by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Enjoy your fireworks in areas not so dried out that it's not a fire hazard to display them.  I leave you with two thoughts:

1) Tila Tequila is responsible for marriage equality in the state, just so you're aware.  So go find her and thank her.

(this thread mainly posted for the tags)

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Brian Leubitz
Founder and Publisher
Calitics

On June 20, Equality California, NCLR, and a whole host of groups filed suit in the Supreme Court of California against our Secretary of State, Debra Bowen. (Note that Debra Bowen is an amazing Secretary of State; she's getting sued in her Secretary of State capacity.) To grossly oversimplify, EQCA alleges that the signature gathering process was flawed for a few reasons:

• "The proposed initiative is invalid because it is a proposed constitutional revision, not a proposed constitutional amendment and, as such, the California Constitution provides that it may not be enacted by initiative"

• "The description of the proposed initiative in the petitions that were circulated for signature was materially misleading and materially misstated the effect of the proposed initiative to the electors signing the petitions to qualify the measure for the ballot.

Ultimately, this is a long shot. For a number of reasons, the Supreme Court is unlikely to pull the measure off the ballot in November. First the general process questions:

Why go to the Supreme Court directly?

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Josh Richman's blog over at the Contra Costa Times has an interesting little tidbit. "Didja know Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress were still on the United States' list of organizations considered to be terrorists?" he asks his readers. 

Well, Majority Report readers, didja know Kim Jong-il and the North Korean government will no longer be on the United States' list of organizations considered to be terrorists? Apparently, by blowing up a reactor cooling tower and handing over some paperwork to the Bush Administration, the hermit state has proved to the Bush Administration it does not promote terrorism abroad. 

"I think this represents the definitive collapse of the Bush Doctrine and I'm sure they're popping champagne corks in Pyongyang." said ultra-hawk and former Bush-appointee to the U.N. John Bolton. 

While Bolton is convinced North Korea is just waiting to unleash it's arsenal of drunk-on-champagne, nuclear-powered super-soldiers upon the world, it may be time to look at the politicized nature of the terrorist-sponsoring organizations list.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Sec. Bowen just announced that she has assigned numbers for the boatload of initiatives that will be on the ballot in November.

So get used to these numbers.  You are going to be seeing these a lot on this website, your TV screen and your mailbox.  We need to refine the shorthand for these initiatives.  This admittedly a quick pass at it.  The framing needs to be tweaked and I am sure there will be some argument within the progressive left about these initiatives.

Prop. 1 High Speed Rail

Prop 2 Treatment of Farm Animals

Prop 3 Children's Hospital Bond

Prop 4 Parental Notification

Prop 5 Parole and Rehab of Nonviolent Offenders

Prop 6 Tough on Crime

Prop 7 Renewable Energy

Prop 8 Take Away Marriage Equality

Prop 9 Victims Rights and Parole

Prop 10 Alternative Fuels and Renewable Energy Bonds

Prop 11 Redistricting

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

From another chapter of the "Arnold and McCain Feud", McCain officially endorses the end of marriage equality. Today the Destroy Marriage propaganda operation released this statement from McCain (h/t CapAlert):

"I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."

How very "Maverick" of him.  He's really taking it to those "agents of intolerance" by, um, supporting their agenda. That will show them!

[courtesy of Blog for America]

Karl Rove and the Republicans have gotten a lot of mileage out of scaring people about gay marriage.  In many ways, the 2004 anti-marriage equality ballot initiatives proved to be an important factor in George Bush's reelection.  But it looks like the homophobic, fear-mongering train has come off the rails.  From McClatchy:

Yet it's not as solid a boost as it was for President Bush in 2004, when more Americans opposed gay marriage, and social conservatives surged to polling places to approve constitutional amendments banning it in 13 states, including such pivotal presidential election battlegrounds as Missouri and Ohio.

"This year is very different than 2004," said Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest advocacy group for gays, lesbians and transgenders.

He said that other issues such as Iraq, the economy and rising gasoline and food prices had pushed marriage down on the national priority list. And Americans have grown somewhat more tolerant of same-sex marriage, he said.

What do you think?  With California's recent court ruling legalizing marriage equality, will this issue drive voters to John McCain?  Will evangelical voters come out in force for Sen. McCain's campaign?  Or, have we turned a page in the so-called "culture wars"?

Danny
Communications Director

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]