California politics = massive failure

I have a long history of disliking things here in the Golden State. Traffic, air quality, cost of living, my ex-wife--all of these have raised my blood pressure at one time or always. Our political system, though, that one deserves special mention this election season. Without getting too detailed on the history or mechanics of California governance, I want to focus on one particular, incredibly bad idea implemented here: the referendum. Every year, Californians are asked to vote "yes" or "no" on a bewildering set of ballot measures because the bar for getting these on the ballot is set incredibly low. This means that at any given time, just about any legislative idea must be voted on by the citizens of the state, and many times, two competing--or actually opposing--measures can be present on the same (or worse, consecutive) ballot. More tragically, some truly crackpot, dangerous, and clearly unconstitutional ideas that would never have passed out of any state legislative committee get placed on the ballot, troubling and confusing voters who are already struggling to attain civic literacy. Sometimes the proposition itself is written in such a way as to lose its meaning, but more often than not, the various proponents and opponents wage vicious and misleading ad campaigns designed to sway voters.
Case in point: this year's Proposition 8, which has really brought out teh stupid in people. This is a straightforward and hopelessly diseased measure designed to deny a civil right to a single group of citizens. The first thought most people should have had is: How could anybody in their right mind vote in favor of such a thing? And indeed, polling on Prop 8 revealed a fairly negative reaction from the time it was introduced. The latest polls, however, have shown a marked shift in attitude in favor of passing this execrable abomination. What happened? Well, the Mormon church happened. The Mormons, in their infinite evil, have decided to throw their considerable financial and persuasive resources into the movement to pass Prop 8, leading to a wave of pro-8 media ads filled with lies, and the poor saps among us unable to separate lies from fact are being convinced that all Hell, literally, will break loose if Prop 8 passes. The battle isn't even over gay marriage--which is the only thing Prop 8 covers--anymore, because the religious bigot supporters discovered that only a small minority really care about interfering with other people's rights, regardless of who those people are. The ads instead make all kinds of outrageous and wholly deceptive claims for what Prop 8 will do. My favorite is that if passed, Prop 8 will require children to be taught in school about gay marriage. Erp? Here's a direct quote from some apparently brainwashed blogger: "Legalizing same-sex marriage immediately mandates changes to all California public school curriculum to teach that same-sex marriage is the same as traditional marriage."
Ok, kids, here's where you get to play spot-the-incorrect-assumption. I'm going to show you the entire text of Proposition 8, and you get to tell me how the blogger above reached his/her conclusion. Ready?

ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME–SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

• 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

Well? Do you see anything in there about anything other than the marriage rights of same-sex couples? No? That's because Proposition 8 doesn't do anything but eliminate that right. Of course, deceit comes second nature to Mormons, whose entire religious doctrine is based on the notion that some guy (Joseph Smith) in upstate New York in the late 1820s found some holy golden plates written on in a coded language and a magic hat with which he decoded them, all of which he refused to let anyone see and all of which also somehow disappeared before anyone else could see any of it. Seriously. Upstate New York, golden plates, and a magic hat. These are not people in whom I would rely upon to tell me the truth about anything, because they clearly are not people who value rationality. Proposition 8 is simply wrong. Mormon support proves it.