Legal Happenings

So this win goes to the anti-gay marriage folks. All that means is there will be another initiative on the next ballot reserving this Constitutional amendment. And then there will be court rulings and another initiative swinging back the other way. Eventually, it will happen. Gay marriage will be legal. So long as marriage is a civil thing, and not a pure religious thing, there is no other ultimate outcome. But in the shorter term, it's going to be a battle to see who runs out of money first.

There has to be a better way of settling this. Maybe we put two people in a ring and let them wrestle it out. These are the times that make deomcracy look too messy.

I've read all the news everyone else has read. I don't have an opinion one way or othe other about her. Lke just about everyone, I'm reserving judgement. But she was a shrewd choice and very qualified. She seems to have plenty of cred with O's base, and annoys the racist who accuse her of being a "reservse racist" to earn more cred. She seems to have just the right kind of record.

Unless she says something really really dumb, ulimtately she will be approved. It's just people need a chance to spend a whole lot of money on supporting or fighting that too. See how lawyers make money? It's not just them, but they certainly have figured out how to get their cut.

Just a coincidence

So last night after basketball, as I was sitting there counting my bruises I turned on the telly for an episode of King of the Hill. I've always thought it was an okay show, but nothing I'd go out of my way to watch. I knew all the characters, but I hadn't actually watched an episode in years. Anyway in this one circa 2002, little Bobby Hill found himself interested in a girl that happened to share a name with little J. Cute. It happens sometimes. But then J had a rivalry with the alpha female who's name happened to be the same as my second kid, S. So just in case anyone out there every comes across this particular episode and wonders if that's where I got the name for my little munchkins, the answer is no.

The whole nose to spite face thing

I'm really not sure why they're going after Pelose so hard. Their party was in control. Their party conducted torture.(this "enhanced interrogation techniques" language is b.s.) But they are trying to implicated Pelosi as somehow responsible. Does this make the Republiskunks any less responsible? Not at all.

All it does is lend credence to the need for a "truth" commission. And the republiskunks really can't want that, can they?

There's been a lot of talk about their lack of leadership. That's becoming more and more obvious.

Special Election Tomorrow

Early word is that tomorrow's special election to help solve the California budget crisis will be a spectacular flame out. Arnie has been running up and down the state trying to sell the ballot using doom and gloom scenarios of how things are going to be if these initiatives fail. More and more billions in the hole. Soon we're going to have to cancel all schools because there just isn't enough money. We're also going to have to sell of anything the state owns, every thing from the San Quintin prison to the stapler sitting on Arnie's desk.

It seems like voters are ticked because they elect these officials in Sacramento, who can't resolve anything. But part of the reason they can't solve anything is because the voters have pushed through all these propositions that limit their power. This two thirds of the legislature makes it impossible for them to conduct business, but no one seems to want to change it. I don't think voters are willing to accept that they have some responsiblity in creating this mess. There are a lot of terrible budgest restrictions in this state.

It's easy to blame someone else. It's harder to be part of the solution. Hold your nose, but vote tomorrow.

Legal loansharking

The truth of the matter is that lots of people out there with credit cards probably shouldn't have credit cards. They don't know how to use them. They don't know how to accurately evaluate financial risk in any meaningful way. They are desperate and can't pay their bills and don't realize that credit cards are just going to dig them further and further in the hole. People have signed up for lots and and lots of easy credit. People have really hurt themselves and their families when they realized that they had fallen into the traps.

But credit card companies can't blame it all on the consumers. There are lots of pretty evil practices they have in play that keep people in debt. Paying off lower interest debt before higher interest debt. Unilaterally channging an interest amount. Once they have someone in the hole, they work their darndest to keep somebody there. It's about time this gets addressed. Just another one of those things that should have been done years ago, but didn't because Junior was taking up space.

Early Father's Day present

I can't say that we did anything different yesterday, but my little girls granted me 7/12 hours fo uninterrupted sleep last night. Let's hope that this is the start of a new trend.

Number 2 gets shafted.

Yesterday, the kids got in synch and pooed at the same time. I was just opening the diaper for the little one when the other one walked into the room to announce that she needed a diaper change too. (Potty train already, please) So while I was dealing with the greenish peanut butter- Wifey got to go mess with whatever the older one was producing.

This is not usually how things go at home right now. Right now, J rules the roost. She is princess and we all serve her. She demands and receives constant attention. The second one knows how to cry, but when she's not crying, we usually just put her down somewhere, hope she can be quiet for a little bit and deal with big sister.

Second children who complain that they have a tenth of the pictures of their older siblings. I get it. There's no time and energy left for taking pictures of number two. And it's not just the pictures. Today, I'm feeling sorry for second kids everywhere, because I know that they get shafted a bit. Sorry, that's just the way it is. For the first kid everything is always first, a milestone. By the second kid, the parent has seen it already. The second kid is always just catching up. There's a little guilt in that, but not too much.

Court Appointment Circus

I think there's a whole bunch of people out there thrilled to have Justice Souter's close and personal friends announce that he's probably retiring at the end of this term. And I'm not talking about the usual cultural war soldiers. I'm talking about the whole industry that's going to be built around finding the replacement. It's Washington's own stimulus package.

Seriously. Even before an official announcement or Obama suggesting a nominee, the right wing has come out with their list of unacceptable candidates and the email bombs requesting money to fight these people.. They yell and scream and spend lots of money on this, but they have to know that there's not a lot that they can do. Maybe they get someone especially unattractive to them booted. Maybe they don't. But it gives them something to do.

On the other side, other groups are going to start lobbying on behalf of certain individuals. When all is said and done, 'we're going to end up with a very center/ slightly left of center probably female person sitting on the high court. She's going to have to go through a Senate confirmation where little of substance will be learned. (think John Robert's hearing) but a culture war circus will ensue.

It's all a pain, but in the end,if you get through all this stuff, it probably is the best job in government. Lifelong job security. Interesting issues.