about it.”

What Rep. Musgrave sees as the latest battle in her “…culture wars…” is gay marriage. She explains in the Washington Times that, “Marriage and family are the most important institutions in existence. Unfortunately, they have come under attack. The traditional values Americans hold are being traded for counterfeit marital unions.” She went on to say, “It is important to secure this institution and protect it from distortion.” To this end, Musgrave has cosponsored the Federal Marriage Amendment which would amend the Constitution of the United States with a definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The amendment would further provide that issues with regard to marital benefits would be left to state legislatures and not courts.

Institutions are, of course, fundamental components of a culture. But, then, the American dream, the American promise provides a place for and tolerance of cultural differences. The key to the strength and resiliency of the American republic resides in its ability to embrace, indeed to celebrate the differences amongst us all.

The American experience is, however, littered with the ignoble attempts of the self-righteous to impose upon us all cultural values that belie the essential promise of this nation which is the respect and protection of each person’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

But, then, we all know that. Or, do we?

I believe what concerns me most about Rep. Musgrave’s stance is that multiculturalism in America is apparently not something she celebrates but, rather, something she battles via her culture wars. One need not delve very deeply into Rep. Musgrave’s comments to understand that this small town champion of conservative Christian values has little tolerance for most other facets of multiculturalism – quite aside from gay marriage. She is a product of small town America where open highways over flat plains seem to lead ultimately, inevitably to an insularism not only of the mind but of the soul as well.

The fundraising for this ignoble nitwit took place in a room in the Comfort Inn directly across the street from Denver's Brown Palace Hotel (Yes, Unsinkable Molly's husband built it). Attendees paid $1,000 per plate for lunch and $5,000 if they wanted to have their picture taken with Dubya.

Those attendees were certainly Dubya's base. How many of us could pay a thousand bucks for lunch? I'm reminded of Dubya's words before another fundraiser: "This is an impressive crowd, the haves -- and the have mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base."

(The above picture is from the Rocky Mountain News - Mandel Ngan@Getty Images.)