Ban Inter-Anything Marriage

It's sad to see that the Mormons, a religious group that has been discriminated against, that has had their own marriage practices shunned and criminalized, in violation of the First Amendment, is a driving force in not only legalizing discrimination in California, but mandating it. California's Proposition 8 is, simply put, shameful. What is wrong with this people? How insecure in themselves are they that they can possibly be threatened by people they don't even know getting married?

But, hey, if we want to enshrine discrimination, let's go for it! Here's my draft of a California proposition to accomplish this:

This initiative measure is submitted to the people in accordance with the provisions of Article II, Section 8, of the California Constitution.

This initiative measure expressly amends the California Constitution by replacing a section thereof; therefore, revised provisions are printed in italic type to indicate that they are replacements.

SECTION 1. Title This measure shall be known and may be cited as the "California Real Marriage Protection Act."

SECTION 2. Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution, is amended to read:

SEC. 7.5. Only marriage between two people, wherein one person is a man and one person is a woman, and wherein both people share the same age, color, creed, disabilities, education, ethnicity, eye color, hair color, race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and military/veteran status, is valid or recognized in California.

I know that it might be difficult to abide by these restrictions, and many existing marriages might suddenly be invalid, but it's the price we have to pay if we want to protect bigotry.

The Time of the Campaign

Estimates on the cost of the just-concluded presidential campaign are running around $1 Billion. That's certainly a lot of money, but, to put it in perspective -- it's only 3 days in Iraq.

A friend of mine recently lamented what she called a bigger travesty -- the consumption of time. I have to say that I disagree. Sure, there was plenty of time wasted, particularly the moments when the Republicans tried to call Obama a terrorist or a socialist, or when Sarah Palin went around telling people that only Republicans love our country.

But, as Barack said so eloquently on Tuesday:

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change.

So, too, is it the case that the few moments that we each spent voting were not the election. They say the Presidency is a bully pulpit, but Barack Obama has been using the bully pulpit of the campaign trail for a year. His victory -- our victory -- would not have happened without his leadership over that time. By educating people, by advancing his agenda, by helping people understand that we could talk about hope rather than fear, and by helping people learn why our country deserved a leader like him, he has already changed the country for the better -- and it is that changed country which elected him.

That change couldn't have happened without a lot of time -- time that wasn't wasted.