Moving Toward Twelve

The Minnesota assembly today passed a bill to legalize Gay Marriage. The senate leader believes he has to votes to pass it and the governor has said he will sign it.

In a little side show, supporters of the bill accepted a Republican amendment to change "marriage" to "civil marriage."

I find this suspicious. Federal laws say "marriage." They don't say "civil marriage." I suspect the Republicans are trying to create a different category of "marriage" here. I think they're kidding themselves. All marriages are civil marriages. They may also be blessed or sanctified by a religion, but they're all civil marriages.