Popular lesbian cartoonist Alison "Dykes To Watch Out For"
Bechdel shares this bit of reflection in the Sept. issue of
Lesbian
News:
"Our unelected president is campaigning for Arnold Schwarzenegger and driving the whole planet over a cliff with his insane, extremist policies. That's what motivates me to write the strip now. In fact, if I didn't have this outlet, I would probably implode from horror and disbelief."
What's so depressing about this hyperbole is that her view is shared by so many on the lesbigay left (and the left in general). The need to demonize their opponents -- as if W. were Hitler -- rather than, say, debating the merits of intervening to overthrow foreign mass murderers, is nothing less than shocking. But if you believe that your side is the repository of all that is "progressive," then the fact that America elected a president who doesn't back your politics -- and whose election is an affront to your self-identity as the ordained vanguard -- leads to this sort of lunacy. And yes, we elect our president via the Electoral College to protect the principle of federalism, and not by a simple plurality. And the Supreme Court gets to decide procedures when a race is truly too close to call.
But why let the Constitution stand in the way of the one right, true, and progressive agenda? After all, the purity of sheer political loathing trumps any need for reason, doesn't it? Once again, the gay left mirrors its counterparts on the religious right (one can imagine them debating why "my hatred is morally superior to your hatred!").
Freedom Is Better.
Reuters reports on Palestinian Gay Runaways fleeing to Israel. It's something you'd think would give pause to the anti-America/anti-Israel "queer" activist crowd (yes, Western Civ. actually is better for gay people).
California: Betwixt Left and Right.
It's good that California's liberal legislature passed a bill,
which embattled governor Gray Davis has now signed, giving gay and
lesbian couples who register as domestic partners many of the
rights and responsibilities of married heterosexuals. According to
the AP:
It gives same-sex couples control over their community property and funeral arrangements, and requires them to pay child support if the partnership is dissolved. Some Republicans in the state legislature say the measure undermines marriage and is another example of Davis's pandering to liberal Democrats.
It's not marriage; it's not even "civil unions." But it's still a move toward equal treatment under the law. Unfortunatley, the same liberal legislators have bankrupted California with their special interest spending bills, passed onerous over-regulation on just about everything, and kow-towed to the government unions and trial lawyers to such an extent that business is, quite understandably, fleeing the state for greener pastures.
Thus the dilemma facing gay moderates when confronted with a GOP dominated by social conservatives and a Democratic party controlled by proponents of megagovernment, when there's no socially libertarian, fiscally prudent alternative (although, arguably, California now may, thanks to Arnold, have a centrist option).
But choosing between the two parties in these circumstances is
not easy, and well-intentioned people will come to different
conclusions about how to vote. Life truly isn't all black or white,
despite the dogmatic certainty of those on both the left and the
right of the spectrum.
--Stephen H. Miller