Live Things In You

Andrew Sullivan reflects on his own gay wedding — and offers this synopsis of the California Supreme Court’s verdict:

The individual citizen posited by the court is defined as prior to his or her sexual orientation. He or she exists as a person before he or she exists as straight or gay. And the right under discussion is defined as “the opportunity of an individual” to choose another “person” to “establish a family” in which reproduction and children are not necessary. And so the distinction between gay and straight is essentially abolished.

Churches may pick and choose for whom sacraments are appropriate — but a civil right is just that…a civil right.

The Christianists are up in arms, of course, putting forth Proposition 8 to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry and calling it “Armageddon.”

I’m writing because truth is important to me. As a journalism major, I was taught to FACTCHECK. There are two new books out there in dire need of the harsh light of truth: The Case Against Barack Obama and The Obama Nation. These books are in no way legitimate nonfiction — they’re a smear campaign, based largely on falsehood.

Authors whose sole goal is to smear Barack Obama should be exposed for the charlatans they are. This is NOT a matter of opinion, in which two sides should be presented. It is a matter of simple FACT. Please do your duty as journalists, and let the American people know the truth. Thanks.

(What the hell — I threw in ABC, CBS, and MSNBC while I was at it…)

One of the live things I could no longer ignore is my utter disgust at American journalism (or the lack thereof). A nice article here, buried in which is the real culprit:

August 4 was the twenty-first anniversary of the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine — the rule that gave us the concept of “equal opportunity” in the media. Its repeal had been engineered by various groups, including wealthy conservative media tycoons looking to take certain conservative AM radio talkers, such as Rush Limbaugh, to a national audience, using their money and influence to drown out non-conservative voices.

Thus was engineered the idea of the “white male victim” and the “liberal media”…