“After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” - section 1 of the 18th amendment.

Of course the prohibition didn’t last, and the amendment was repealed. But it did pass, in a screwed up political climate.

What irritates me about Bush here is his characterisation of these actions as somehow reflecting the will of the people, when only about 40% of the population supports the amendment (and the gay marriage issue itself has split the population 50/50, making the ‘will of the people’ excuse completely unreasonable), and characterising judges as ‘activists’ when they’re upholding constitutional law and trying not to create a new group of second class citizens. I wish he’d just come out and say he didn’t like gay people. At least he wouldn’t be insulting us with specious rhetoric.

Incidentally, the discussion on this subject on today’s UserFriendly strip comments is rather interesting.