The good and bad of the election...
Over the next few days I'm going to write a little about the election. I assume everyone knows knows not only the results, but also my general (liberal) position on most issues, so anyone who dares to read this stuff can take it with a grain of salt.
Anyway, I thought I'd get the ugly stuff out of the way first and we'll start with the ugliest...
Prop 8 - It really boggles my mind that on the same day that we Californians voted to vastly expand the rights of chickens, six propositions later we voted to deny rights to a substantial number of humans.
The fight was really ugly on both sides, granted, and although my heart said it would fail, my head said it would pass. I have a few specific problems with this prop at it's core that it seem insurmountable even if you don't personally believe in same sex marriage and I'm sure I'm not the first person to make these arguments, but you can read them anyway.
First, it seems completely unconstitutional. If, as a society, we've decided that the state should be involved in marriage - which for most civil purposes is merely a contract leading to the combination of assets - then it would seem to most reasonable people that by the principle of equal protection under the law, every citizen of the country must have the right to enter into this contract with whomever they so choose.
Secondly, I've been thinking about it for a while and other than the temporary prohibition of alcohol, I can't come up with another amendment that takes away rights in this manner. Amendments are supposed to affirm rights, wether it's free speech or the right to not have soldiers quartered in your house, amendments usually tell a citizen what the government or any other individual cannot take away from them. This amendment seeks to define marriage as between a man and a woman, allowing homosexual couples to marry doesn't take the away the right of heterosexual couples to marry, it doesn't change anything at all.
Finally I really haven't really read a solid defense of prop 8 that makes any sense at all. It seems that proponents like to talk about tradition and the like, but it the end it all seems to boil down to the general argument that gay marriage is icky. This is a totally subjective position that can't be rationally defended. Taking away rights from people because we don't like them is a very slippery slope that our country has gone down before, to some pretty ugly results.
If I had my way there would be a measure on the next ballot amending the constitution to say that CA will only issue civil union licenses to all couples regardless of orientation, it wouldn't pass, but it would be another line of attack if nothing else.
Having said all of this, this is the second time the a majority of the voters in California have reject the rights of gay couples to marry. Law suits have already been filed and the anti-prop 8 people will fight as hard as they can to get it overturned, or at the very least trying to get the legislature to vote on and defeat the amendment, but ultimately the price we pay for living in a majority rules democracy is having to face decisions you don't like. I hope some day we'll be in a place where this decision seems as shocking and outlandish as many of the laws and injustices that lead up to the civil rights movement seem now.
* * *
The only other problem I really had last night was the Alaska senate race. Really Alaska? You reelected a convicted criminal to the senate. A man who on his best days is still falling into senility. Do you really want to hurt your reputation more than Sarah Palin already has? Really?
Yeah, that's all for now, maybe in the next few days I'll post some more uplifting stuff.
PS - If McCain and Obama split the two states still up for grabs, which currently looks pretty likely, I will have predicted the exact number of EV that Obama got. Go me.
I'll leave you with a picture from the John McCain rally last night and one last zinger...
I haven't seen this many sad white people since the series finale of "Friends"
Anyway, I thought I'd get the ugly stuff out of the way first and we'll start with the ugliest...
Prop 8 - It really boggles my mind that on the same day that we Californians voted to vastly expand the rights of chickens, six propositions later we voted to deny rights to a substantial number of humans.
The fight was really ugly on both sides, granted, and although my heart said it would fail, my head said it would pass. I have a few specific problems with this prop at it's core that it seem insurmountable even if you don't personally believe in same sex marriage and I'm sure I'm not the first person to make these arguments, but you can read them anyway.
First, it seems completely unconstitutional. If, as a society, we've decided that the state should be involved in marriage - which for most civil purposes is merely a contract leading to the combination of assets - then it would seem to most reasonable people that by the principle of equal protection under the law, every citizen of the country must have the right to enter into this contract with whomever they so choose.
Secondly, I've been thinking about it for a while and other than the temporary prohibition of alcohol, I can't come up with another amendment that takes away rights in this manner. Amendments are supposed to affirm rights, wether it's free speech or the right to not have soldiers quartered in your house, amendments usually tell a citizen what the government or any other individual cannot take away from them. This amendment seeks to define marriage as between a man and a woman, allowing homosexual couples to marry doesn't take the away the right of heterosexual couples to marry, it doesn't change anything at all.
Finally I really haven't really read a solid defense of prop 8 that makes any sense at all. It seems that proponents like to talk about tradition and the like, but it the end it all seems to boil down to the general argument that gay marriage is icky. This is a totally subjective position that can't be rationally defended. Taking away rights from people because we don't like them is a very slippery slope that our country has gone down before, to some pretty ugly results.
If I had my way there would be a measure on the next ballot amending the constitution to say that CA will only issue civil union licenses to all couples regardless of orientation, it wouldn't pass, but it would be another line of attack if nothing else.
Having said all of this, this is the second time the a majority of the voters in California have reject the rights of gay couples to marry. Law suits have already been filed and the anti-prop 8 people will fight as hard as they can to get it overturned, or at the very least trying to get the legislature to vote on and defeat the amendment, but ultimately the price we pay for living in a majority rules democracy is having to face decisions you don't like. I hope some day we'll be in a place where this decision seems as shocking and outlandish as many of the laws and injustices that lead up to the civil rights movement seem now.
* * *
The only other problem I really had last night was the Alaska senate race. Really Alaska? You reelected a convicted criminal to the senate. A man who on his best days is still falling into senility. Do you really want to hurt your reputation more than Sarah Palin already has? Really?
Yeah, that's all for now, maybe in the next few days I'll post some more uplifting stuff.
PS - If McCain and Obama split the two states still up for grabs, which currently looks pretty likely, I will have predicted the exact number of EV that Obama got. Go me.
I'll leave you with a picture from the John McCain rally last night and one last zinger...
I haven't seen this many sad white people since the series finale of "Friends"