Anybody But Him

Imagine that you were mayor and believed with absolute certainty that paying taxes was wrong. So you ban all City employees' tax withholdings and other tax collections that are under your purview. Your ban wouldn't last long (though some citizens might gleefully follow your orders) until State and Federal authorities forced you to comply. You could well be impeached or recalled because you knowingly violated your oath to uphold the laws of your city, state, and nation.

Marriage license line at San Francisco City Hall, 2004

Elected officials always encounter laws that they disagree with. They can comply with them albeit minimally, and they can work to change them with the appropriate legislative body. In our democracy executive-branch officials are in charge of law enforcement and are not allowed to openly violate the law; if they can't enforce laws they believe to be wrong, the honorable and moral course of action is to resign.

In 2004 San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom knowingly violated the law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. For the record I supported gay marriage but thought his action was anti-democratic.

But I am just a humble citizen with an opinion. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom showed that he is unfit for higher office by issuing marriage licenses to gay couples in direct contravention of state law. The executive has a special responsibility to uphold the law, even those he disagrees with. Given the strong arguments on either side of issues such as abortion, capital punishment, recreational drug use, and immigration, to name but a few in addition to gay marriage, it is not only possible but likely that the chief executive of a city, state, or even the nation would not agree with some of the laws it is his duty to uphold. If he didn’t think that he could enforce these laws, then he shouldn’t have taken the oath of office.

Gavin Newsom is now the front-runner in the 2018 race for Governor of California. He is being lauded for his "pivotal role" in furthering the cause of gay marriage.

For Newsom, the gay-marriage battle was a defining moment, the likes of which few politicians experience. He seized a contentious issue, pushed it forward while others resisted or held back, and then waited for public opinion to reward his foresight.

I didn't want Barack Obama and I don't want Donald Trump to pick and choose which laws to enforce. Such Executive power is not democracy but tyranny.

Gavin Newsom showed he had no qualms about picking and choosing if he were in charge. I will support any candidate, Democratic or Republican, who runs against him.