Arnold, What A Joke

Even though I didn't vote for him, I had some hope that Arnold would take his responsibilities as Governor seriously. It should be no surprise that he has turned into a joke. I don't know why I ever believed that he would stay true to his moderate conservatism and resist the pull from the extreme right. I guess he is just like every other politician. Lies, lies, lies, some distractions from his lies, more lies.

Let's talk about AB 849, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act which passed the Assembly on September 6, 2005. This is the first bill of its kind to be passed by any state legislature without direction from the courts. We have all heard the term "activist judges" and have come to understand that term to mean judges who make sweeping declarations of law with little or no legal basis. In the case of marriage equality, the term refers to those judges that have determined that the ban on same sex marriage is unconstitutional (we'll sidestep the fact that there is ample constitutional support for this notion; I hear substantive due process and equal protection ringing in my ears). So, we don't want activist judges, right? We want the people to decide these issues or at least representatives of the people, right? Well, ta da! I bequeath to you the will of the people: AB 849. What is that you say, Arnold? This issue should be left to the courts to decide? Am I hearing this correctly or do I have a screaming right wing extremist crying in my ear?

So, Arnold turns to Prop 22, the anti-marriage initiative that passed 5 years ago. Well, I guess that closes the door, the people have spoken. That will set a great precedent for me when I get my initiative passed: The Anti-Free Speech Initiative. Hey, if the people pass it, that means it's constitutional and Arnold has to uphold it.

Even conservative anti-marriage folks are criticizing Arnold for the way he's responding to this bill. Fox News (yes, I said FOX NEWS) quoted several right wingers stating that he is going about this the wrong way. "It's not an issue for the courts--he's inviting judicial activism and that's what we're opposed to" "I've never heard of any Republican who's actually looking to the courts to decide". See the entire article here.

So, what should this be saying to Arnold aside from the fact that he needs more intelligent advisors? Perhaps he should reconsider his goals. He knows he is never going to be president. Someone should suggest to him that he has an opportunity here to make history. If he refuses, he will just end up like all of the other political hypocrites that people will only remember for their bigotry. I think the sun has set for the Governator. Hollywood is calling you home, Arnie.