LIBERADIO(!)

Right about the time puberty hit, my dad took us kids to a Marx Brothers film festival. I’m sure he didn’t realize it but on that day I developed my first crush. Or, crushes, as it were. Well who wouldn’t fall in love with Groucho, Chico, and Harpo (not Zeppo)? They each had a unique and extraordinary talent (except Zeppo) and they were also all charming and funny and had a undeniable lust for life.

I’m not sure who ex-State Senator Paul Stanley’s first crush was, but I’m pretty sure it was some other girl and not last session’s intern.

But I digress.

My point is this, if you think back to when you hit puberty and who your first crush was, I’m fairly certain that you were powerless to stop it.

So let’s now fast-forward to you – all grown. You meet someone, you crush on them, then you fall in love. Now you want to share the love you both have for each other, and the home you have made, with a child. You’re good people. You and your partner treat each other with respect – there’s no cheating or drunken revelry or racy cell phone pictures of other people – you both have steady jobs and a loving support system of close family and friends. You can’t biologically have your own child, but you know that there many children in Tennessee simply foundering in the foster care system and you want to adopt one of them

But you’re not good enough, say those trying to use the “untold numbers of unwanted children–including those with disabilities and health problems,” in Tennessee as political footballs.

Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project has more of what’s wrong with this tactic:

Here’s an additional problem. There was no vote on adoption issue. You can’t pin it on anyone other than the Senate sponsor, former Senator Paul Stanley. Neither party moved the bill. The NRCC isn’t asking why the bill didn’t move. The Senate majority leader didn’t seem to push for it, nor did the Senate Judiciary Committee chair. What about the Caucus chair? Nothing. The reasons probably vary from individual to individual. But I suspect the price tag of the bill has something to do with it. It carries a hefty fiscal note. So to try to pin a position on one legislator is to ignore the more important context of the issue. The NRCC’s own party hasn’t chosen to advance the bill.

By the way, did you know that Paul Stanley made a 2009 top ten list?

One more thing, if you’re unmarried and you want to adopt, you should read this by my partner (no, not that kind of partner), Freddie.