Prop 8: A Lesson on DEMOCRACY! from the Left

The following is brought to you as a public service from the People for DEMOCRACY! and Other Things Republicans Hate:

My fellow American peoples.  We’d like to share with you how important DEMOCRACY! is to the future of DEMOCRACY!

Despite what Donald Trump says, elections and voting are very important.  We especially take elections and voting seriously in California, which is the bestus, most futuristic state in the United States (better even than Tomorrowland at Disneyland, which, in case you didn’t know, is in California).  It is also the world’s fifth largest economy (this is totally irrelevant to this discussion, but I’m supposed to say that whenever I talk about how great California is).

To demonstrate how great DEMOCRACY! is, I’d like to talk about the fight for marriage equality in California.

You may recall that California had not one but TWO statewide ballot measures to determine if same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry:  Proposition 22 in 2000 and Proposition 8 (which you may remember under its formal name, “Prop Hate”) in 2008.  In both cases the voters decided that marriage should be restricted to a man and a woman.

Now, don’t get me wrong, ballot measures are how we allow the California peoples to have their voices heard and are sacrosanct.  Buuuutttt, sometimes The Peoples vote the wrong way.  And when that happens, you (I mean we) have to destroy DEMOCRACY! in order to save DEMOCRACY!.

Now what happens next is really confusing.  There were a bunch of court cases, and the state’s elected representatives (Schwarzenegger and Brown) refused to defend Prop 8, and some other people who weren’t elected tried to defend The People (as in the The People vs…) but they lost.  Then the restriction on same-sex marriage, which was now the law because the people had approved it, was just ignored because, well, mistakes were made (by The People, not us).

Awkward.

Anywho, eventually the U.S. Supreme Court, based on a totally separate case from Massachusetts (which is also a futuristic state, but not as futuristic as California, because it does not have Disneyland and is not the 5^th largest economy) ruled that there was a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

Just to tie a bow on it, this November, voters will be asked to remove the Prop 8 (excuse me, Hate) language that they mistakenly added to the state constitution 16 years ago.  When voters (oops, I mean “IF,” because The People are sovereign and independent and can decide to do whatever they want—unless it’s the wrong thing) agree to do so at the ballot box it will be like the whole nasty thing never happened.

And that’s how DEMOCRACY! works.

Now I know what you’re thinking: how is what we did any different from Trump and nasty Republicans denying election outcomes?

Well, let me assure you that it’s completely different.  First, we are good and Republicans are bad, and when we do bad stuff it’s for the right reasons, like equality and stuff.  Second, DEMOCRACY! is the best system except when it isn’t, which is why you need courts and lawyers to come up with fancy reasons for ignoring the voters.  Third, Donald Trump is evil (We know this is basically the same as #1, but we feel a moral obligation to say it as often as possible).

So remember to get out there and vote!  Our DEMOCRACY! depends on it.

J.S. Scifo is a North County resident who has worked in national and state politics.  You can also follow him at J.S. Scifo on Substack | Substack.