I’m really excited about all this DOMA and gay marriage media coverage because it gets Americans talking about something other than the Kardashians. I want to focus on one angle of the gay marriage debate: saying that a Supreme Court decision is the federal government stepping into a states’ rights issue is forgetting that basic human rights, like the right not to be owned as a slave, are protected by our constitution and states cannot, if they want to remain part of the United States, restrict those rights. Maybe the Supreme Court justices think a second civil war will be started over states’ rights (but really over gay marriage) and while I think some of the wild-eyed sign-painters might think they’d die for their cause, given a pack and a gun and sent onto the battlefield, they may start Googling AWOL penalties. While those who want to restrict rights think there is still a chance to project their concept of marriage onto a nation and proclaim it inviolate, there is a feeling of inevitability to this whole debate, like seeing a balanced boulder in the ocean that will eventually, through wind, erosion, and time, plummet into the sea. Gay marriage will happen and whether it’s in a month or a year or a decade, people will pack up their signs, go home, and find something new to be outraged about. This is the genetic code passed down from our Mayflower ancestors and sewn into our national fabric: moral indignation with overtones of Puritanical superiority. USA! USA! USA!
While rainbow flags are being waved around the country I’m finding bursts of color in our garden at home. Why is this exciting? Well, do you want boring old lettuce, the pablum of the salad bowl, or something with pizzaz, razzle dazzle, a-cha-cha, and jazz hands?*
Oh, you think a garden should have some flowers too? How about putting this on for size? Here’s a ka-pow of purple that will send your retinas running for cover. I am incapable of remembering the name of this flower, though my wife has told me dozens of times. Something starting with a P? It’s either a pelican, pansy, penguin, or petunia. AND IT’S PURPLE!
*If blog posts were scored like Scrabble I would have about ten million points for all those double Z’s in one sentence. Zantastic!
Writer, architect, father, husband.