THE
RIGHT OF GAYS TO MARRY AND THEIR INTRENCHED OPPONENTS
The
U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco, in a 2-1
decision, overturned Proposition-8: a California Constitutional Amendment
declaring ‘marriage’ as a union only between one man and one woman; which
effectively nullified California’s
law allowing gay and lesbian couples to ‘marry’.
This
‘marriage’ impasse has at its core the goal of Christian churches attempting to
impose their moral doctrines on the population at large.
The
Mormon Church heavily funded, in a covert religious movement, California’s Proposition-8. The Catholic Church has also been a prime
mover in de facto-bigotry against the gay and lesbian community. In Maine,
the Catholic Church of Portland was a primary opponent (along with
fundamentalist fanatics) in defeating the Equal ‘Marriage’ Amendment proposed
by the Maine Legislature.
I
would like to propose my own amendment:
The
Ol’Buzzard’s Get Rid of ‘Marriage’ Amendment.
1.
The Federal Government should only recognize Domestic Partnership Licenses.
2. Only Domestic Partnership Licenses can be
issued by states, and these licenses have all the rights and legal protection
now provided by a ‘Marriage’ License.
3. After receiving a Domestic Partnership License
couples are free to affirm a religious covenant in the faith of their choice
where they may receive a Marriage Certificate of affirmation. However, these religious certificates will
have no legal or binding authority outside of the religious institution of their
issue.
I am seventy-plus years old. I have been around the block numerous times;
and though I don’t think that age necessarily equates to intelligence – I can
post an impressive resume. And, the one
thing I know for sure is: I don’t blindly trust our government to act in our
best interest.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am a loyal American (of American
ideals) – and I have the scars to prove it.
But, I don’t trust our government (politicians.) Our
government has never been a government of the people, by the people… etc. It has always been the government of special
interest and “the bigger picture” gamesmanship.
Our government constantly packages swamp land as “Preferred
Real Estate Property” and sells it to the citizenry. They tell us it’s candy but in the bottom of
the box there is often a scorpion.
The last thing I blindly bought into was the liberation of
the South Vietnamese people in the Vietnam war; only to discover that our real
reason for occupying South Vietnam was to tactically establish a permanent
nuclear military presence on the southern border of China (sounds familiar in
reverse: Cuban missile crisis.) Then,
of course, “Iraqi Freedom” where a White House full of oil men invade a country
with the second largest oil reserve on earth.
We have constantly been sold a bill of goods only to find
that some patriotic spin name has been added to cover up the smell: The Patriot Act – I need say no more.
We have moved from Bush’s “phone tapping of (only) foreign
suspected terrorist”, to authorized surveillance of American citizens and to expanded
surveillance authority for civilian police.
Now Obama has just signed an appropriations bill that allows the
government to arrest and detain, without trial, any American citizen suspected
of terrorist connections. Obama says he
will not use this authority, but what about a future fundamentalist, Tea Party,
Republican President – what about a President Cheney clone?
Think
about how this could fit in to George Orwell’s 1984 repackaged as 20XX.
Now there is a new government threat covertly aimed at taking
the first step to control and censor the Internet.
On October 26, 2011 the Bill HR-3261 was introduced by Lamar
Smith (R-TX.) The bill is touted to prevent the piracy of U.S.
copyrighted material. The bill is commonly
known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act.)
The actual title is “To Promote Prosperity, Creativity, and Innovation
by combating the theft of U.S.
property, and for other purposes."
It’s the - “and for other purposes,” - that bothers me. At first glance the bill seems to require
Internet providers to monitor customer’s traffic and block web sites suspected
of copyright infringement.
But, the bill also states that it would make unauthorized streaming
of copyright material a crime with a maximum imprisonment of 5 years for ten
infringements within six months.
That has me nailed;
and probably everyone reading this blog who include pictures or YouTube clips
on your post. This is an open invitation
to some political regime of the future to use the NSA or FBI to monitor web
sites and blogs that they feel are not in the best interest of Big Brother and
shut you down; or to threaten or actually imprison people that speak out. (Does anybody still remember the First Amendment
to the Constitution?)
The internet should not be the property of any government
and no government should have the right to censor it “for the greater good” of
its people.
Every once in a while you have to blast off at something that really bugs you. I have no problem with the Wall Street protesters calling themselves the 99%. However, I am not optimistic that they will actually accomplish much in the way of reform – without leadership and direction they remind me more of a techy-Woodstock gathering. (Unfortunately I missed Woodstock - I was in Viet Nam at the time.)
Here’s what bugs me: the mega-rich that have manipulated the economy for their own gain at the expense of the rest of us being called the 1%.
The 1% is an outlaw biker symbol.
In 1947 the Wild Bunch rode through the southwest and took over Hollister.
In 1957 Sonny Barger started the Hell’s Angles.
About 1961 outlaw bikers were termed by the American Motorcycle Association as the 1% of bike riders.
The 1% patch doesn’t belong to any one club, but in the tradition of Easy Rider it is a symbol of someone who rides against the wind: a non-conformist; someone who resents authority and chooses to live a life of free choice, regardless of social restraints; someone who lives to ride a motorcycle.
It pisses me off to hear the people controlling the world banks; the people that raped the world economy; the people who manipulate and control our government (Big Brother) being called the one-percent.
I am a 1%er. My bros are 1%er.
Fuck you manipulators of our government and fuck you Congress for the whores that you are.
