Of Polls and Politics - Well, if I hadn't already seen the big gay marriage story of the week, this morning's GLAAD alert certainly would have clued me in. (It must have pained the liberal media watchdogs to turn their scorn on their erstwhile allies at the NYTimes.) However sensationalistically the Times may have reported the results of their nationwide poll on gay marriage, there's a lot of important data in the survey that needs to be take seriously. The point is nearly twice as many people oppose gay marriage than approve of it, they feel strongly about it, they vote on this issue, and they'd like to see a constitutional ban on legal recognition of our relationships. Moreover, we've actually lost some ground in our efforts to win the hearts and minds of the populace. GLAAD's "no news but good news on gays" policy isn't going to do anyone - least of all us gay people - any good. What we need are sober assessments of reality, and a concrete battleplan to preserve and extend our hard-won societal acceptance.

As for what our favorite current president has to say on the subject, I highly recommend reading Steve Miller's play-by-play review of W's recent statement on the Federal Marriage Amendment and the reactions of the right and the left to same. (Not that I would want anyone thinking critically about news reporting on gay issues.) For the record, here's the Shrub's entire quote on the subject:

If necessary, I will support a constitutional amendment which would honor marriage between a man and a woman, codify that, and will — the position of this administration is that whatever legal arrangements people want to make, they're allowed to make, so long as it's embraced by the state or [?] start at the state level. Let me tell you, the court I thought overreached its bounds as a court. It did the job of the legislature. It was a very activist court in making the decision it made. As you know, I'm a person who believes in judicial restraint, as opposed to judicial activism that takes the place of the Legislative Branch.

Read Diane Sawyer's question and the entire follow-up here.