The Wedding Bell Blues: What Better Way to Keep a Story Quiet than to Write a Column About It

The Chicago Daily Observer ^ | September 1, 2011 | Daniel J. Kelley

[PBRCat]

According to a gushing Carol Marin column, State Representative Deborah Mell (D-40th) “quietly made Illinois history last week” by marrying a woman in Iowa. Judging by Marin’s tone, this must have been the equivalent of Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.

Quietly making history? Really? If a same sex marriage conducted in Davenport is splashed across the front page of a daily Chicago metropolitan newspaper, does it make a sound?

[PBRCat]

Being promoted from lawn mowing to legislating is an interesting career path. Deborah Mell was put in her current elected office in 2008, not due to her merits or in response to public demand, but simply because her father’s ward organization controlled the vote in the 40th district. Shortly after being sworn into office, Deb Mell began developing her well deserved reputation as a relative flake, if not a flaky relative in the General Assembly. Her signature vote occurred when she was the lone representative to oppose the impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich. The finally tally in favor of impeachment was 117-1. Deb Mell has always turned a blind eye to Rod’s corruption in order to be supportive of her sister and brother-in-law.

[martin_fierro]

No self-love component there, noooooo...

[sauropod]

Wouldn’t it be nice if these people would stop insisting that their nuptials be displayed in public as if it is something we all must advocate for?

[PBRCat]

Unlike devotees of Islam, I do not advocate harassing or stoning such people to death, but when they demand that I must applaud their “fabulous” activities and ignore thousands of years of tradition, I get a trifle annoyed.

[PBRCat]

Better still, Mell “met” her mate by bidding on her at a lesbian dating auction which held as a fundraising event.

[muir_redwoods]

"Judging by Marin’s tone, this must have been the equivalent of Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation

This is a possibly accurate comparison since the EP as issued by Lincoln affected only the slaves outside of his de facto jurisdiction and accomplished nothing. In other words it was all show and no substance with no actual worth or meaning.

[dangus]

That’s a commonly made, but false, assertion. Lincoln had to be respectful of present law, so his power was inherently limited. But the truth: “Over 50,000 were freed the day it went into effect[6] in parts of nine of the ten states to which it applied (Texas being the exception).[7] In every Confederate state (except Tennessee and Texas), the Proclamation went into immediate effect in Union-occupied areas and at least 20,000 slaves[6][7] were freed at once on January 1, 1863.”