Our state constitution is already grossly overwritten with 80,000 words - the largest in the country - and needlessly baroque. It has been changed 441 times since its adoption in 1876.

For a state whose citizens would claim to follow Tom Paine's philosophy that the government which governs least governs best, we make a fetish of Big Brother. We relish intrusion into our lives and business and cheer the collusion of the big wheels in Austin with corporate interests - and so the boys down south are free to rewrite the founding document of the Lone Star State - and do at the drop of a hat.

These, after all, are the geniuses that made it their solemn duty to discuss publishing body-mass index on public school report cards and consider regulations over the so-called lewdness of cheerleaders across the Friendship State.

This inclusion of a provision against gay marriage is a perfect example of the prime disrespect the Legislature gives to our personal and public lives.

You ought to be against No. 2, regardless of your stance on gay marriage. Opposing No. 2 doesn't mean you're in favor of gay marriage. What it does say, however, is that you're against a system that would seek to intrude in your affairs in the same fashion.

I remind you that this isn't just a gay question. Remember the sodomy laws that were struck down not so long ago? The behaviors they prohibited legally applied to straight, married couples as much as they did gay men or women. The same gall that got that law put in the books is aiding and abetting the marriage law.

Frankly, the root of this marriage problem isn't sexuality and never has been. It's government. The government shouldn't have any say about what makes a marriage, period. Never should have. And if I have anything to say about it, never will.

The idea of Washington or Austin having a say over what makes a union official smacks to me of the church of Henry VIII's time, weighing in what constituted a divorce. Ridiculous.

It's odd, though. Americans are free to form any number of business unions: sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, corporation, "S" corporation, "C" corporation and limited liability company.

You may buy and sell and trade in almost any way possible, as long as it's with fully functioning adults of free will. The only wrong is to steal or hurt somebody else. Almost any kind of professional relationship is allowed - even encouraged. You can sign contracts, merge, dissolve, takeover, buy out, cash in, invest however you like, all day long. Do as thou wilt is the whole of the law.

But. We only allow one kind of personal union and that's a heterosexual pairing. Found a prosperous partnership in the eyes of the law and you get toasted at the Rotary Club. Have a successful relationship with somebody of the same sex, and they'll try to put you in jail, because the powers that be have decided one kind of romantic grouping and one kind alone is worthy of the largesse of the Internal Revenue Service, bank accounts, divorce assets and so on.

Maybe, just maybe, this marriage amendment is the start of something really super. Maybe they'll tell me how many friends I can have next. They'll set a quota for best pals. Fall above or below that, and you won't have the tax break. Be top-notch, it will.

Or imagine if tomorrow, you woke up and found that Congress had decided only Seventh-Day Adventist or Jewish or Sikh marriages were viable and all the rest were essentially illegal.

Wouldn't you consider that a violation of your autonomy and God-given liberty? Wouldn't you realize this recognition-of-blessed-union crap these loudmouths spout was yet another fancy covering for the big boys' guzzling up of even more power that wasn't theirs to begin with?

People should be free to relate to other people in whatever way they please, as long as they're grown-ups and don't infringe on the rights of the other party. That's liberty. That's America.

This is cache, read story here