Meanwhile, Back Inside the Beltway - On the brink of the first sanctioned U.S. gay marriages, the NYTimes reports that there's very little chance of the Federal Marriage Amendment coming to a vote in Congress this year. Part of the reason, apparently, is that the conservative grass roots have bigger concerns this election year -- like jobs and the war in Iraq -- and aren't turning out on the issue. Right-wing commentators and gay leaders spar in the article over whether the "Massachusetts phenomenon" will energize the base or if it will be a non-event that proves SSM is really no big deal. Of course the media's reaction will play a role in that, but I think we'll be surprised how quickly this moves off the front pages. It's no Abu Ghraib, right?