Prop 8

So Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked that the court to deem Prop 8 unconstitutional. That’s kinda nice, isn’t it? He’s of course, correct. Prop 8 should not have been put on the ballot. We Americans do not do as we please because somebody says we can, but because we are Americans. That’s it.

The question of, “why do you care?” is the wrong question. Everybody feels strongly about some things, but it usually isn’t the same things. It was wrong to put that on the ballot, because by putting it on the ballot, people were forced to express an opinion. Most people don’t want to be in other people’s private business. They pretty much know what’s going on, but if they’re not forced to acknowledge it, they’d rather go about their business, without making a fuss. Which really ought to suit everybody. But by putting it on the ballot, voting against Prop 8 would have made them complicit in something they, and those who have always loved them, have always believed to be a sin. Something just not right. It is at their base, and they cannot change it any more than the gays, can change what is at their base.

The real reason this fight is happening is because everybody seems to want to use the issue. The gays because they want some sort of external validation, and the Mormons want it so that they can counter balance the impression given the nation and the world via the success of HBO’s Big Love.

We know how this is going to end, the only choice to make is whether we get there acting like a bunch of damn fools, protesting and counter protesting, going out of our respective ways in order to make things more uncomfortable than they need to be, or are things going to get done properly? That means, doing the work. The work that's already done, a hundred thousand times, even though it seems nothing has ever been accomplished. It means knowing that there will always be those (with their own self esteem problems) saying despicable things to and about you, duping others into repeating and re-repeating the party line, and it isn’t your option to publicly snivel about it. Public sniveling is obnoxious, and it emboldens those who would strike out at you. Better to lick your wounds (if you have any) in private, allowing anyone who wants to, to consider you arrogant. Why not? Aside from rocks under your wheels, the Evil Eye, and a bad reputation, what have such people ever giving you?

Truth is, none of this could matter less. Really. The thing to do is to look out for yourself. When you know you’re in trouble, try to spy the incoming haymaker. Just do what you need to do.

This isn’t going to end through some magnificent moment, it’ll come quietly, nearly unnoticed. Live your life the way you need. If that means signing a power of attorney, so that your partner can make medical decisions, or whatever, then that is what you do. It’s a form, just paperwork, and if it has any bearing on how you feel about yourself, you really do have bigger problems.