The Philadelphia Democrat short-timer this week promised to introduce a state constitutional ban on ending most marriages to go along with the ban on gay marriage that was scheduled to be voted on in the state Senate yesterday.

And, even though its sponsor, Sen. Mike Brubaker, R-Lancaster, withdrew that bill Tuesday, we hope Fumo doesn't do likewise with the divorce ban. In fact, we hope he holds hearings on it.

He wouldn't even have to call "experts" to testify. He could simply question fellow divorced legislators - including himself. Under oath, they would have to testify that divorce destroys more traditional marriages between men and women than gay marriages do.

Fumo should ignore those critics who say the proposal is a stunt with no hope of passage that takes time and attention away from the real "people's business." That's just what some said when Brubaker & Co. claimed that current state law outlawing gay marriage isn't good enough. After all, some "liberal judge" could declare that the law violates the civil rights of gays and lesbians (which it does). To be truly safe, they said, discrimination must be written into the constitution.

Time Out: It occurs to us that Fumo may again be too hip for the House - as well as the Senate. Just as with his comments that the state Legislature might OK slavery, he doesn't really mean it. (Neither do we.) He's using something called h-y-p-e-r-b-o-l-e to highlight the danger of putting the civil rights of Pennsylvania citizens to a vote.

It's obvious that the indicted Fumo has decided to spend his time left in the state Senate in letting it rip on at least a few of the absurdities that make up modern politics in Pennsylvania.

We are looking forward to these last months of Fumocracy. *