Just Good Friends

Change.org has an online petition calling for Bert and Ernie to get married. The puppets. The puppets on "Sesame Street." The puppets on "Sesame Street," the children's show. It should be pointed out that they are asking the powers that be "let" Ernie and his old pal Bert get married. This isn't some sort of punishment. Perhaps, like a lot of voters in Orange County, you believed that once a statute about gay marriage was passed it would be mandatory. Not so. It's simply about the right to same sex marriage, not the enforced nuptials with farm animals that so many pundits seem to be fond of suggesting.
Oh, and Bert and Ernie aren't gay."Bert and Ernie are best friends," say a statement posted on Sesame Street's Facebook page. "They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation." Their cohabitation, then, should be seen more along the lines of Felix and Oscar in "The Odd Couple." Their association should raise fewer fuzzy eyebrows than Bruce Wayne and his youthful ward Dick Grayson. The fact that the are both constructed of felt and we never see them below the waist shouldn't cause any further speculation. Plenty of guys have pants-optional days. Nothing weird about that. Besides, just think of the uproar that would commence if Ernie started shacking up with Miss Piggy.