Friday, September 30, 2005

Arnie Inks, Enters Into Ignominy

Sure enough, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the same-sex marriage bill (AB 849). With his X on the line, he ensured that his previous civil-rights bluster remains just that. When pen came to paper, he played for re-election instead of doing the right thing.

You can read a PDF version of the rejection letter here.

He was in a veto fury yesterday, underscoring the sordid political nature of his actions. He also rejected an increase in minimum wage, laws allowing cheap Canadian prescriptions for locals, and those that would punish overtly sexist employers who pay women less than they pay men. In short, he stopped all pretense of being for the public, for respecting the public through legislative action, and for being for public rights. He is betting that being a conservative Republican is his future.

The LA Times has a nice recap of Arnie's Big Day of Slashing. The Sacramento Bee describes the minimum-wage politics.

He managed to anger anti-same-sex-marriage folk though. His tissue-thin claim that homosexual couples were covered with the few benefits and rights under the domestic-partnership law apparently must remain in place. He said he would oppose rolling back those meager protections.

Back to 849, Arnie could have played it several ways. Given his facade of civil-rights support, he could easily have accepted that the public and most certainly the popularly elected legislature voted for same-sex marriage. Instead, he dragged out the smelly corpse of Proposition 22, the DoMA-style ballot initiative from five years ago. He also continued to hide behind the blinds of the legislature not reversing an initiative and wanting the courts to show the leadership that he refuses to show.

Yet, his kiss-off letter includes:
I believe that lesbian and gay couples are entitled to full protection under the law and should not be discriminated against based upon their relationships.
He knows how lame and LITE the protections of the domestic-partnership law are. Yet he is shameless in pretense.

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