First Door on the Left

Judge Says Calif. Can’t Ban Gay Marriage

Reaction from the right has been swift and exactly what you would expect. “There go those activist judges again.” I found this statement from one wingnut blogger particularly intriguing:

California joins the list of states where gay marriage has been enacted by judicial fiat rather than the democratic process.

Think about that for a moment. What exactly is this “democratic process” of which he speaks? If we had waited for this so-called democratic process, what do you think would be the status of school integration in the southern states today? Would white people still be drinking from fountains marked “Whites Only?” Would interracial marriage still be illegal?

Eventually the radical right wing of the Republican party will join the rest of us in the 21st century. They will not do so willingly, and they will have to be dragged kicking and screaming all the way, but it remains my belief that eventually they will join the modern world.

Or they are free to remain in their world and join the dinosaurs in extinction.

There is nobody harder on smokers than ex-smokers. Still in all, you gotta love this paragraph from Mark Morford…

I wish, right now, this day, that I could smoke again. I loved the ritual, the habit, the funky little rock-star vice. I wish smoking wasn’t so purely dangerous or brainless or so goddamn obviously the most useless and pointless and debilitating and deadly habit you can have next to collecting radioactive sewage or kissing speeding trains or voting Republican.

I smoked an average of a pack of cigarettes per day for 30 years. Had I not done that, chances are I would not have had the heart attack. I have not smoked since the attack, but the damage is done now so that is probably moot.

I’m not going to preach. If you want to smoke, smoke. Just don’t believe the idiots when they tell you that quitting is difficult. It’s not.

At least I’ve never voted Republican.

Forecast says 84 degrees today. Thinking about hiking down to the lake to feed the ducks. May even take the camera.

Update @ 4:45 p.m.: Hiked to the lake, took the camera, fed the ducks. These two made friends fairly quickly…

Dave reveals “Rural America’s dirty little secret.”

I think he may be on to something. Check it out.

I’ve been too tired and too disgusted to post much lately. I’ll just say I’m glad that those of you who voted Republican are getting what you voted for. This is just the beginning.

I go in Friday for what they call a myocardial perfusion imaging study. From what I understand, they pump me full of some radioactive stuff and then take pictures of my glowing heart to see the extent of the damage so they can then determine if any heroic steps need to be taken to enhance my quality of life. Sorry if I sound bitter. I may be. Just a little.

Best of luck with your surgery tomorrow, President Clinton. My thoughts will be with you. (Send President Clinton a get well message here.)

Snapped a few moments ago…

Say goodnight.

From this week’s Top Ten Conservative Idiots:

4. Ann Coulter

While we’re on the subject of Jeff Gannon, Ann Coulter posed some curious questions in a recent article. “Are we supposed to like gay people now, or hate them? Is there a Web site where I can go to and find out how the Democrats want me to feel about gay people on a moment-to-moment basis?” This was, of course, in response to revelations that Jeff Gannon is a gay prostitute.

So I have a couple questions of my own: Are we supposed to like gay people now, or hate them? Is there a Web site where I can go to and find out how the Republicans want me to feel about gay people on a moment-to-moment basis?

It’s just that I’m perfectly consistent in my support for gay rights. What I’m not comfortable with is the White House giving a real live prostitute with a fake name who works for a fake news organization that is actually a front for a Republican activist group free and easy access to press briefings so that the aforementioned prostitute can toss softball questions at the president to get him out of sticky situations.

But now we’re in a bizarre situation where Republicans like Coulter are one day screaming about amending the Constitution in order to discriminate against gays, or telling me that gays are sinners who are going to hell, or that cartoon characters are secretly working on an evil gay agenda to corrupt our children, or that “tolerance” and “love” are secret gay code words, and then the next day they’re telling me that I’m the homophobe and poor gay people like Jeff Gannon need to be defended from the likes of me and my awful liberal friends.

I mean, if gay prostitution is okay – which, according to all these Republicans who are now accusing the left of homophobia, it is – then gay marriage must be double-plus-good, right? Otherwise I just don’t get the argument. How come, according to Republicans, it’s fine for a gay man to sell himself for no-strings-attached sex with other men online, but it’s not fine for two gay men to enter into a lifelong, loving marriage partnership?

Here are a few of the more “interesting” tidbits I came across while surfing this morning. I’ll not link to where these came from, but if one of them is yours by all means feel free to claim ownership in comments.

• The actions that the Supreme Court took today were wrong. They overstepped their bounds and we the people, who are the power behind the government, must not stand for this!
• The question that arises is whether marriage is a civil institution defined by government, or a spiritual union defined by God. Most liberals will choose the first definition. That, in my opinion, is a dangerous door to open. It opens the door for a myriad of issues that will contribute to America’s moral decline. What’s next ACLU? Legalizing beastiality? Incest marriages?
• It would seem that the blogosphere still has a long way to go to get the MSM up to a “fair and balanced” attitude.
• Needless to say, again, it was the left that is creating this illusion with their far-from-truthful talking points.
• We spent 200 billion on Iraq and all I got was higher gas prices.
• Sometimes I have no thoughts or opinions.
• You have to realize that talk radio is not for every one. It is only for intelligent People.
• Every state, and small nations, all have their own product, a staple of their economy. Idaho? Peanuts.

A quick note on the last one… I grew up in Idaho and do not ever recall seeing a peanut farm. Lots of potato farms, but never a single peanut farm.

My bumper stickers from last year’s political season have long since been removed, but there are still some folks around town with stickers attached. One spotted today:

Appropriate.