CNN's American Morning

Interesting juxtaposition on CNN's American Morning today.

Soledad O'Brien first noted that the Senate was expected to vote shortly on the anti-gay-marriage amendment.

Shortly after this she interviewed a Mr. Snyder who is suing the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka for defamation. The church runs the website http://www.godhatesfags.com/ and its members regulary demonstrate at military funerals. They protest, not because they object to the war, but simply to remind mourners that the death is God's punishment to the nation for tolerating homosexuality. They suggest that the dead soldier is in Hell for attempting to defend a country and constitution that do not prohibit this, as they see it, abomination.

I wonder if it was an intentional juxtaposition. Clearly the Senate Majority Leaders don't share the ultra-extreme views of the WBC, but there is no doubt they are fanning the same fire. Both are attempting to deny that diversity in sexual orientation should be tolerated and, moreover, trying to prevent those outside of the traditional pairing being granted the same rights as those within it.

It would be nice to think that the scheduling of the WBC story on the same day as the Senate vote was deliberate. A reminder to us that while the methods of the two groups are different, they are uncomfortably similar.