The message still needs to go out that no bill sans gender identity should move -- period. Bush isn't going to sign it either way, so there's no reason to screw ourselves in a month anymore than there was one to do it this week.

The changes, particularly the religious exemption that is so hugely more than the 1964 Civil Rights Act suffered in its reliance on the First Amendment to protect the sacred rights of churches, are significantly peeling away what besides the gender identity inclusion is good about HR 2015, the real ENDA.

What, may I ask, is the rationale for saddling us with less protection than the protections accorded on the basis of race, national origin, etc.? Are we less human, do we suffer less enough to cut out what, in Indianapolis, are the largest employers from the bill? Why pander so to the religious political extremists instead of standing our ground and fighting them? The carve-out (made primarily for the American Baptists and in fear of Falwell in 1992) was wrong then and it's wrong now.

I remember back in 1992 having to rip and shred our truly real civil rights bill to get what would pass muster with Sen. Kennedy's office as a "Clean" bill ready for the imminent and successful push to passage they foolishly thought it would get.

Despite warnings that it was all so much Inside the Beltway, totally out of touch with the Heartland blind hoohaw, warnings that, when coupled with similar ones regarding lifting the military ban made me feel increasingly like a Cassandra, they sacrificed what was right for what was expedient and premature so that we were still suffering from it even with the significant recoup of lost ground with HR 2015.

Now it looks as if the champions of shortsighted expediency are at it again.

It is a terrible truth that it's not our enemies who leave me demoralizedly exhausted -- it's those who are supposed to be our comrades in arms.

For tonight, I'm going to sleep an ounce easier.

Just for tonight though.