A lot of people who have never lived in California don’t quite understand the system of ballot initiatives used there, not to mention in numerous other western states. An important aspect of this system is the provision that laws passed through inititiatives (e.g. Proposition 22) cannot be rescinded by legislative action, and may be repealed only through a subsequent ballot initiative or a judicial ruling…

Thus, the Governator — of whom I am most decidedly not a fan — was absolutely correct in his assertion that the recent marriage bill passed in California is unconstitutional. ANY legislative action which would overturn a ballot initiative is, by definition, unconstitutional in California, even though the original initiative itself may ALSO be unconstitutional. It was not an arbitrary decision in this case, although it may seem ironic to some to have a conservative argue that “juducial activism” IS one of the only appropriate paths to same-sex marriage…

Granted, he might have pursued other alternatives, but his basic (stated) premise was sound. However, the courts have yet to rule on whether Proposition 22 itself is unconstitutional. I believe they will find that it is, which is the only way it will be legally overturned anytime soon…

Sorry. I’m as big a proponent of same-sex marriage as anyone, but it annoys me (and does “the cause” no good whatsoever) when uninformed people start making invalid and irrelevlant arguments about a process they don’t understand…

My first (rather small) set of Charlotte photos is now online, should you be interested in seeing them…

I took one of my patented very long drives today and wound up in Shelby, after also passing through King’s Mountain and a fair chunk of Gaston County. I always liked the sort of dowdy mill towns around Gastonia when I lived here before, and I still do. While big cities in the south often look somewhat smaller and less urban than their counterparts in California, I’ve always found it interesting that the small towns read much bigger and more dense than similarly-sized towns in California. I’m not entirely sure why this is, but I’m guessing it has a lot to do with the fact that many small towns in North Carolina are somewhat more industrial than agricultural in character…

Shelby is nice. I hadn’t been there since about 1988, and it was nice to give it a more thorough once-over this time around. I have also developed a slight obsession with the broccoli casserole at Jackson’s Cafeteria (three inconvenient locations to serve you: Gastonia, Rock Hill, and Shelby) and I was able to have it for dinner again tonight…

I may have more musings later about small towns, cafeteria ladies, white teenagers, and other things. Right now, I’m gonna watch some TV, take a shower, and go to bed without my favorite cuddle toy again…

Sigh…

Farewell, little buddy…