Applause for Sen. Chris Dodd

The Connecticut Democrat flips on same-sex marriage. Writing in a local newspaper, he says:

While I’ve long been for extending every benefit of marriage to same-sex couples, I have in the past drawn a distinction between a marriage-like status (“civil unions”) and full marriage rights.

The reason was simple: I was raised to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And as many other Americans have realized as they’ve struggled to reconcile the principle of fairness with the lessons they learned early in life, that’s not an easy thing to overcome.

But the fact that I was raised a certain way just isn’t a good enough reason to stand in the way of fairness anymore....

My young daughters are growing up in a different reality than I did. Our family knows many same-sex couples – our neighbors in Connecticut, members of my staff, parents of their schoolmates. Some are now married because the Connecticut Supreme Court and our state legislature have made same-sex marriage legal in our state.

But to my daughters, these couples are married simply because they love each other and want to build a life together. That’s what we’ve taught them. The things that make those families different from their own pale in comparison to the commitments that bind those couples together.

And, really, that’s what marriage should be. It’s about rights and responsibilities and, most of all, love.

Well said, senator.

The Bailout Stampede: Let's take a breath

Add my voice to the rising chorus urging both action and caution on the financial bailout. We have to do something, but allowing ourselves to be stampeded into the wrong decision will cripple the economy and this country.

Count me as one more person in agreement with Sen. Chris Dodd as quoted today by AP:

"I understand speed is important," he said. "But I am far more interested in whether or not we get this right. There is no second act to this."