I was actually going to say cockfight, but given the nature of the post, thought that might have been inappropriate.

Mein bruder was musing over folks in the Castro and their desire not to be labelled ‘genetically gay‘ for various reasons (and it’s a topic that picks up some steam, not to mention consternation in Congress, as John Tierney, not exactly a die-hard liberal, discusses in the NYT.)

But I realized something reading the link of my brother’s site: if homosexuals can point to a genetic cause for their “condition,” (yes, I know, ducking for cover here) then they WILL, not may, win a fight in the courts for gay and lesbian marriage under the Equal Protection clause… because Equal Protection will wind up trumping “marriage = man+woman” in the courts once one gets into the essentially legal nature of civic unions (rather than religious sacraments, which is a very different critter that just happens to share the same name). That’s just the way it is… the entire structure of 20th-century civil rights progress in America is predicated on EP being the “trump card” in our politics. (more below) (more…)

It’s not that I agree with him.  Far from.

But it has an awful lot to do with him being willing to play ball with the Republican Party’s spending and accountability gadfly from over the river, Mr. Coburn.

Unlike most Republicans, who are like 900-phone-sex lines every election year (psst: ‘hey, Boehner, there’s an election on, pretend you care about fiscal restraint!’), Coburn is the real deal.  Pity I’m stuck with either Pete Sessions, or even worse, Martin Frost, both of whom have apparently never met any pork they didn’t like.

But anyway, transparency and accountability are the first step in making sure that these folks know that we’re their bosses even in theory, so when Obama and Coburn come out to track pork directly… I can live with a campaign like that.  And compared to “I think creationism should be taught in public schools” Huckabee, “I don’t have an authentic bone in my body” Romney, “I beat crime in NY by changing the reporting rules the cops were using” Giuliani, let alone “politicians have First Amendment rights but nobody else does” McCain (who, like Clinton, I will vote against if I have to crawl naked over broken glass to do so)… I’m kinda okay with Obama as a guy who disagrees on me with what we should spend, but with whom I agree on pork.