[news] California Senate Sends Another Gay Bill to GA

First California allowed lesbians to golf (link to post). Opponents of lesbians golfing were outraged, and claimed the courts had out-stripped the intent of the legislature, despite a clear statute to the contrary. Now, the California Senate has passed bill AB 849 (link to bill info and amended text) and it takes absolutely zero imagination to guess what opponents said in response:

"Twenty-one Democrats in the Senate took it upon themselves to redefine marriage," said Benjamin Lopez, a lobbyist for the Traditional Values Coalition [(link to TVC site)], "and they're saying that 4.6 million Californians are wrong."

Yeah, Ben Lopez is railing against activist legislatures. It's a dumb argument, however, since he neglects to acknowledge that those twenty-one Democrats represent the interests of like eleventy-billion Californians.

Eleventy billion > 4.6 million.

He seems to be saying direct democracy is preferential to our system, but--boy, I love quoting these things--we don't have direct democracy for a reason. See The Federalist No. 10 (James Madison) ("[T]he public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties; and [] measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice, and the rights of the minor party; but by the superior force of an interested and over-bearing majority.").

(link to article)