Thankfully the mean-spirited FMA?the proposed amendment to the constitution prohibiting gay marriage?was shut down in the Senate today. A lot of the Senators who aren?t open supporters of gay marriage (I?m not sure any are) voted Nay to the proposal. The highest ideals of the United States are based on liberty and self-determination. Of course the U.S. falls short of supporting these ideals much of the time. But to enshrine discrimination into the constitution would have been a step backward in the country?s progress towards greater inclusion of the full diversity of the populace into the mainstream of civic life. As for Kerry and Edwards, who were the only two Senators who didn?t vote, no doubt they were doing what they thought they should to get elected. But it seems chicken. I wish they would have stood up for the gay community. But I?ll vote for them anyway.