Holy Inauguration II:

Andrew Sullivan picks this as the best line of Bush's speech:

"Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave."

I agree that this is pretty bracing stuff, but shouldn't the President have said "across the generation" -- i.e., the past 40 years or so, like maybe since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Then there's this line, which Sullivan calls his personal favorite:

"Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time."

Again, it's a wonderful thought -- though not particulary radical in the year 2005. But what I wonder is how Mr. Bush sees the lives of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people as fitting into all this? Do our lives have worth, or is it just our relationships that he and his supporters wish to destroy?