"Enemies List" Seeks Intimidation of Yes on 8 Backers

I can't reiterate this strongly enough: The left's intense political reaction to the majority vote approving California's Proposition 8 demonstrates the markers that have been laid down in the battle for America's soul.

Not only have gay marriage activists taken to the streets in record numbers to protest the popular vote, the movement's campaign of intimidation is a classic case of cultural and political authoritarianism. As Time reports, the left is using an "enemies list" to indiscriminately target those who have used conventional means of legitimate participation to affect the democratic political process:

In addition to protests, gay activists have begun publishing lists online exposing individuals and organizations who have donated money in support of Proposition 8. On AntiGayBlacklist.com, individuals who gave money toward Proposition 8 are publicized, with readers urged not to patronize their businesses or services. The list of donors was culled from data on ElectionTrack.com, which follows all contributions of over $1,000 and all contributions of over $100 given before October 17. Dentists, accountants, veterinarians and the like who gave a few thousand dollars to the cause are listed alongside major donors like the Container Supply Co., Inc. of Garden Grove, Calif., which gave $250,000.

The next stage of the fight over gay marriage will be the California Supreme Court.

Four groups have filed legal briefs seeking to overturn the initiative: the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund

As this morning's Los Angeles Times reports, the Court is hesitant to strike down Prop 8 because members of the judiciary in California are elected after initial appointment to office:

Television and radio media cornered Chief Justice Ronald M. George [at a Berkeley judicial roundtable this week], who wrote the marriage ruling, and repeatedly tried to get him to discuss Proposition 8. He explained over and over again that judges were not permitted to comment on pending cases.

While the justices lunched with panelists and the audience, Ohio Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer warned that special interest groups were increasingly threatening the independence of the judiciary. Six state Supreme Court justices were ousted by voters this year after nasty campaigns by special interests, he said.

Opponents of same-sex marriages have talked of recalling members of the state high court if they overturn Proposition 8. Although George did not refer to those threats, he complained of the "increasingly partisan nature of judicial elections."

"We are keenly aware that we share with other state courts a vulnerability to forces that focus not on impartiality but on whether judges, like officeholders in our sister branches of government, should be responsive to majoritarian, political or special-interest preferences," he said.

With this in mind, Yes on 8 forces should recall that in 1986, California's ultra-liberal Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird was removed from office in a stunning repudiation of her judicial record.

Justice Bird, a staunch opponent of the death penalty, never upheld an execution, voting to overturn death penalty sentences 61 times. As the New York Times wrote in a 1999 obituary, "To this day, Ms. Bird's name remains a kind of reflexive shorthand in California for ''soft-on-crime liberal.'''

Thus, the Yes on 8 majority is not without means to beat back the authoritarian hordes now taking to the streets in a campaign of intimidation and violence.