Hot Topic #1 –
Let’s start with everyone’s favorite, gay marriage. Both my good friend Art and my arch enemy, the hypocritically and suspiciously bigoted Dan C., agree that Prop 8 will fail. But will it? According to the LA Times, the numbers don’t break down quite that simply. And both bloggers fail to recognize that the 1% advantage each side is claiming puts them in a statistical dead heat. Despite this, Dan goes so far as to call the failure of Prop 8 a certainty.
Gay Marriage By The Numbers (LA Times/KTLA Poll):
This means that 58% of the electorate is either already on-board with same-sex marriage or at least not opposed to it. That’s a good plurality to work with, but the campaign for equality needs to hurry and capitalize on the recent state Supreme Court decision making the practice legal by helping to marry as many couples as quickly as possible between now and November. They need to come out strong on radio and television and of course on the blogs and show people that gay couples are not as unlike hetero couples as they might otherwise believe.
Of course, many will remember that this is the topic that provided my break into the blogosphere. Many will also remember that I don’t like the concept or the word ‘marriage’ or the way it manages to tie religion to government, and I still feel that civil unions should be separate, equal, and with the terminology available to both gay and hetero couples.
However, I also feel that this referendum could permanently slam the door on fully recognized gay unions of any kind and is tantamount to enshrining bigotry into the state Constitution. For that reason, I am endorsing a ‘No’ vote on Prop 8 with the caveat that I’d still prefer to be ‘joined’ rather than ‘married’ and that I would likely vote against a measure directly legalizing gay marriage as opposed to strengthening civil union laws.
More than half of Californians said gay relationships were not morally wrong, that they would not degrade heterosexual marriages and that all that mattered was that a relationship be loving and committed, regardless of gender. -LA Times
Hot Topic #2 –
Dan C. also considers it a certainty that Barack Obama will be elected President. I was already convinced of it as well a little while back, but now I have to agree that McCain is really behind the curve. To wit: another LA Times article (some good reporting this week I guess) headlined ‘Iraq Prime Minister Maliki embraces Obama withdrawl plan.’ The plan is a 16-month phased withdrawal in which some troops would be diverted back to Afghanistan to finish off the Taliban once and for all… and it couldn’t come soon enough as General Petraeus is reporting that Al Qaeda, while not giving up in Iraq, is shifting its focus back there as well, according to Fox News. Forget any reports that question the validity of Maliki’s statements; the New York Times has been provided with an audiotape of the interview by German magazine ‘Der Spiegel.’
So now that Bush and McSame are still convinced that their surge strategy is working in Iraq is the perfect time for Maliki to make his desires for his country known. Remember, Bush’s mission was to install a Democracy. I hate to give him any credit, but he finally accomplished his mission, violence aside. Now that government is asking us to leave, however ambivalently. It’s sort of like when children become adults. Even if their lives are chaotic, sometimes it’s just time to let them learn from their own mistakes. Besides, we’re only leaving the street, not the neighborhood.
Since McCain could not articulate an answer to the question of whether or not Viagra should be covered by health insurance while birth control is not, I can only imagine the stutterfest that will occur when he needs to answer this criticism!
SMS
