Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veteran's Day; More on Prop 8

Today is Veteran's Day. There was a lot more traffic in my area today. There are many federal and military employees around here, so that makes sense. I went to the bank, forgetting it would be closed. Duh. If I ever knew that Veteran's Day commemorates the armistice of World War I, I forgot until I heard it on NPR today. How could I not know that? I'm in my 40's and have a history degree. Like I said, I may have known once upon a time, but loss of brain cells due to age or mind-altering substances wiped it out.

More on Prop 8 fallout today: Not surprisingly, lawsuits have been filed challenging the validity of Prop 8. Back to the courts again. Apparently the issue is a procedural one. Did Prop 8 amend or revise the California State Constitution? Legislative action is required to amend the constitution, whereas a proposition may revise it without any legislative action. This is what non-lawyers like to call a legal technicality. But you can see how important it is. According to the Washington Post, 18,000 marriages hang in the balance. Wow. That's a lot. Legality of Same-Sex Marriage Ban Challenged, Washington Post, November 10, 2008.

I'd like to know why Schwarzenegger is all of sudden vehemently pro-gay marriage. According to the Post, he said of Prop 8 opponents:
"They should never give up," he said in an interview on CNN. "They should be on it and on it until they get it done."
Schwarzenegger has been ambivalent on the issue, previously rejecting legislation allowing same-sex marriage and stating that marriage should be between a man and a woman, but he indicated Sunday that he is hopeful that the California Supreme Court will "undo" the measure."


It would've been more helpful if he hadn't rejected that legislation rather than just blabbing about being "on it and on it" now.

This is wonderful, moving, impassioned argument against Prop 8 by Keith Olbermann (thanks to Julie for the link):

4 comments:

Julie Riddlebarger said...

Having kids kills more brain cells than age and subtances combined.

You're welcome for the link. I've just posted it to my blog, too. Watched it again, too. I sure hope some people will actually LISTEN...

Julie Riddlebarger said...

Ahh! Just remembered, I got the link off LJ. But I can't remember where exactly. (See, what did I tell you about having kids?)

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Northern California (the really liberal part where hippies really do still exist). I'm shocked that the people of CA are fightng so hard to ban gay marriage.

All the save marriage stuff cracks me up. Last I checked, nearly half of our kids were being born outside of marriage and we had a sky high divorce rate in this country.

Chris Baker said...

I generally like Schwarzenegger. He seems pretty progressive. But his silence during the Prop 8 campaign was maddening. Why didn't he speak up before Election Day?