Welcome to this community supported and guest-produced edition of the best of the left podcast,

with clips today from Radio Nation, La Show, Ring of Fire, and Real Time with Bill Mar.

I believe that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. We believe in family values.

We believe values are important, and we believe marriage is a fundamental institution of civilization.

Yeah, right. That's our president speaking yesterday. We believe in family values. We believe in

fundamental institutions of civilization. The GOP is clearly hoping that the New Jersey

Supreme Court decision, which amounted frankly to not very much. Other than acknowledging the

gay and straight couples are equally, I don't know what, human. George W. Bush is clearly

hoping that this subject will reignite the passion of, well, I don't know who, who is he thinking

this is going to reignite? The people who are having just a teensy, wiensy little hard time

getting worked up to support an administration with a record like his on torture, debt, war,

poverty, war profiteering, corruption, broken levies. This is going to turn them around.

Get them back in the fold. Come on, you don't have to be a genius to see that this isn't about

the value of anything except the value to this administration of holding power in Congress.

Look, it wasn't even a month ago. October 10th, in fact, in Washington, at the State Department,

first Lady Laura Bush was there with secretaries. They convoluted to release a rice. They were

administering the oath of office to the new U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Bacidorial position.

Who were they swearing in? Mark Dibble. He's an out gay guy, okay? He puts his hand on a bible

held by his domestic partner, Jason Claire. Does anyone blink? They don't. Dibble's parents were there.

Claire's mother was there. He became the third openly gay ambassador to this country.

Rice called Jason Claire. Dibble's partner. Even she even called Jason's mother. Dibble's mother

in law. It's like a legal problem there. But President Bush this week, the stuff he's been

...