So the American College of Pediatricians has come out in unanimous favor of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. In their terms this is based on "the firm knowledge that the basic father-mother family unit, within marriage, is the optimal setting for childhood development". So how many of you reading this think that the leading national association for Pediatricians has just gone off its rocker?

Don’t worry it hasn’t, or at least not completely. The actual mainstream organization is the American Academy of Pediatrics. And although they too have some very dubious policy reccomendations, such as this one promoting the ban on marijuana for adults because this will supposedly help children (whatever the cost to adults or society, if indeed prohibition does help children, which it doesn’t),they’re unlikely to move into the firestorm of the gay marriage "debate". Not that I’m an expert but it seems to me that kids brought up in gay families do OK, and plenty brought up in heterosexual ones don’t!

However, my real concern is that when the wider public hears this news, how are they supposed to know that the American College of Pediatricians is a bunch of radical fundamentalist wingnuts who bitterly oppose abortion, gays, sodomy, contraception, and probably opening hours for supermarkets on Sunday? (OK I made the last piece up, but it’s probably true). Their web site demands that their members "maintain high ethical standards personally and professionally". Pity that the organization itself is prepared to be completely deceptive in its very name!