Affirmative Action

Like about half the country, I voted yesterday, but I don't think I did as good a job of it as most people. Oh, sure, I got most of 'em right, but I wasn't as involved as I should have been.

We had about ten propositions on our state ballot, or maybe they were called something else. I think they all had to do with Indians and casinos, which are becoming as connected in our current society as they used to be with wooden statues. I got them all right, of which I'm justifiably proud, but I can't brag about my reason for doing so.

Unlike everyone else, I didn't study these issues at all. I didn't read the propositions and supporting arguments the way I usually do. I didn't try to make sense of the arcane language or understand the arguments of those arguing for or against them, and I didn't pay any attention to any of the flood of ads that came my way alerting me to the dire consequences if any of them either passed or failed.

Those opposing the propositions, Californians Against Unfair Deals, is a group I would like to think I belong to. Those in favor aren't, curiously enough, Californians Against Fair Deals, like one would have expected, but were the Coalition to Protect California's Budget & Economy. For me, it was a choice between being for unfair deals or demolishing California's budget and economy.

It was a tough choice.

On the one hand, I was torn about the Coalition to protect California's Budget & Economy. I could see ravaging the budget, that gets done all the time by whoever's in charge, and exposing our economy to danger didn't seem to be all that threatening, but the two of them together pack quite a punch. If it was one or the other, I could live with that and myself, but the two were joined by that pesky conjunct that makes answering multiple choice questions so very difficult.

In the end I held my breath, took my chances, and voted in favor of the propositions, as did most Californians. I'm just glad I wasn't the only one, and when historians begin pointing at the fall of this great state as beginning with our acceptance of unfair deals, I won't be the only one.

As far as unfair deals go, I think the Indians know more about it than I ever could, anyway.