Laws made to be broken

Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional the other day in California. Conservatives are pissed on all their usual levels, for all the usual unusual reasons. It's that BIG GOVERNMENT thing again. The people of California had voted against gay marriage by voting for marriage to be solely between a man and a woman. The people had spoken.

Then a judge stepped in and said: "Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples." Evidently, this was in direct conflict with THE PEOPLE who felt the status of gays and lesbians in California should be lessened and classified as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.

With many exceptions, conservatives generally despise government and courts getting in to the people's business. They like to remind us that one of those constitutional amendments states: "Congress shall make no laws...." then they trail off a bit because it gets boring after that and the point is simply that Congress has no business making laws and, it says so right there. You know, like the 2nd Amendment clearly states: "....SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!" which clearly means you can have all the fully automatic weapons you want, anywhere you want, anytime you want. Like reading the Bible, they just sort of skim it for the parts they like.

So, many conservatives are offended that the popular vote of the people was overturned by a court. Kinda like Gore v. Bush in 2000....which they were OK with....

They would prefer that absolutely everything be decided by the individual states via popular vote. Many would also like to revisit landmark decisions like Roe v. Wade, Brown v. Board of Education and pretty much any decision that involved Civil Rights. Ron Paul is big on this. He doesn't think the government should legislate Civil Rights because that infringes on individual rights. In a nation of 300+ million people, we are all so personally special that we should get a trophy and a ribbon for everything we do. Wait- that's democrats, isn't it? The republicans feel that everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become millionaires. They can if they want to and government should not inhibit that or promote others over others in any way. That's for THE PEOPLE to decide!

Sheesh. These fuckers are insane.

Had Civil Rights- primarily for Black folks but ultimately for ALL of us- been put to a vote, Civil Rights might not have made it. Certainly if it had been left up to individual states the Southern states would have voted against it and several so-called *Yankee* states might have surprised folks too. Would that have made it "right"?  How 'bout if slavery had been put to a vote back around 1860? I think you might know how that would have turned out. Could you really look at a vote deciding to enslave other human beings and say: "Oh well, the people have spoken"?

Well now, Ferrerman, can you look at a decision like Roe v. Wade and in good conscience say: "Oh well, killing babies is a good thing, the SC has spoken...."

Well, no, because that's not what the SC said. It wasn't a Federal endorsement of baby-killing. It was about  women having control over their own bodies and lives. Personally, I wish no woman would ever get an abortion. The usual cases of rape and incest apply, of course but, my problem is with the alleged *pro-lifers* that dictate that women and men should not have contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. You could virtually eliminate abortion with education and contraceptive availability. People being people and begatting like they do, things are bound to happen. But, education and availability can prevent much of that. If you don't like a law that says women can get abortions, you must also understand people who would be against a law saying that they cannot.

Don't call yourself a *champion of individual liberty* if you endeavor to deny people their own individual liberties, simply because they *offend* you or the church that does your thinking. Try walking in the other fellas shoes a bit.  What if it were put to popular vote that White people should be enslaved and a population of Black and Hispanic folks in the majority decided that was fine by them?

There's really nothing wrong with gay people marrying. Why would you care? It doesn't affect the air you breathe or the water you drink. The sun will still shine. Oil companies haven't even found a way to raise gasoline prices because of it. It really doesn't matter. It shouldn't be up to the courts OR popular vote. It should just be.

It is though, because some people who cherish individual liberties more than some other folks need to deny other folks their individual liberties, in the name of freedom.  There oughta be a law against that.