Saturday, February 04, 2006

Social Politics in Annapolis: Gramsci Style

After a Maryland court ruling in favor of the concept of "gay marriage," the minority Repubs in Annapolis pushed for a constitutional amendment banning it, to be placed on statewide ballot in this fall's state and Congressional elections. Many Dems also favored putting the proposed amendment on the ballot, not wanting to get caught on the wrong side of an issue that has angered many Marylanders, even the libs.

Well, notoriously partisan House Speaker Mike Busch pulled a parliamentary maneuver that prevented the issue from being voted on, and has probably kept it off the ballot this fall.

Power Line has an interesting and creative analysis of this flap. Read it here for the full scoop.

But the best line is here: a succinct summation of Gramscian deviousness at work, in this case by pushing political issues off to left-liberal jurists, thus freeing leftist Dems from the electoral consequences of their own actions against the express wishes of their constituencies.

The strategy of liberal Democratic politicians has long been to have the courts do the heavy lifting in implementing the social revolution they crave. Now, at least in Maryland, the politicians must do some lifting of their own to protect themselves against the backlash from that revolution.

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