Final Word: Same sex marriage week
Mar 25, 2013, 11:31 PM | Updated: 11:31 pm
It’s same sex marriage week at the Supreme Court of the United States.
Two cases will be heard this week: First, Tuesday, California’s Proposition 8, the voter passed gay marriage ban, and the question of whether it’s Constitutional and then DOMA, the federal defense of marriage act. In question there, whether or not same sex couples can access the same benefits as married couples.
The mood of the nation has changed, there is no doubt. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now say they are in favor of same sex marriage.
And those hoping to get a seat inside the court to hear what the justices have to say have been sleeping outside for five days. Interest is at an all time high.
But the Supreme court operates in a vacuum and public opinion isn’t what is considered inside those chambers.
Michael Bloomberg is putting his money where his mouth is, and spending $12 million on ads promoting federal gun control legislation and he is aiming part of that money directly at Arizona’s newest senator, Jeff Flake.
Bloomerg thinks maybe Arizona can be a tipping point and is focusing specifically on universal background checks, a measure that an ABC News/Washington Post poll found is supported by 91 percent of the public. His argument is that the NRA has been the only voice on guns and it’s time to hear the other side.
We will see if advertising works on public opinion like it works for Taco Bell and pro sports.
And in the “you might not feel old but you are” category, it was 30 years ago Monday that Michael Jackson first Moonwalked on the Motown special on NBC.
It was 1983, and even though it only lasted a few minutes, it captured the attention of the whole world. He wore the glove too and he only agreed to perform on the special with his brothers if he was allowed to perform “Billie Jean”.
It left everyone talking about him, and completely forgetting about the likes of Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and even Stevie Wonder.
Thirty years. Wow.
