[MD] Quality decline in U.S. politics

[craigerb at comcast.net]

[Micah]
> The government should not be in the marriage business. How consenting
 > adults express their sexuality or commitments to each other is none of
 > anyone's business, except the consenting adults involved.

If marriage were only about who you have sex with, who you live with or who you engage in religious rituals with, I would agree.  But marriage is also a legal contract.  We could, of course, abolish marriage & have partners draw up a legal contract.  But this would be very inconvenient.  I was Trustee of my parent's Trust & every time I had to execute a transaction, I had to submit the Trust agreement for the lawyers to review.  Imagine, if that had to be done every time someone wanted to deal with marriage partners.  Instead, the government creates a standard marriage partnership.  This generally does not limit the freedom of individuals, but only makes routine dealings easier.
Craig