Prop 8 trial: from tears to laughter

Who is the audience for Prop8? THis excellent article from Daily Kos argues that the focus is on one person, and one person only: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote. It was Kennedy who authored the overturn of the bigoted Amendment 2 in Romer v. Evans, and who wrote the sweeping decision of Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 (seems so long ago now) but has in other cases sided with the conservative cabal.

In the comments to that post, DKossack ivorybill says,

I think in many ways this particular Supreme Court case will be a tragedy - I cannot find it in me to feel the same intense distaste for Kennedy that I feel toward the other four.  Despite their erudition and quick wit, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Roberts are small cruel men.  In another century and on another continent, they would be constructing the legal argument to burn gay men at the stake.  I fear Kennedy may feel enough uncertainty and discomfort to step back from granting marriage equality - but the decision to do so will haunt him and damage his legacy.  Marriage equality is coming, it's just a question of whether this turns into a Plessy v Fergussen decision and another decade or two, or whether we bite the bullet now and move ahead with the inevitable trajectory expanding rights, rather than restricting them.    

For some background, Here's a list of 10 court cases that changed the GLBT movement.


Meanwhile, on a lighter note, have you visited the Prop8TrialTracker, the site run by the Courage Campaign? They have a logo that spoofs the Yes-on-8 logo, which is a cheeky thumb to the nose.

Seems Yes-on-8 folks are peeved and has sent a cease-and-desist. The Courage Campaign has responded,

Your letter threatening legal action and demanding a response in two days is a clear attempt to abuse intellectual property laws to stifle our client’s freedom of speech, particularly as no one is likely to confuse Courage Campaign with ProtectMarriage.com merely because of our client’s parody of your client’s logo. .....While our client does appreciate the irony of the suggestion in your letter that a logo of a family made up of a man, a woman, and two children is “substantially indistinguishable” from a logo of a family made up of two women and two children, your assertion is incorrect.....You conceded over the phone that bloggers and online commentators noted the changes from man to woman and are making fun of your client, demonstrating that the public notices the difference and gets the joke.

Sometimes it's best just to ignore it when you are being made fun of, you know? Lest you just make yourself look even sillier.

For some sharper humor, check out this Fiore cartoon.