Marriage and government

So President Bush had decided to support a Constitutional amendment that defines marriage as the union of a single man and a single woman.

Leaving aside the interesting timing, which seems absolutely designed to shore up his support among a segment of the “Republican base”, can someone give me a single good reason why our government is involved in the recognition, regulation, demotion or promotion of the institution of marriage?

Why do I need a government issued marriage license (complete with license fee and occasionally medical tests) in order to have the religious leader of my choice join me and my intended together as man and wife?

If the marriage isn’t “as long as you both shall live”, why do I need the government, along with an expensive legal representative that I have to pay for, in order to dissolve it?

Why does the US Tax Code (*spit*) penalize me if I get married, but look the other way if I decide to cohabit with the significant other of my choice?

Why is the government involved in “holy matrimony” at all? What business is it of the government? Step outside the twin boxes of “traditional marriage” and “gay marriage” and look at this from a completely different angle. Wake up to the Leviathan that government at all levels has become, and ask yourself if this is really the government you want.

Because it’s damn sure the one you’ve got, and if you don’t like it, it’s your moral duty to change it.