Earlier this week, when I read that the current California Legislature had “passed an unprecedented fourteen bills and one resolution sponsored by Equality California (EQCA),” I wondered if I should be as delighted as that left-wing group about the amount of pro-gay legislation. As one who favors small government, I am skeptical of this spate of supposedly pro-gay bills.

Basically, I think all the state legislature need do is pass bills recognizing same-sex unions and providing domestic partnership benefits to state employees. Beyond that, any legislation promoting gay “equality” would pretty much be at the expense of the freedom of Californians. While Governor Schwarzenegger has signed a few bills, including at least one I support, SB 1441, which prevents “says state-operated and state-funded programs from discriminating “against anyone based on their sexual orientation (among other things).” This is one law which doesn’t compromise anyone’s freedom.

While I’m averse to the government telling a private institution how to act, like Robbie (who tipped me off to the Governor’s approval of this bill), “I cannot understand how the inability of religious organizations to receive government money is an infringement on their basic constitutional freedoms.” If the religious organizations want to discriminate against gays, they remain free to do so; they just won’t get any government money.

Another bill I hope the Governor signs in SB 1827 which would allow same-sex partners to fill joint state tax returns.

Beyond that, I fear that much of the legislation enacted would only serve to increase the power of the state at the expense of the freedom of individual Californians. That’s why I think the Governor did the right thing when he vetoed SB 1437, authored by the state Senator formerly known as Zelda Gilroy, Sheila Kuehl.

Senator Kuehl’s bill would have barred discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity in school textbooks. While that sounds like a noble goal, I think we should only pass legislation when there’s a compelling need to fix a problem. And unless there a California textbooks — and/or instructional materials — which paint a bad picture of gay people, there’s no need for such legislation.

Like Robbie, I fear that if enacted, this bill would “allow historical editorializing by people with a particular identity agenda.” Who would define non-discrimination? Would people who assume that merely being Republican amounts to being anti-gay (of whom there are many in the Golden State) be evaluating school curricula? Would such people be offended at educational materials promoting responsible sexual behavior as some gays (even advocates of gay marriage) believe that gay men have a more difficult time controlling their sexual urges?

If the Governor had signed the bill, it would have given greater power to state bureaucrats to monitor local curricula. And many education bureaucrats in the Golden State have a leftist political bent.

(more…)

Given that David Broder’s Washington Post column yesterday touches on a theme I addressed in my post yesterday on how the Left continues to spin conspiracy theories about presidential advisor Karl Rove even without any facts to back up their notions, I probably should have linked it in an update to said post. But, for those of you who haven’t already read the column, I wanted to make sure that the link didn’t get lost at the bottom of an old post.

I first heard about the piece while listening to Dennis Prager’s radio show when driving south yesterday on the I-17 in Arizona. Broder, who as Powerline notes, has been called “dean” of political reporters, is one of the most respected liberal columnists.

In his obituary, One Leak and a Flood of Silliness, on l’affaire Plame, he writes:

But caution has been notably lacking in some of the press treatment of this subject — especially when it comes to Karl Rove. And it behooves us in the media to examine that behavior, not just sweep it under the rug.

Instead of sweeping this whole affair under the rug, Broder believes that the publications which savaged the president’s top political aide on this issue “owe Karl Rove an apology.” And concludes, “all of journalism needs to relearn the lesson: Can the conspiracy theories and stick to the facts.“

If you haven’t already, just read the whole thing!

–Dan (Back in his cluttered Angeleno apartment)

Last night, the former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.   First of all, I think it is simply outrageous that Khatami would be given a visa to begin with.  And don’t start on me with “we are America and we should accept diverse viewpoints.”  Bull.  We are at war.  And Khatami is no reformer, despite the attempt by the American media to portray him as such.

We wouldn’t have invited Hitler, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, or Joseph Stalin to speak at one of our nation’s most revered religious buildings.

Three Episcopal bishops protested the Khatami visit to the Episcopal cathedral in advance of his speech.

Calling Iran a “threat not only to our own nation, but to world peace itself,” the bishops of Northern Indiana, Rhode Island and Southwest Florida have written a letter of protest to the Bishop of Washington and the Dean of Washington National Cathedral over the speech to be given there on Sept. 7 by Muhammad Khatami, the former president of Iran.

“Mr. Khatami’s actions do not support the goal of reconciliation for which our Church has so fervently prayed and worked,” wrote the three on Sept. 5. “During Mr. Khatami’s term of office, women continued to be marginalized, and homosexual persons were executed (two gay youths were hanged on July 19, 2005). Mr. Khatami has not renounced either Iran’s nuclear ambitions or the virulent anti-Semitism of the current regime, known for its Holocaust denial and call for the destruction of the State of Israel.”

In fact, Khatami has already said during his time in the USA this week that the current regime is, more or less, “misunderstood” and current Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn’t really mean the things he says.  Riiiiiight.

The Institute on Religion and Democracy shares the outrage over Khatami’s speaking at the National Cathedral.

“The Cathedral Dean, the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd, III, claimed that Khatami is committed to dialogue between civilizations and cultures,” said Faith McDonnell, IRD’s Religious Liberty Programs Director. “But IRD believes that the cathedral’s praise of Khatami shows only a commitment to monologue. We urge the National Cathedral, and all of the American universities and other venues hosting ex-President Khatami, to have the moral courage and integrity to engage in true dialogue, challenging the Islamic Republic of Iran’s former president to denounce repression and persecution.”

Just five years ago, President Bush delivered an eloquent tribute to the victims of our nation’s worst homeland attack. 

America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful for, but we are not spared from suffering. In every generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom. They have attacked America because we are freedom’s home and defender, and the commitment of our fathers is now the calling of our time. On this national day of prayer and remembrance, we ask almighty God to watch over our nation and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of a life to come.

Khatami comes from a nation that is producing evil around the world.  His speech defames the Cathedral itself and those who have been honored there in the past.  It is simply outrageous that he was even allowed in our country.  But should I expect when we aren’t truly fighting this war as we should — balls to the wall.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)