Friday, July 10, 2009

Leno Tries to Undercut Prop. 8: Mainstream Media Complicit

On Tuesday, we reported on SB 54, sponsored by openly homosexual San Francisco state senator Mark Leno and "Equality California." Leno flew the bill under the radar, using the "gut and amend" tactic to change the contents of the bill.

The bill would undercut Proposition 8 by forcing the state of California to recognize out-of-state same sex "marriages." On Thursday, SB 54 passed the Assembly Judiciary committee on a straight party line vote. SB 54 will now move to the Assembly floor where it will probably be voted on after the legislature returns from their summer vacation on August 17.

On September 1, 2002, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on the "gut-and-amend" process:

"In the halls of the state Capitol, it's known simply as "GANDA."

The acronym stands for "gut-and-amend," a practice during the final days of a legislative session in which the entire contents of a bill are stripped out and replaced with something new.

The article quoted Jim Knox, President of California Common Cause:

"It makes a mockery of the entire legislative process. It's an insider's game designed to exclude the public."

Given that Proposition 8 has been the most covered story in the state of California over the past 18 months, one might expect the mainstream media to cover SB 54. Nope. A google news search brings up all of eight results for "Leno SB 54." It has been covered by a few outlets in the homosexual community press (Bay Area Reporter, Queerty, SFist), and the California Catholic Daily, but you have not seen a word about it in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, or the San Jose Mercury News.

Since all these publications (indeed, all but five in the whole state) supported same-sex "marriage," it appears they are deliberately burying the story so as not to alert California voters that once again our legisalture is flouting the will of the people.

You can contact your Assembly Member by going here .

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