Checks and Balances

The Lovings

It always irks me when people speak as though voting were the e-all, end-all of our government. Today, I spied this gem on Facebook and had to respond:

"where as i personally have no problem with same sex marriage..unless i am mistaken wasn't this shot down in north carolina by a public vote? if so then the only people to blame is the supporters of same sex marriage for not getting enough votes...giving someone shit for voting their beliefs is WRONG no matter what side of the issue you are on in my opinion."

Um, no. That's not how our system works. See, it turns out that people are fundamentally jerks, and that the majority will always do dumb things to the minority. when given even half a chance, so we don't leave decisions concerning the minority up the to majority.

Those decisions (useless polling notwithstanding) end up happening in the court system. Good examples of this are Dred Scott v. Sandford, Loving v. Virginia, Brown v. Board of Education, Lawrence v. Texas, and Tinker v. Des Moines.

In all of these cases, the idiot public voted against equality, and the court (doing its job by checking the public) rightfully decided otherwise. And that is how our system works to secure the blessings of liberty.

Also, this is America. You're free to act and I'm free to act, even if my act is to criticize your act. That criticism is both ethical and necessary.