Thursday, May 22, 2008

Ellen v. McCain

She's been criticized for de-emphasizing her gayness in favor of celebrity. That can be said no more. Perhaps she was waiting for a moment when it would matter most. I'd say this is pitch perfect:

ELLEN DeGENERES: Yeah, I mean, I think that it's -- it is looked at -- and some people are saying the same -- that blacks and women did not have the right to vote. I mean, women just got the right to vote in 1920. Blacks didn't have the right to vote until 1870. And it just feels like there is this old way of thinking that we are not all the same. We are all the same people, all of us. You're no different than I am. Our love is the same. To me -- to me, what it feels like -- just, you know, I will speak for myself
-- it feels -- when someone says, "You can have a contract, and you'll still have insurance, and you'll get all that," it sounds to me like saying, "Well, you can sit there; you just can't sit there." That's what it sounds like to me. It feels like -- it doesn't feel inclusive...It feels -- it feels isolated. It feels like we are not -- you know, we aren't owed the same things and the same wording.

SENATOR JOHN McCAIN: Well, I've heard you articulate that position in a very eloquent fashion. We just have a disagreement. And I, along with many, many others, wish you every happiness.

ELLEN DeGENERES: Thank you. So you'll walk me down the aisle? Is that what you're saying?

SENATOR JOHN McCAIN: Touche.

ELLEN DeGENERES: Well, my hope is someday it won't be called a contract; it will be called marriage.

2 comments:

lacochran said...

She was very eloquent and I was delighted!

Anonymous said...

She's great, and makes her point with style, but she walked right into this one. The Republicans must be getting ready to circle the wagons and mobilize the base. Nothing gets them going like gay marriage - not war crimes, billions of wasted dollars, corporate crime, whatever. They REALLY need a shiny object to distract the public and this is it. McCain WANTED to be confronted on this issue - that's why he went on Ellen. He may not know the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni, but he knows that the fundementalists will vote for him if he makes a distinction between civil contracts and marriage.