So I have spent the better part of a day trying to come up with something profound, wise or witty about the ruling in California yesterday overturning Proposition 8. I think my position on the issue is clear. In reality, hasn't it all been said? So in that vein, I went looking for quotes that spoke to the issue or issues brought up in the debate. Some surprising quotes from some surprising sources.
Majority Rules:
Majority Rules:
All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Thomas Jefferson
Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).
Ayn Rand
The truth does not require a majority to prevail, ladies and gentlemen. The truth is its own power. The truth will out. Never forget that.
Rush Limbaugh
An equal application of law to every condition of man is fundamental. Thomas Jefferson
A people who extend civil liberties only to preferred groups start down the path either to dictatorship of the right or the left. Justice William O. Douglas
I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights. Bishop Desmond Tutu
Name Calling & the Smear Campaign
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. Oscar Wilde
Facts are meaningless. You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true. Homer Simpson
If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen. Ronald Reagan.
D'oh!!!!!!
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