Opinion: In today’s pages: The Times and Gavin Newsom on gay marriage
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Joel Stein gets insider tips from paparazzo Garry Sun on how to avoid celebrity snappers, and ‘About Alice’ author Calvin Trillin extolls the virtues of governing with eloquence. Ronald Brownstein examines John McCain’s healthcare plans, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom celebrates the California Supreme Court ruling striking down the ban on same-sex marriage:
The court’s ruling affirms the very best of what California represents: our long-standing commitment to equality and justice. It was 60 years ago that the state Supreme Court ruled in Perez vs. Sharp that the ban on interracial marriage was unconstitutional -- 19 years before the U.S. Supreme Court would come to the same conclusion in Loving vs. Virginia. So in February 2004, when I ordered San Francisco’s county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, it was with full recognition that as goes California, so goes the nation.This is a historic moment for California and our country. We have taken an irrevocable step toward resolving one of the most important civil rights issues of our generation.
The editorial board also cheers on the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage, and batters Broadcom over its deceptive tactics in backdating stock options. The board also mourns for the revamped GI Bill, caught in congressional cross-fire:
College is the essential ticket to upward mobility, and who more deserves a chance at that than the young men and women who volunteered for military service in wartime? The post-World War II experience shows that educating them is good public policy as well. First, it would boost military morale and the quality of recruits -- even though the military worries that it could hurt retention. Second, the investment in education is likely to pay for itself many times over as veterans join the workforce at higher pay rates.
Readers react to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plans to balance the budget. Patrick Veesart writes:
The governor wants to close the deficit by borrowing against the lottery -- the stupid tax -- or increasing the sales tax. Either way, the budget is balanced on the backs of those who can least afford it. Why am I not surprised?
*