Sadness in Sacramento

The Governor's Office has indicated that Schwarzenegger will veto the first democratically passed Gay Marriage Bill in the country. Upon reflection - I have a few more words than my previously announced three.

This situation is sad and tragic. The Governor's reason for the veto amounts to a "let the people decide approach", because apparently this is too important of a decision to be left to a professional legislature. This is horseshit, I might be inclined to agree if the United States or the State of California operated under an Athenian-style of democracy...but they don't...why? Because our government is mandated to be a REPUBLICAN form of government. So instead of every person voting on every issue - we elect representatives to effect our legislative will. If the people of CA are unhappy with the way that their REPRESENTATIVE voted on the Gay Marriage Bill, they can vote for someone else next time around. One can hardly imagine the state of CA sending it's tax code to the people every year, asking citizens which portions they like and which ones they didn't. Or to choose something less administrative...CA doesn't have a referendum when they decide on what the speed limit should be on the 405, why? Because this is the job of the democratically elected legislature.

Further, an issue like this is the last type of issue to submit to 'the people' - if 'the people' have to make just one decision - to discriminate or not discriminate against gay people - it's going to eliminate the 'cross-cutting cleavage' benefit of our society in enabling the legislature to engage in a little minority protection, and thus be much easier for ignorance, bigotry & bias to prevail.

Many times our society is faced with one of its 'uglier' manifestations...we recognize the problem, we need to correct the problem, but it isn't something that be democratically decided (at least in the Athenian sense), because too much of the constituency is afflicted with, influenced by or invested in the problem. One could only imagine what the South would look like today (legally) if all civil rights legislation was enacted utilizing the referendum-method.

Lastly, this tragedy is further example of why we shouldn't elect movie stars to political office. Schwarzenegger loves to play the hero, saving the day, saving the country, saving the world....but faced with a truly unprecedented event he shirks from his duty, he cowers away, he neglects to sign a piece of paper which would hurt no one, but would legally validate and strengthen countless human relationships within a group of people consistently marginalized by the law.