I would be sort of tempted to say 'Fuck you' to John Kerry if he and I were ever likely to speak.

But I'm grumpy like that.

As I've said, I really don't think it's going to help Kerry win the hick vote to keep harping on about how he believes in civil unions but not marriage for same-sex couples. It makes him look still too liberal for the old-fashioned parts of America, and it undercuts his progressive credibility; it's a stand that, however honest, makes him look weaker and more waffly. It looks like a stand taken for political advantage, even if it isn't. And it's going to keep pissing off people like me. The hicks aren't going to vote for him. We gay types are. Kerry should realise which side his bread's buttered on already. I don't care what he, personally, himself, deep down, thinks or feels or believes. But I care very strongly about the message he publicly sends. I care that, with his position, he's painting unions for gay couples as something different than 'real' marriage.

I'll vote for him, don't get me wrong...But I don't have to like it. He's not getting a damned Christmas card, that's for sure.