Right Idea, Wrong Time

So the city of San Francisco has decided that now it is time to sue the State of California in order to have the same sex marriage ban declared unconstitutional. I'll give the city credit for realizing how the process should have worked from day one, but it still doesn't make the actions of the mayor right.

Even if the law is declared unconstitutional, it doesn't change the fact that the mayor still willfully and knowingly violated it. It doesn't make the mayor right and it does not change the fact that I believe that the mayor should be removed from office for violating the law.

The mayor has a responsibility to enforce all the laws, not just the ones that he agrees with. If he disagrees with a particular law, he has the right to appeal to the court to have the law overturned - that is the essence of the system of checks and balances, two branches of government can overrule the third to keep power from investing itself in any one branch.

But the mayor did not use a legal recourse in approaching this matter. He instead chose civil disobedience. That is certainly his right, but he needs to acknowledge that violating the law, even as part of a peaceful protest, has consequences. If you're a politician in power, that should include involuntary removal from office.

It's nice that the city finally decided to act in a legal, responsible manner, but in my opinion, it is too little, too late to be able to save the mayor. He needs to be forced from office.