Open letter to Governor Schwarzenegger

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

While you are entitled to your belief on this matter and were well within your right to express you opinion during the campaign, as Governor of California you owe the people your support (or at least silence) once the people have expressed their will through a fair election. I was very disappointed to read in the LA Times about your CNN interview where you expressed your "hope that the California Supreme Court would overturn Proposition 8."

Now as the week has progressed I continue to wonder where is your response is to the vigilantism carried out on supporters of Proposition 8 who are only guilty of legally supporting a proposition placed on the ballot as approved by the State's Attorney General and Secretary of State.

Today, again in the LA Times you are quoted as saying about Proposition 8 "that it's unconstitutional," which makes absolutely no sense given Article 18, Sections 3 and 4, of the California Constitution. It is apparent that the people are given the right to "amend the Constitution by initiative" and "if approved by a majority of votes thereon takes effect the day after the election." While I was surprised to learn how easy it is to amend the Constitution, there is no basis for the State Supreme Court to do anything but uphold the Amendment as written.

Are voters stupid?

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, believes the California voters are not able to understand the written election information produced by the Secretary of State and approved by the Attorney General, and make an informed decision. It is disappointing to hear the level on contempt the Speaker has for the voters of California.

Unfortunately, I think people (voters) thought they were making a statement about what their view of same-sex marriage was ("Eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." see below). I don't know if it was clear that this meant that we are amending the Constitution ("Changes the California Constitution..." see below) to diminish freedom ("...eliminate the right..." see below) in our state.
- Nancy Pelosi, November 7, 2008

Proposition 8 is only 14 words:

Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Attorney General's official title and summary:

Eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

• Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
• Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Given the relative simplicity of Proposition 8, obviously the Speaker must question the results of the other 11 proposition voted on during the November 4, 2008, election.

The Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) Readability Index puts the information sent to the voters on par with Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine (Grade 11 to 12), which is judged to be significantly simpler than the IRS code (and text of the other propositions).