So we have this proposition on the ballot in California. A decision of the State Supreme Court made gay marriage legal and now we have Proposition 8, which would make it illegal.
Naturally, there are commercials all over the place...and to see some of them, you'd never know the issue at hand has anything to with gays or marriage. Some of the "no" spots speak of equal protection under the law without discussing what exactly is being protected. Some of the "yes" ones speak of "tolerance" but their notion of tolerance is respect for the rights of those who choose to oppose gay marriage. Some of both could make you wonder how many voters will really know what they're voting on...or whether a "yes" vote means "yes" or "no" to gay marriage.
(The "yes" votes I've seen seem to be getting a bit more honest. For a while, they made it sound like the point of Proposition 8 was to stop sex education from being taught in schools, protect the tax-free status of churches and limit the power of "activist judges." Nothing in the actual Proposition 8 mentions any of that.)
A few months ago, polls showed 8 going down to a solid defeat. That's when a lot of us who see nothing wrong with same-sex wedlock (and everything wrong with barring it) thought the game was over and we could bite our nails over the presidential race, instead. That'll teach us to get cocky. Current polls suggest it's neck-and-neck and that the vote, like some whose relationships it would impact, can go either way.
This is quite disappointing and not just because it might lose. It's disappointing because it means the vote will probably be close...and that means the losing side will just try again in the next election. We'll be fighting this battle again...and again and again. Perhaps that was inevitable but some of us had hope. Then again, I still think gay marriage is inevitable and that it will some day seem ridiculous that it was ever an issue. Maybe if we get out the vote, we can make that day happen sooner...and minimize the injustice until it does.
Various politicians are rushing to condemn John McCain's unsolicited robocalls about Barack Obama's "relationship" with William Ayers. I would like to take this opportunity to condemn all unsolicited robocalls about anything. This includes the ones that want to tip me to great pay-per-view events on DirecTV and the ones that invite me to try out a free membership at my local Family Fitness Center. We're not getting political-type calls here in California but if I do, I will condemn them, no matter who they're from or what they're about.
I actually question whether they're effective in any way. They seem to me like a great way to piss people off, interrupting their lives or dinners or other, more important calls to listen to some unwanted sales pitch. There also seems to be a high potential of robocalls reaching the wrong person...someone in the home who couldn't buy the product if they wanted to.
I suppose the companies that set up such things have statistics that prove robocalls are of some value in moving a product or public opinion, however illogical that seems to me. Nevertheless, even if they make sense for the sponsor, I think they're a slimy, annoying way to do business and I think less of any enterprise that employs them.
Obviously, they should be outlawed and the people who do them should be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole and, more important, no access to a telephone. Failing that, they should be required to include their home phone numbers in any robocalls so we can ring them up at our leisure and tell them exactly what he think of such tactics. 4 AM sounds like as good a time as any to me.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast think the potential is there for a lot of people who should be allowed to vote to not be allowed to vote, or for their votes to be properly counted. Something to worry about.
For today's video link, we bring you...me. This is a 48 minute talk I gave in September at the offices of Google. The topic was Jack Kirby, the subject of the book I keep plugging here. The nice lady who introduced me mispronounced my name and got some of my past credits confused with my current credits...but that's okay because I misspoke about one or two things I can't remember right now.
I've only watched a little of it — I hate watching myself — but I was surprised to see that I looked rather dour throughout my rambling. I remember having a very good time there and the audience seemed to, as well. Hope you do.
October 23, 2008
