The World This Week

A lot of news this week. Here's a 'drive-by' look:

-North Korea Monday morning set off a nuclear weapon test, an uproar of world reaction and a new challenge for the Obama Administration. While we only have limited power to try to prevent another nation from acquiring such weapons, we should continue to vigorously develop missile defense as part of our overall national security strategy.

-The President's Supreme Court nominee (unlike his nominee for NASA Administrator) is definitely an ideological choice, in this case in favor of an activist and subjective judiciary. The role of the Supreme Court should be to judge cases based on the Constitution. Applying a criteria of 'empathy' (in President Obama's words), among other flaws, can lead to injustice because it is a subjective criteria. One party's side of a case may appear more deserving of empathy, but it would be unjust to the other party for the case to be decided on that basis.

-California's state Supreme Court upheld the law enacted by the state's voters through Proposition 8 last November confirming the long standing definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

I don't believe that position represents bigotry against those with a same sex orientation. Society can respect the dignity of each individual and address legitimate concerns (benefits, health care, etc.) through other means without undermining the function that marriage has played in every society in human history.

Further, regardless of which side one takes on the definition of marriage, a judicial override of a popular vote on a constitutional amendment like this (barring discovery of an obvious legal flaw in the process) would have aroused strong public resentment and lack of confidence in the democratic process.