On Proposition 8 and the American Government

I am morally in favor of Proposition 8. That is irrelevant.

I am politically outraged, scandalized, and demoralized by what is happening to Proposition 8, and it has nothing to do with morality. It can pretty much all be traced back to my 5th grade Social Studies class (the earliest taste of American civics I can remember).

As I recall, our government is a democracy - that means government by the people for the people. I also recall that our government has a tripartite structure so as to prevent one branch from becoming inordinately powerful. It's an old, dead argument that the judicial branch is hogging all the power. But this situation just takes things one step further down the endless spiral...

Somebody sued somebody else and the courts ruled that gay marriage was legal, though the question was already on the ballots for the general populace to decide whether they wanted gay marriage to be legal. The people said No (not overwhelmingly, but clearly enough), and the law was passed, in the typical fashion.

Except the lobbyists weren't happy. Enough noisy people were unhappy that this law, legitimately passed in the face of the great pressure, was immediately sent back to the courts, where they were sure to win (as are most special interest groups). Ridiculous measures have been put in place, down to revealing how people voted on this issue. It's as good as revoking their right to a free vote. How patently unamerican! Our founding fathers must be rolling over in their grave to see how we're completely disregarding their carefully constructed government documents.

The people spoke, and said that marriage is between a man and a woman. I don't care whether you agree with that or not; our government is a democracy, and the people have spoken. You can fight it through the normal means, but don't bully it out of them.

I am extremely disheartened by this whole situation, and it has less to do with the continued destruction of the institution of marriage than it does with the continued destruction of the American government.