COURT CUTS BABY IN HALF

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GRANOLA STATE SUPREMES CUT OFF GAY MARRIAGE



"SOLOMONIC" DECISION PLEASES NO ONE, ANGERS EVERYONE

Human Rights Still Unacceptable in California, Sorta, Kinda, Maybe, Who Knows?

In a boon for lawyers in the formerly Golden, now Plate State, the California State Supreme Court has opened the door to thousands of lawsuits over their latest muddled ruling on homosexual marriage. Same-sexers who have not yet married in Cali will never be able to do so now; those already married there may remain married, but never remarry; and the rest of the world does not have to recognize their marriages, nor will California recognize out-of-State gay marriages.

This is the same Court that just OK'ed gay marriage last year. This whale-sized flip-flop has astounded observers, as it appears to contradict everything the Court just said about marriage a year ago. Today, they've made it unimportant, but still denied it to gays. If it's so unimportant, why bother to deny it? If it is important, how can you deny it to one special class of people, legally? And what about tomorrow?

The SCOCA has also opened a Pandora's box of propositions. Ever since right-wing nuts began imposing their destructive preferences upon the rest of Cali by means of ill-attended and misunderstood ballot initiatives, the ideal of freedom and prosperity for everyone that the Bear Republic once represented to the world has gradually been lost. The State no longer offers the educational opportunities it once did. Public services and infrastructure are suffering from neglect. Good jobs have been flowing outward for years, while jobless people continue to flood inward. Property owners were told they simply didn't have to pay for all the wonderful things that made California golden. Now they can't even pay their bills. But the High Court says it's all good, State Constitutional Amendments aren't really "Amendments," in law. They're just, um, well, er, amendments with a small "a." So the basic law of the land there is now written on Silly-Putty, and can be twisted by wealthy out-of-State fanatics and special interests to mean whatever they want, whenever they want. Again, a lawyers wet-dream. Everyone and everything will end up in a court system that refuses to make decisions and stick to them. Venue-shopping? No need! Just try the same judge again next year. Everything will end up in Federal Court, eventually, and perpetually. So, what are your rights in Kolleefahneeya? I don't know, what day is it? Gotta check the paper. SoCal & NoCal folks might all be illegal aliens, today. Or not. Consult your attorney. If you can afford one.


SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
"California Supreme Court upholds ban on gay marriage in 6-1 vote"
Fudge.

' Ending a six-month legal battle and instantly igniting the next political fight, the California Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage, but left intact the unions of gay and lesbian couples who wed last year. In a definitive 6-1 decision that cheered opponents of gay marriage, the justices said they would be overstepping their authority if they were to overturn the constitutional ban voters enacted Nov. 4. In the same ruling, the court established a two-tiered system of marriage for same-sex couples that seemed bound to satisfy no one. Gay marriage advocates vowed Tuesday to take the fight to "win marriage back" to California voters in 2010. With same-sex marriage now legal in Iowa, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, supporters say they have momentum after a "sea change" of public opinion in recent months. '

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"Proposition 8 ruling: separate and unequal"
Legalistic horsesh*t from a bunch of cowardly lawyers guarantees chaos & discrimination in California.

' In reading the opinion, it was almost hard to imagine that it was produced by the same court that so eloquently affirmed the principle of marriage equality in May. Chief Justice Ronald George, then writing for the majority in a 4-3 ruling, had declared that all Californians should enjoy "a fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship." The latest ruling focused on more technical legal issues, namely whether Proposition 8 represented an "amendment" to the constitution (permissible through the initiative process) or a more substantial "revision" that could be put to voters only through a constitutional convention or a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. Curiously, the conclusion that Prop. 8 amounted to a mere "amendment" - and not a change in the basic nature of the constitution, as opponents had argued - required the justices to downplay the importance of marriage. This time, George suggested that domestic partnerships and anti-discrimination laws offer same-sex couples the "same substantive core benefits" as their heterosexual counterparts. The justices acknowledged that Prop. 8 does "diminish the rights of same-sex couples," but not so drastically that it would produce a "sweeping constitutional effect." It was up to Justice Carlos Moreno, the sole dissenting voice, to rise above the thicket of legalese and capture the essence of the issue. To allow a majority of voters to deprive one minority group of its rights is to put "at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities," he wrote '

SAN DIEGO NEWS NETWORK
"Local leaders on both sides of Prop 8 dispute react to ruling"
So, "inalienable" means "able to be withdrawn or restricted," in Lalaland, now.

' Garlow, however, anticipates legal challenges to the state’s existing same-sex marriages. In June, before voters passed Proposition 8, proponents of the ballot measure were denied a stay of the high court’s May 2008 ruling, which overturned Proposition 22, the state’s existing ban on gay marriage, and paved the way for same-sex couples to marry. Same-sex couples began marrying last summer, and were allowed to marry until 52 percent of voters approved the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on Nov. 4. Proposition 8 supporters fear the Supreme Court’s new ruling may create legal loopholes and additional challenges to law. “It creates a bizarre situation,” Garlow said. “How can the court legally justify affirming same-sex marriages that occurred during that four month window, when the law now reads only marriage between one man and one woman is valid and recognized in California?” The court’s majority rejected the challenge that Proposition 8 is a revision to the constitution - not an amendment - which would require a two-thirds vote by the state legislature to stand. The court also recognized voters’ rights to amend the Constitution through the initiative process, and said “inalienable” rights are not exempt from limitations or restrictions. '

LA TIMES
"California's gay marriage ruling signals next step for both sides"
The indecisive decision is a windfall for political consultants and advertising media.

' The next campaign in the gay-marriage fight has already begun. Less than 90 minutes after the California Supreme Court released its ruling on Proposition 8, both sides had already e-mailed supporters soliciting funds anticipating a new ballot measure on gay marriage that could reach voters in 2010. "We don't have time to mourn the failure of the state court to restore marriage equality to California," wrote Rick Jacobs, chairman of the Courage Campaign, in a 10:15 a.m. e-mail. He added that it was "time to go on offense" and asked supporters to send money for pro-gay-marriage advertising that could begin airing on television later this week. Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, waited until a little after 11 a.m. to hit up his supporters, writing: "We must turn our attention to protecting this victory . . . and must raise several million dollars to get our message out. . . . Please click here to make a contribution." In addition to buying advertising on TV, both sides are also hiring community organizers who will help supporters reach out to sway individual voters. '

THE SACRAMENTO BEE
"From San Francisco to midtown Sacramento, reaction is deep"
Citizens seem to understand the problems the Court has created better than the judges.

' "All this does is create two classes of citizens. I'm really saddened by this," said Kate Moore, who married her partner Tina Reynolds in an October ceremony at the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento. Jorge Riley, a Proposition 8 supporter who traveled to San Francisco, representing fellow students at American River College in Sacramento, said he was pleased and relieved. "Justice has finally been served," he said. "This is the will of the people." Of the 18,000 couples in California who already hold marriage licenses, Riley said, "a lot of laws will have to accommodate those people, and it just doesn't make sense. I think those marriages will end up being invalidated." As he spoke outside the court building, a woman with the word "QUEER" painted on her forehead confronted him, repeatedly blowing a harmonica into his face before police led her away. '

THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
"Locals vow new fight over gay marriage"
Marriage is now a revolving door, spun by hatred and ignorance.

' Both sides on the Kern County front of the same-sex marriage battle agreed Tuesday that their fight is not over. While the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, it left a door in the debate wide open: If voters have the right to make same-sex marriage illegal, they also have the right to legalize it again. Local gay rights activist Juan Cerda said the court ruling was disheartening and he plans to fight it through education — getting out into the community, knocking on doors and talking to people. “It's not just your vote, it's other people's marriage,” he said during a rally Tuesday evening in front of Outback Steakhouse on Stockdale Highway. “When do I get a chance to vote on your marriage?” Lisa Chidester, a stay-at-home Bakersfield mother who became a volunteer coordinator on the Yes on 8 campaign last year, said she is proud of the exhaustive work it took to pass the constitutional amendment in November. "I don't want my children to go to school and learn about gay marriage. That should stay at home," she said. "This is too important to let go." '

HEALTHVOTE.ORG
"Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California’s Fourth Branch of Government"
The problem with "Props" in a nutshell.

' When Progressives designed the direct democracy laws almost 100 years ago, they envisioned a process that would act as a safety valve, enabling citizens to supplement the work of the legislature when it failed to act. Today’s initiative process, however, has outstripped the authors’ vision. An emerging culture of democracy-by-initiative is transforming the electorate into a fourth and new branch of state government. Voters now exercise many of the legislative and executive powers traditionally reserved for the first and second branches of government. Some observers worry that ballot initiatives are undermining political party responsibility and the traditional forms of representative government in California. They say the initiative route discards checks and balances and its deliberateness in favor of ill-conceived, rash, and poorly drafted schemes. Initiatives, they fear, have shifted the policymaking burden to the voters, leaving them overwhelmed by the growing number of measures on the ballot. The problem, they maintain, is exacerbated by poor drafting, misleading campaigns, bewildering counter-initiatives, and by court rulings declaring initiatives unconstitutional or partially unconstitutional. '

BALLOTPEDIA.ORG
"California 2009 ballot propositions"
Low turn-outs for off-year Prop-only elections, with no candidates for high office running.

' Voter turnout predictions * In contrast to the 78% voter turnout in November 2008 in San Mateo County, elections manager David Tom says he expects a much lower turnout for the May 19 election, in the vicinity of 30-35%. * Ventura County Assistant Registrar of Voters Tracy Saucedo said on May 15 that about a third of voters who had been issued mail-in ballots had returned them, or about 13% of Ventura County's 422,342 registered voters. This rate of voting is about the same as the June 2008 ballot proposition election, in which a total of 29.5% of voters in the county ultimately voted. * Fresno County Clerk Victor Salazar said, ""I just don't see any driving force that's going to bring out the voters." He predicts that turnout in the county will come to 25% of registered voters. It was 72% in November. '

BIBLOS.COM
"1 Kings 3:16-28"
No Solomons, these judges actually split the baby.

' 16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment. '

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CHURCH & STATE VS. THE REST OF US

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CATHOLICS, ABORTION, CHILD-MOLESTING,
GAY MARRIAGE, CONSERVATISM & ANTI-CATHOLICISM

YOUTUBE:
"Allen Keyes arrested again protesting Obama speech at Notre Dame"
See many students here? Mostly old conservative Republicans, probably not even Catholics, in fact, historically anti-Catholic. And then there's this nut job. His daughter is gay, BTW. He disowned her.


HOW THE CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS & POLITICAL
ESTABLISHMENT DIVIDES & CONQUERS

Both Sides Are Being Manipulated By Politicians
& Church "Fathers" For Their Own Purposes

It's funny that this should have happened just now, as I was preparing this month's "Cosie's," my little award for excellent blogs that display true hospitality, among other things. I hadn't written much about the Faux (News) "crisis" at Notre Dame, recognizing it as another desperate astroturf attempt by the failing Repukelickin' Party to revive their own fortunes by dividing us all.

Then I happened to see a post on a blog by someone who commented here on one of my posts. I found the post to be an objectionable sectarian smear and I said so in a comment on the other blog. Being Irish, I know all too well where sectarianism leads, and the history of it here in America and in Europe. My people were brutally oppressed and exploited using religion as an excuse for raw land-grabbing and profiteering. The disease of sectarianism was started and spread by the rich and powerful to manipulate and profit off of the poor and powerless, and the consequences can still be seen throughout the British Isles, and here in America. There is a strong anti-Catholic strain in conservatism, and a tradition that has been upheld by conservative groups like the Nazi's and the KKK for many years. Although I am not at all religious, anti-Catholic smears are deeply offensive to me, in the same way that racist or homophobic smears are.

Sectarianism is one with racism, sexism, homophobia, nativism, anti-Semitism and the latest hate, anti-Islamism. There's no excuse for it. Human beings are individuals, whatever perceived groups they may be lumped into. To paint them all with the same brush is just plain ignorant. To accuse an entire group based on the wrongdoings of one of their number is outright Fascism, collective punishment. It's wrong and it's stupid and I said so in my comments on that other blog. My comments were deleted, and a deliberately misleading and outrageous slander was posted in their place. So much for comity, hospitality, or plain old human decency.

I was raised Catholic by parents who did not believe in the teachings of the Church, and never went to Mass after I was old enough to go by myself. Like most U.S. Catholics, my parents conducted themselves in a moral and ethical manner, according to their own feelings, ideas and understanding of the things they had been taught by the Church. On abortion, divorce and many other issues, my parents, like the majority of the population of the Catholic Church in America, go a different way than the lickspittle authoritarians of the Church hierarchy. Even some of the clergy diverge from the ultramontane reactionaries that recently have retaken power in the Church in opposition to the reforms of Vatican Two.

There are really two separate Catholic Churches in the US: The official one, and the real one. To confuse them is to misunderstand a quintessential element of American society and politics. While there are some followers of the reactionaries, they are a minority, if a loud and well-connected one. My own hateful grandmother was a religious fanatic who insisted that we attend church and be baptized, go to catechism, take First Holy Communion and be confirmed. After that, we were free to do as we liked, and we never went to church again. She died cursing her own grandchildren, and using my grandfather's hard-earned money to try to buy her way into Heaven by paying a fortune to have masses said for herself in perpetuity every day in numerous churches, instead of donating to charity or her family. I hope she at least got one cool drink of water for that in Hell.

I did absorb certain values from the good side of all this which I realized in later life were fundamentally culturally Catholic, and at odds with those of the dominant Protestant cultural "ethic" in America. That so-called ethic combines the hard-hearted money-grubbing "high" church snobbery of the Presbyterian and Episcopalian elite with the poverty, envy, blame and intolerance of the "low" churches, like the Baptists, to use English "classifications." That ethic has provided the basis for the self-centered, self-righteous and sociopathic philosophy of conservatism.

The values that I learned as a boy, on the other hand, I later discovered were shared by many of the more enlightened Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, agnostics and atheists. They were based as much or more on class and life experiences than religion, but there were elements of theology interwoven: Principally, the concepts of good works, charity, self-sacrifice, and communal action. Poverty was seen not as a sign of unworthiness but as a burden that the more fortunate should try to help lighten. Life was sacred above all things and must be preserved and protected at all costs. Hard work as a basic part of life, personal responsibility that extended to the aid of others and a sense of community and social justice were things we learned growing up working class and Catholic, even if the official God stuff itself never quite sunk in. I think we all shared and learned from other religions' ideas and experiences, and that is why the liberal and progressive view is stronger and more widespread today than the poisonously negative and exclusionary philosophy of conservatism.

Our American "civil religion" binds us all with a higher calling to protect individual liberties, human rights and true democracy. People say that recently we have lost sight of these once universal values, that our polity is suddenly split between those opposed and those in favor of these values. But the fact is that the conservative element in our society has always been opposed to these values, from the very beginning. Slavery, expansionism, ruthless corrupt crony capitalism, brutal repression and prejudice of all kinds has been the conservative counter-creed all along. With their single-minded focus on wealth and power above all things, conservatives have gained influence way out of proportion to their numbers, even counting their craven lower-class toadies. We outnumber them, but they have insinuated themselves into all of our institutions. Only by working together as a majority and defending one another's rights can we ever hope to beat these conservative paracites.

For the time being, our institutions are controlled by those sociopathic conservatives, who bend our entire system to their own selfish interests. The easiest way for this minority to continue dominating our polity is to divide and conquer us. That's the reason for the constant flood of hatred and fear, anger and prejudice that the tame corporate media and the political and religious establishments put out all the time. It's disturbing to see victims of it participating in it.

Yes, the official Catholic Church and the loud minority of their most ardent and reactionary followers have taken unconscionable positions and actions against women and gays, the poor and disenfranchised, and groups and nations around the world that we should regard as bothers and sisters, according to any truly Christian, any moral and ethical standard. As such, these so-called Christians have violated their own most important precepts, and betrayed the millions of Catholics and non-Catholics alike who are in need of unity and cooperation. We will never have peace, prosperity and social justice until we join together in spite of our differences, and fight back collectively against the powerful and greedy minority who have lied, cheated and stolen their way to the top, and who can only stay there by dividing and conquering the rest of us, the true majority throughout the world. By tarring your innocent brothers and sisters with the foul stuff perpetrated by this reactionary elite and their mindless folowers, you are committing the same sins as they are. If you ever have any hope of seeing liberty and justice for all in this world, stop the hate and prejudice in your own hearts and minds.


"FIRST POST BY OTHER BLOGGER"

' Keep in mind that the largest anti choice organization, the Catholic Church, is so racist that there never has been a non white Pope.

Instead of putting all this energy into hating women and people of color, wouldn't it be great if the anti abortion extremists fought against child molesting Catholic priests? While their couldn't possibly be anything wrong with abortion, raping kids is absolutely and terribly wrong.

I sometimes think the Catholic Church hierarchy are using abortion as a distraction so people won't do something to protect Catholic children from that church and its priests who far too often rape them.

The Notre Dame protesters are failing in their responsibility to protect Catholic children by allowing themselves to be manipulated in such a transparent fashion. They really need to get a clue. '

MY COMMENT ON FIRST POST BY OTHER BLOGGER [deleted]

' 1. I wonder how many of these "abortion protesters" are even Catholics, and not just Republican shills.

2. Most American Catholics follow the dictates of their own conscience on most issues, regardless of what the Pope or anyone else says.

3. In two thousand and nine years, there have only been a few non-Italian Popes. This has more to do with the politics of Rome than it does with "racism." Does the fact that there never has been, and probably never will be, an Irish Pope mean that the Church is anti-Irish?

4. The fact is, there are millions of African, Asian and Latin American Catholics, and their priests, bishops and cardinals are mostly local. In the near future there will be a Pope of color. But he may be the ultimate right-winger, regardless of color, for reasons described below. Prejudice and conservatism come in all colors and sexual orientations.

5. The elevation of Ratzinger was the work of a small minority of ultra-orthodox right-wingers who have rebelled against Vatican II's efforts to modernize and humanize the Church, which most Catholics support. Unfortunately, they now control the hierarchy of the Church. Before you make broad statements about over one billion people, you should do a little reading.

6. The shibboleth of child molestation has become one more weapon in the arsenal of good old American anti-Catholicism. It plays really well in the South, and other "former" Klan areas.

7. Shrieking "THE CHILDREN!!! THE CHILDREN!!" is always an effective call to arms. Even if the crier never does anything to help children.

8. Accusing or implying that most Catholic priests are child molesters is like saying that most gay men are child molesters. It's a false statement of blanket prejudice, and does a great disservice to the vast majority of thousands of priests and monks who do nothing but good works every day, as it does to gays who are in the minority among child molesters. Most are straight males, and not clerics.

9. Most child molesters are members of the victim's family, or a friend or neighbor. This is as true of Protestants as it is of Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Hindu's, Buddhists, etc.

10. The government should be vigorously prosecuting any and all actual child molesters, regardless of creed or station. No church should be allowed to provide a shelter for them.

11. The problem with the Catholic Church, as with the United States government and our entire political system, is with the hierarchy, the entrenched interests, the poisonously "conservative" and entirely self-serving attitudes and policies that are holding us all down, in order to keep them raised up. Until we can all join together and do something about that, "divide and conquer" simply works to their advantage. '

SECOND POST BY OTHER BLOGGER

' Any and all efforts to defend Ratzi and the Catholic clergy function as enabling Catholic priests to go on raping kids. There are some really sick things on the Internet, but that is going to far, at least on this blog. Anyone who engages in this sickening viciousness will discover that the following three things will happen. '

MY FOLLOW-UP COMMENT ON SECOND POST BY OTHER BLOGGER [deleted]

' I hope you're not referring to me. I certainly did no such thing. If objecting to blanket sectarian bias is censorable here, then so be it. You need to learn to differentiate between individuals and institutions, and between the great majority of good people and the few bad apples, without prejudice or hysteria. Maybe therapy would help. '

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Suggestion Box & Tip Jar We would like to make over this blog to make it easier to access, to read and to comment on. We would also like to serve our readers better by providing more of what you need and want to see. All serious suggestions will be considered. We hope to move to our own domain in the near future, and we would like to ask for your financial assistance in doing that, and in upgrading our hardware & software. Small one-time donations and larger long-term subscriptions are welcome. Exclusive advertising is also available. If you think we are wasting our time in doing all this, please let us know. If you wish to help us, now is the time. As always, negative bullsh*t from right-wing trolls will be sh*tcanned. Thank you to everyone else. Please send feedback & PayPal contributions to cosanostradamusATexciteDOTcom. Thanks.

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