Brenda, one of my regular readers, is also an avid PCN fan. She loves watching the House in action, as well as Commonwealth Court sessions. She tells me it's better than C-Span. Because I'm a wonk, this is almost enough to make me go back to TV.Almost.
Brenda has made me aware of a constitutional amendment proposed last week that would eliminate no-fault divorce, even though Pennsylvania already has one of the lowest divorce rates in the nation.
I spent most of the day wondering why anyone would want to eliminate no-fault divorce. Last night, it finally hit me. State Senator Larry Farnese has no desire to eliminate no-fault divorce, and has proposed this measure as a sarcastic retort to "'defense of marriage' bills [that] enshrine discrimination in our state constitution by amending it to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman."
In other words, if marriage is so sacred that it should be limited to a man and woman, then divorce should be outlawed, too, so there.
Believe it or not, LV State Senator Bob Mensch is a cosponsor. But unlike Farnese, he's taking it literally. Mensch already supports a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution, and is perfectly willing to return to the dark days of fault divorce, which makes domestic violence far more likely.
So let me get this straight. Mensch no only supports a ban on gay marriage, but is all for insisting that fault be proved before a divorce is granted. He's jumped into the bedroom, telling you what you can do, but brandishing handguns while tooling along Rte. 78 is just wonderful.
Does this guy represent the Lehigh Valley or Alabamy?
Is he a Mensch or Meshuga?
I think the bill will go nowhere
ReplyDeleteMensch is right on both issues.
ReplyDeleteNo fault divorce allows for disoltion of marriage on a whim. Mensch is right, you should have good reason to divoce, it has ramifications that effect lives for the children and family members.
ReplyDeleteDivcorce is too easy Marraige takes work, comprimise and dedication
good headline. I Like the politics leavened w/ some humour....except at Passover.
ReplyDeleteIf you really believe in the defense of marriage, then gay marriage should be outlawed as well as divorce...and everyone should be legally obligated to return to their first spouse if they are divorced.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:59 am,
ReplyDeleteThat's a good example of "reductio ad absurdum." Applied to the other side of the argument, one would say that if you support gay marriage, you must also support all other arrangements: polygamy, polyandry, first cousins, brother-sister, parent-child, adult-juvenile, etc.
This is one of those issues that seems impossible to have a rational discussion about. It quickly devolves into posturing, pandering, and name calling (e.g. "intolerant!" and "homophobe!").
Right on both issues??? You can't be serious..He's freaking nuts, just like the rest of the overzeoluus right wing freaks..
ReplyDeleteThat just seems a little off.
ReplyDeleteBernie -
ReplyDeleteWe currently have no fault divorce. It's hard to imagine domestic violence being even worse.
You're right. Three area women recently lost their lives to domestic violence. If more women felt they had to remain in violent relationships, it's hard to say what would happen.
ReplyDeleteWhen the possibility of conception exists as a result of homosexual relations, marriage should be considered. It's about the children - as politically incorrect as this bizarre concept is anymore.
ReplyDeleteNo fault divorce severely injured the institution of marriage. Homosexual marriage is just a final mockery of an institution that has already been killed by heterosexuals.
Really? No-fault divorce has destroyed the institution of marriage? Then why has the divorce rate gone down? I practiced law under the old fault system, and it was a sham, from beginning to end. The only ones who made out were the lawyers.
ReplyDeleteI'm for shacking up. It's the best of all worlds for men. Women feel empowered without the encumbrances of marriage. Men needn't purchase the cow when they're getting free milk. Leave when the nagging becomes too much. Marriage is bullshit for heteros and homos alike. Mensch is doing men a favor by raising the stakes and properly frightening them before they make a needless and costly mistake.
ReplyDeleteTotally unrelated! What caused you to be disbarred from practicing Law? Just a honest question looking for a honest answer.
ReplyDelete"I'm for shacking up. It's the best of all worlds for men. Women feel empowered without the encumbrances of marriage. Men needn't purchase the cow when they're getting free milk. Leave when the nagging becomes too much."
ReplyDeleteAnon,
Let me make a few points here. Women or men who prefer to "shack up" have some serious social diseases. Under your disposable mentality, you can probably find just about any desperate man-wanting whore who is a low life scum sucking pig, who will spread her legs open wide for no other reason than there might be a hard schlong in front of her. Such a pig will value you less, thus enabling your disposable mentality to live and flourish when the nagging gets to be too much.
Let me guess, you leech onto a low maintenance section 8 , SNAP collecting medicaid recipient with 5 kids, who probably has a drug dealer or two in her trunk. You bring nothing to the table and have nothing to offer, less the thrift shop clothes on your back, and consider a date to be a pack of potato chips and a mug of beer. Worthless scumbags like you really irritate the SHIT out of me.
I'd like to know what you'd think if you were really mad. Very funny.
ReplyDelete"Totally unrelated! What caused you to be disbarred from practicing Law? Just a honest question looking for a honest answer"
ReplyDeleteSee my profile at "linked in." I have also discussed it here numerous times.
Tell us again here in detail.
ReplyDeleteOur Founding Fathers warned us many decades ago that in order to keep this nation we need to be both moral and religious because one could not have one without the other. Slowly but surely we have become a nation of decadent individuals. Easy no-fault divorce allows us to shack up under the pretense of being married and then leave when things just "don't work out". The hell with trying to create a strong marital relationship and the kids that might have been born. While the old system did indeed produce a false showing, it caused people to pause and maybe spend some time thinking about what we want to do. I hope the representatives get the law passed that will cause one to give cause for divorce.
ReplyDelete