As a libertarian-conservative, of course I support these moves. From the Associated Press: "Altering the course of U.S social
policy, Maine and Maryland became the first states to approve same-sex
marriage by popular vote, while Washington state and Colorado set up a
showdown with federal authorities by legalizing recreational use of
marijuana. The outcomes for those ballot measures
Tuesday were a milestone for persistent but often thwarted advocacy
groups and activists who for decades have pressed the causes of gay
rights and drug decriminalization."
The article continues: "The results in Maine and Maryland broke a
32-state streak, dating to 1998, in which gay marriage had been
rebuffed by every state that voted on it. They will become the seventh
and eighth states to allow same-sex couples to marry. In another gay-rights victory, Minnesota
voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would banned
same-sex marriage in the state. Similar measures were approved in 30
other states, most recently in North Carolina in May."
Bookerista Reaction
Deroy Murdock, an openly gay libertarian-conservative Republican in New York, writes: "Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana. These states soon may
collide with Obama, who is a battering-ram-wielding drug warrior,
despite belonging to the Choom Gang, his high school posse of Hawaiian
potheads. Perhaps federalism and Obama's abandonment of his weed-laced
hypocrisy will merge like smoke rings and end marijuana prohibition."
More commentary about the ballot initatives: "Voters in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington embraced gay
marriage. Social conservatives cannot complain that unelected judges
imposed this policy. Conservatives and libertarians jointly should pry
government's nose from something in which it has no bloody business."
Gay Marriage, Marijuana Backed In Historic Votes
