A key reason why the same sex marriage vote failed in Maine
A vote on the legality of same sex marriage in Maine overturned the law passed by the legislature on same sex marriage. So, once again marriage in Maine is legally only between a man and a woman.
Every time this issue comes up for a vote before the people, heterosexual marriage is affirmed and same sex marriage is voted down. Even in very “liberal” states such as California. When this issues was up for a vote in Oregon, a fairly liberal state in 2004, the ballot issue banning same sex marriage passed by more votes that George W. Bush received. Hmmm….could it be that some good “liberal” democrats don’t support same sex marriage? Could it be that it isn’t just “far right social conservative religious bigots” that are voting against same sex marriage?
Here is a dirty little secret that many good liberals either don’t know or won’t admit. There are several traditional core democrat constituent groups that are more than just a little bit “social conservative” and are strongly opposed to same sex marriage. These constituent groups include Roman Catholics, the elderly and blacks.
The left won’t address this issue in their own ranks. Instead, they will engage in hate speech and mean spirited attacks against their traditional “Emmanuel Goldsteins.”
If the proponents of same sex marriage were really and truly serious about their cause, they would first start to address their opponents in their own liberal house hold and then reach out to those are in agreement with their cause, like the Libertarians.
The rise of Libertarianism
The Cato Institute takes a look at the Gallup poll Bill Kristol used for this claim.
The Gallup poll released Monday shows the public’s conservatism at a high-water mark. Some 40 percent of Americans call themselves conservative, compared with 36 percent who self-describe as moderates and 20 percent as liberals.
Cato’s David Boaz notes:
The word “libertarian” isn’t well known, so pollsters don’t find many people claiming to be libertarian. And usually they don’t ask. But a large portion of Americans hold generally libertarian views — views that might be described as fiscally conservative and socially liberal, or as Gov. William Weld told the 1992 Republican National Convention, “I want the government out of your pocketbook and out of your bedroom.” They don’t fit the red-blue paradigm, and they have their doubts about both conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. They’re potentially a swing vote in elections. Background on the libertarian vote here.
And note here: If you tell people that “libertarian” means “fiscally conservative and socially liberal,” 44 percent will accept the label.
As many self-described centrists (i.e. closet Libertarians :->) will tell you, the world is more than just black and white, or red or blue. There are people who are capable of independent thought and disagree with portions of what the two big political parties are trying to sell them.
Monday Book Pick: Forge of the Elders
Filed under: Baen Books, Monday Book Pick, Science Fiction
Forge of the Elders, by L. Neil Smith
In world where Communism won, a team from the World Soviet, in old American Space Shuttles, go to visit an asteroid called Eris. Predictably, chaos is the result, when they find other Earthly intelligent beings, from more Libertarian realities, have gotten there first.
Religion and Politics
Back when my son was in Scouting, I taught multiple merit badges for the Troop, including all three Citizenship merit badge. Citizenship in the Nation required them to read and discuss the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
I found this great shirt pocket sized book from the Cato Institute that had both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. I bought them in bulk and gave each Scout in my class a copy. Then I told there would be a quiz in the next class, and there was.
Now the Cato Institute is a Libertarian think tank, and being in the Peoples’ Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I tried to find an opposing view. So I went to the ACLU‘s website and tried to find a similar publication. What I could not find at the ACLU website was the Constitution of the United States of America, the fundamental legal document of the nation.
That is when it dawned on me, the ACLU is like the old Roman Catholic Church. They wanted the Mass in Latin and the Bible printed in Latin, with only the Priests knowing how to speak and read Latin. They didn’t want the Laity knowing what the Word of God was, the Church only wanted them to know what the Church said the word of God was.
The Libertarians are like that rabble rousing Martin Luther, who had the radical idea of printing the Bible in languages that the Laity could read. Let them read it and see what it really says.
The Libertarians feel that the US Constitution is a remarkable document, that clearly lists what the functions of Government are and just as importantly, what are not the functions of the federal government. It’s all there, written in clear English. They want the Citizens to read it, understand it and know how it is supposed to effect their daily lives.
The far left, which includes most Congressional democrats (who are not “liberals” in the classic sense), don’t want American citizens to read the Constitution. They want to tell you what it means, and don’t want you raising questions about their interpreation have nothing to do with the words written in the actual document.
Personally, I think you should read it, and ask just why the leftists are so afraid of you doing so.