forward and back

The time space continum got all bent out of shape this week. The least eventful was the losing of an hour of sleep this morning as the clock moved forward.

But it appears that we lost much more than an hour in California. Thursday's oral arguments challenging the Constitutionality of Proposition 8 appear to have rolled back Californian's rights to 1978 Briggs Initiative levels. Thirty years of progress may be gone. And while it is true that the Justices have not formally announced their decision, we think Justice Joyce Kennard (recall how she was the swing vote when marriage was legalized) tipped her hand (claw?) when she made the following statement:

"You would have us choose between these two rights: the inalienable right to marry and the right of the people to change their constitution,"

Then she spouted this gem, one of the most insensitive dismissals of the Bill of Rights ever spoken by a member of the bench:

"You ask us to willy-nilly disregard the right of the people to change the constitution of the state of California."

Notice no where was concern for the inalienable right of the minority, only the unchecked right of the majority to discriminate at will. Amusing how that happens. One would think that a person who was born in a Japanese American Internment camp would understand the inalienable rights inherent in the human being, but said does not seem to be the case.

So here we are. Although it is unannounced, it is apparent that the will of the People in California can deprive the minority of their civil rights. In other words, mob rule is the new rule, and the only way we can regain our civil rights is via the ballot box.

Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a long and expensive year and a half.