Last night the harsh glare of The Daily Show’s spotlight shined its way up north, examining for a moment the current debate over marriage equality up in Albany. Jon Stewart explained the situation in the State Senate thusly: “The vote is now 31 for 31 against, so right now they are looking to turn one vote gay, I guess. For one night. A six-pack of Tequiza, let’s get in there …” Once laughter subsided, he ran a clip of the type of bills the Senate and Assembly were passing while the marriage bill remained unresolved — namely, the coronation of sweet corn as the state vegetable. (It beat onions — tough call. NOT.) This reminded me of a sign brandished by a marriage-equality foe yesterday, which said “Corn is not a vegetable. Stop redefining things.” What’s funny about that sign is that there is actually disagreement over corn’s status. It’s generally regarded as a vegetable because of the way it is consumed, and yet technically it could be several things, one of which is definitely a grain. But that didn’t stop the state legislature from defining it the way it wished. As Jon Stewart said, “Hopefully, after you take care of those important things, there will be some time left over for the promotion of a basic civil right for a large number of people.”
