President Bush is, once again, on his gay marriage ban high-horse. He's so peace-minded.

Bush's poll numbers remain at an all-time low this week as he kicks off another stab at his gay marriage ban attempts in Congress. Sound familiar? Well it should because he did the same thing two years ago when he was running for re-election and his numbers were looking weak compared to John Kerry's.

See.... here's how it works. Bush's 25-29% approval rating doesn't reflect the loss of liberal and moderate voters because he never has had them in his "circle of trust." The lack of support is a direct result of a lack of conservative support. Whenever Bush's policies take a major downward spiral, he likes to suck up to extreme social conservatives ( I like to call them haters, personally) by throwing the gay marriage ban on the table and putting his personal endorsement behind it.

So, does this mean that there will be a gay marriage ban in the form of a constitutional amendment soon? Probably not. National polling shows that around 50% of the country is split on the issue in either direction.

So, why does the president and conservatively-controlled Congress make this failed push again? Well, it sure does sound good and look to folks that are your average run-of-the-mill, local haters. Oh, sorry.... social conservatives. See, they want to know that the man they elected twice as their president is actually doing work for them... instead of doing work for.... oil companies and weapons manufacturers?

Here's what I don't understand.

1) I've never met anyone.... gay or straight.... that has made the legal recognition of gay marriage their personal vandetta. The gay people that I have met tend to just want to be recognized as human beings, just like everyone else. I think the word I'm looking for is tolerance.

2) Funny thing that tolerance. After 9/11, we were asked to band together as a nation and go out of our way to let Muslim Americans know that we weren't judging them as terrorists. This was supposed to keep us safe and make an entire community of individuals feel safe amongst the rest of us. The call for tolerance was reiterated on a daily basis from the White House, and branch-off tolerance programs are still being taught in our local schools and organizations..... so we make sure not to judge people of different backgrounds as potential terrorists.

3) Should there be a program initiated whose goal is to make sure we don't judge some people as potential spawn of the devil? Because honestly, I think it's necessary right now. If you listen to the arguments of social conservatives that work each day and PRAY to God for help in banning gay marriages, gay civil unions, or any type of gay relationship.... they are basically saying that these people are confused individuals that are going against God, their country, and their immediate families. Furthermore, they argue that gay people want to get married in order to further their own ideological goals..... goals that would lead to the eventual moral decay of our country and the loss of all traditional values in America.

4) I'll end with this note. I've always thought that it was extremely ironic that the people that claim to be doing God's work in this process, are the ones that are actually being the cruelest each day. Intolerance and prejudice leads to persecution and discrimination..... these types of actions will lead to people getting hurt. And in this scenario, these feelings are being churned and agitated by President Bush for political gain. He wants his poll numbers up and his base of supporters up in arms for the 2006 mid-term elections.

So the next time you run into one of those Golden Rule, Bible beatin', never-miss-church folks out there.... ask them if they love all people like they were their own son or daughter, respect everyone as their neighbor and friend, OR if they have a survey that sorts out the gay from non-gay so that a proper plan of hatred action can be established.

I'm not perfect. I have personal prejudices that lead me to harbor bad feelings or judgements indirectly. I know that I can be better than that... and I try to be better at reducing these tendencies each day.... but blatantly working against people because of an inner intolerance and level of spite.... that does not help anyone.