I do want to applaud all the other Moishe House folks that have written posts about how incredibly STOKED they are (as am I) about having Barack as our next President. I am proud of our country for finally taking a leap out there and not only electing the best person canidate for the job, but being confident in our ability to elect someone many of us never knew about during the last Presidential election. Sadly, on a day when so many of were reflecting on how far we've come, we also very disappointingly showed how far we have to go.
The constitution was designed to protect our civil rights, not strip them away. However, here in California, the home of the most elite public universities, global trendsetting in social and scientific research, "medical" marijuana clubs, the Castro District, and one of the Bluest states in the entire union, the most basic fundamental civil right of marriage is being stripped away with the sad passage of Prop. 8. What a joke, rather than allowing gay couples in California to get married, we just prefer they have a "civil union."
Hmmmmmm, if does not sound like discrimination, than what is? Is there any irony seen in the fact that Obama was elected President, yet 70% of African American voters voted in favor of Prop 8 passing? I mean come on California, we seriously approved a $45 billion high-speed railroad, which will cost $100 billion when it's all said and done, we continue to cut a billion dollars every year from education, continue to build prisons, and now we are taking away people's rights to get married, even if done so in the privacy of their own home. Talk about a fantastic way to completely alienate and ostracize 10% of the population. In a state that has so many social ills, the fact that tens of thousands of volunteers, workers, and check writers concerned themselves so much with taking away other people's rights rather than involving themselves with more noteworthy and necessary causes leaves me shaking my head.
Like I said earlier, I believe this is a great day in American history, however, I am saddened to think of how far we still have to go...
Danny in the East Bay
2 comments:
You make some good points about the fickleness of the electorate. Obviously the public is not in agreement on this issue. As to your point that the Constitution being there to protect our civil rights, the U.S. Constitution says nothing about marriage. I believe that's an issue handled by the individual states.
I believe the California constitution is the one that's relevant here - and the Supreme Court of California determined that it does guarantee a fundamental right to marriage.
Now the question remains, are the fundamental rights of minorities supposed to be determined by a popular vote? I'd say no.
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