Sunday, December 21, 2008

Jerry Moonbeam Brown Running For California Governor-On The Backs Of Gays And Lesbians

Although it is nowhere near official, it is all but certain that the current California attorney general, Edmund "Jerry" "Moonbeam" Brown is running for the Democrat nomination for governor of California in 2010.
And, he is doing so on the backs of gays and lesbians now that he has decided that he has found a reason why Proposition 8 should be voided by the California state supreme court.
Now, why do I write that about Mr. Moonbeam Brown running on the backs of gays and lesbians?
Because Mr. Moonbeam Brown vowed to defend Proposition 8 in the courts as willfully passed by the people of the state of California.
For the uninitiated, Proposition 8 went on the California ballot this past November and went on that ballot because of the state supreme court decision earlier this year that allowed same-sex couples to marry as do opposite-sex couples. The same court was asked to stay the original decision because of the possibility that the measure would be on the ballot in the next general election. The court said no.
And, this past election day, by a vote of 52-48%, the people of California did not ban same-sex marriage. It said that for legal purposes, only a marriage between one man and one woman would be recognized by that state.
Yet, to read every account, to hear every account, to watch every account, it always starts off like this: "The voter-approved ban on gay marriage."
So, once the constitutional amendment was passed, the attorney general, Mr. Moonbeam Brown said that "He planned to 'defend the proposition as enacted by the people of California.' "
Well, that must have not set well with many of the underlings at the attorney generals office. And, since there has been rampant rumors that the reason Mr. Moonbeam Brown ran for attorney general in the first place was to keep his name out in the public eye as he prepped for another run at governor of the not-so Golden state, what better way to kill two birds with one stone than to gain the support of the gay and lesbian community and defeat the will of the people?
Now, the attorney generals office has grown much more left-of-center the past 10 years since the last Republican to hold that office, Dan Lungren, left to pursue the governor's office. Mr. Lungren was succeeded by uber-liberal and now state treasurer, Bill Lockyear. And now the office is occupied by another uber-liberal in the person of the former governor, Jerry Moonbeam Brown.
So, it stands to reason that there was probably pressure from within the office for Mr. Moonbeam Brown to about face and support those wishing to void Proposition 8. And, as the linked Los Angeles Times article points out, Mr. Moonbeam Brown is a same-sex marriage proponent.
The legal argument put out by Mr. Moonbeam Brown is an interesting one.
It claims that there are certain unalienable rights guaranteed in the California state constitution.
And one is the right to liberty and of privacy. And that same-sex marriage falls under the right of liberty at the very least. The conflict, in the wisdom of Mr. Moonbeam Brown is that there is a contradiction of the right of liberty and privacy and the passing of a constitutional amendment that would take that right away.
Since the California state supreme court, in a 4-3 decision, only in May of this year found a right for same-sex couples to marry, it is hard to define whether or not there really is a conflict of the two suppositions.
But, there is no doubt that Mr. Moonbeam Brown is not but a savvy pol that has been reading the tea leaves.
The tea leaves have to show that same-sex marriage advocates are going to strongly support a Democrat for governor of California. And they may have their biggest Democrat champion in the current San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsome, in the race. For Mr. Moonbeam Brown to gain any support among the gay and lesbian community, he had no choice but to do the about face and now go before the courts to oppose the will of the people.
For this reason, among so many others, it is very important to read this post about why Bill Simon needs to get busy now and put himself in the running for the GOP nod for governor.
If for nothing else, it may come down to the kinds of judges the next governor puts in the state courts.
Because it looks like a real return to the 1970s if Jerry Moonbeam Brown makes another run for the governor's office in Sacramento.

1 comment:

betty said...

he won't get my vote; the voters spoke twice about defining what marriage is in California; I don't know why it can't be allowed to rest and I'm not going to be very pleased if the Supreme Court, when it takes up the issue in March I believe?, decides to reverse what the majority of Californians voted for.

betty