Sometimes you can't win for winning

I think that Arnold the Governator has been inhaling a bit too much of the foul California air. I am not talking about the cloud of toxicity that is often hovering above the Los Angeles basin. Nor am I referring to the terrible smoke belching from the fires that are once again proving money and fame are no guarantee against natural disaster. No, I am talking about the pure vile and hate being spewed by those protesting against the passage of Proposition 8 as their nationwide hissy fit drones on.

This post is not going to discuss the relative merits or prejudices of that proposition. There are enough opinion pieces floating around that have opened plenty of back doors for the bath house and pillow biting crowd to rant through. To be honest I am somewhat politically ambivalent about the whole thing. However, trying to find the best man at a lesbian wedding is a real pain in the ass. Ok, perhaps that isn’t the best way to phrase that given the subject matter. How about it gives me a headache?

What struck me like a lightning rod on a dry mountain top was the complete duplicity in several comments made by Arnold “my spell check is quaking” Schwarzenegger on This Week with George “my spell check just quit” Stephanopoulos. My consistency checker fired up faster than a Santa Barbara hillside under a vengeful God’s wrath when the muscle bound Austrian performed an about face faster than Larry Craig entering a cop filled Minneapolis men’s room as he praised Proposition 11 passing in California immediately after railing about Prop 8 passing too!

Proposition 11 was a proposed amendment to the California constitution and provides guidelines around the every ten year redrawing of the boundaries of legislative districts. Called the Voters First Act, this proposition was supported by as many liberal organizations as opposed it. Republican groups, the one or two of them in California, tended to support the measure. It passed by a very narrow margin.

Proposition 8, for those of you who have been stuck in a line for High School Musical 3 and haven’t heard, adds a new amendment to the California Constitution which says, "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California". The lines were fairly well drawn between left and right lobbying groups on this one. This amendment, too, passed and by a margin that was, albeit thin, three times that of Proposition 11.

When asked by the wee one George if he thought the California Supreme Court should overturn Prop 8, Conan the Governor said:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Proposition 8 here in California, it passed, defining marriage as exclusively for men and women. I know you've said you hope the court overturns it. Will you join Democrats who are filing a challenge in the court?

SCHWARZENEGGER: No. I mean …for me, marriage is between a man and a woman. But I don't want to ever force my will on anyone. I think that the Supreme Court was right by saying that it's unconstitutional. And that everyone should have the right, just like we had the battle in 1948 and the Supreme Court decision came down, that, you know, it was unconstitutional for blacks and whites not to be able to get married with each other, and they overturned that. And since then, that has been taken care of.

And now the Supreme Court says that it's also unconstitutional to not let gay people get married, the same-sex marriage. So to me, that is the important decision here, and everything else is not that important…

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you think the courts should overturn Proposition 8?

SCHWARZENEGGER: The court has overturned it. And now they went back. And the people have voted for it again, against the gay marriage. So the Supreme Court, you know, I think ought to go and look at that again. And we'll go back to the same decision, basically… And I think that the important thing now is to resolve this issue in that way.


Let me make sure I understand this. The Supreme Court decided to allow homosexual marriage. The people of the State of California, following the guidelines prescribed in the state constitution, voted to change the state constitution so marriage would only be between a man and a woman and Sergeant Shriver’s son-in-law feels the court should tell the people of the state to shove their votes up their, well, once again we won’t go there given the subject matter, and over turn the vote! Got it? State Supreme Court = good/smart. People of California = stupid/homophobes to be equated with racists and bigots.

Fast forward in the interview a whopping 20 to 30 seconds:

STEPHANOPOULOS: How about Proposition 11? The opponents of Proposition 11, which will set up this independent commission to draw up the congressional districts, haven't given up the fight yet. Do you think they actually have a chance of still winning?

SCHWARZENEGGER: In Proposition 11? This is over. Proposition 11 has won… And thank God. I think the people of California were very smart in this, because five times before it has not succeeded…And I said, you know, that, whenever you lose, you analyze why you have lost. What have you done wrong? Because the idea is not wrong. It's just the way you went about was wrong…in 2005, I tried that same battle. And I was not inclusive enough…And so we lost. And we went back again, regrouped…And we won.

Once more let me make sure I understand this. The people voted on an issue and, that’s it. The amendment is good, passed, fini, over and done! No Supreme Court to outsmart the people is needed on this one. Got it? Oh, and if any of the "..." edits have you worried, here is the whole transcript.

On second thought I don’t get it. The majority of the electorate voting for a proposition on one hand is fine while the same majority of the electorate voting for a proposition on the other hand is wrong. I am more confused than a bi-sexual cross dresser in a coed bathroom. (Just think about that one!)

I am not happy with the results of several highly contested issues and races in this past election. But I will live with them and will take the opportunity to express my God given right to vote the next time I can. In politics there are winners and losers in every vote. Whining, protests and law suits are but a loser’s way to try to subvert the system and change the will put forth by the people. Some of these subversions will work and that is a shame. Shame on those who bring these suits and partake in these protests. Shame on those who sit idly by and say nothing as these protests and suits progress.

The next time you see somebody whining about their loss in an election and they are protesting seeking to somehow change or overcome the vote, tell them they lost. Work harder next time and they might win. Tell them to sit down, shut up and suck it up. Well, perhaps that last one is once again a poor choice of words but you know what I mean.

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