Gay Marriage Legalized in the US!

Well folks, the Oracle has witnessed another chain of events that has sparked his need to give out another prediction.  This is one that won't be answered quite as quickly as my last one.  But I will stand firmly behind it...which is probably easier since it will take a while to come true and by then I will have lost interest in the blog and Google will delete it...but that is beside the point!  My prediction:  gay marriage will be legalized and recognized in all 50 states...and Puerto Rico and Guam...and don't we have some other places?  Whatever, in the US, Gay marriage will be legalized and recognized between all states.

So what has sparked me to write this?  None other than the former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee. Now how could Mike Huckabee, someone who is very against gay marriage:

inspire me to affirm that gay marriage will be legalized?  It's easy, the second I saw his Chick-fil-a appreciation day, I realized that the anti-gay marriage groups were deep trouble.  Hmm...let me give a little background before I draw the parallel...

Back on July 2, 2012, Dan Cathy, the president and COO of Chick-fil-a did an interview with Ken Coleman where he said "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say 'we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage' and I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about."   If you don't believe he really said that, or think I took it out of context, then please click on that link so you can hear it for yourself, along with everything around it in it's full context.

Around July 16, the rest of the world found out that Dan Cathy was just as crazy as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and the LGBT community picked up on it and called for a boycott of chick-fil-a.  Well this of course did not set well with Mike Huckabee, who then organized the Chick-fil-a appreciation day for August 1.  After all, wasn't Mr. Cathy just exercising his first amendment right to free speech?  Well of course he was, he was not using fighting words, he wasn't yelling fire in a crowded building, he had every right in the world to say that!  But does that mean what he said must be accepted by everyone?  Of course not...and that is where the pro gay-marriage spoke up and said, if Dan Cathy does not support what we consider a right, then we will not support his business with our money.  The pro gay-marriage crowd did not say that Dan Cathy had no right to say that, but they confirmed that his speech has consequences.  That consequence is a negative backlash from people who do not agree with him.  Now, can people attack him, or burn down his stores???  Absolutely not, and anyone who does should be be dealt with harshly and swiftly...but so far there has not been a violent backlash, and I hope there never is, because it is not needed.

So where does the Oracle stand?  I disagree with Dan Cathy's stance.  I think the legal definition of marriage should be redefined as being allowed between 2 consenting adults, no matter their ethnicity or gender.  Why?  Because it is one of their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  I know, I know, that is just in the declaration of independence and therefore irrelevant, but I still think John Locke was a relatively smart man.  Besides, how does the right for a gay person to marry the person they love negatively impact me at all?  Please, in the comments, list every way it negatively impacts me, I need to know.  We all know how it can positively impact gay couples, you know...getting the same rights as a straight couple .  And I know about Leviticus, believe me I know, I've read it, many times.  I've even read Matthew...you know, the part that says:

Matthew 5:32 
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. (NIV)
Matthew 19:9
I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery. (NIV)

But wait a minute....we have laws that allow us remarry even if we divorce over "irreconcilable differences", so...now we just pick and choose which parts we can ignore because they don't infringe on our own pursuit of happiness?  Sorry, that logic doesn't work with me.  The Chick-Fil-A appreciation day was organized because Dan Cathy came out against redefining marriage, not because he exercised his first amendment right,  I hope that everyone can understand that.

So now...back to the prediction.  Let me just ruin the ending now and say that I think it will take until about 2020 before marriage is completely redefined.  That's not the interesting part of this blog post.  What I think we witnessed on August 1, 2012, was a parallel to an event on February 10, 1956 in Montgomery, Alabama.  Check out a small video clip of the event here and here.  Just in case you live in a small bubble with no windows or access to the outside world, on December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for violating segregation laws in Montgomery Alabama.  Click that link to read the entire timeline....but pay special attention to February 10, 1956.  On that day, there was a rally held at the coliseum in Montgomery by the White Citizens' Council.  Now, don't get me wrong, this was a HUGE rally.  Reports say that 12,000 people showed up to listen to Senator James Eastland, Mayor Gayle, and the Sheriff  speak...against desegregation.  Do you see where I am going now?  The rally in favor of Chick-fil-a is not unprecedented, but it does show a struggle of the status quo to keep a strangle hold on society.  We all know what happened.  The supreme court struck down segregation of buses, just like it did of schools in Brown vs. Board of Education, and slowly but surely, the rest became history.  But it wasn't until 1964, a full 8 years later, that the civil rights act was passed.  That is where I get my 2020 prediction, a full 8 years (or 2 presidential terms...) before the nation fully realizes that taking away someone else's rights does nothing to advance their own.  BTW, if gay marriage is legalized nationally before then, I am also going to consider this prediction as correct.  So now all we have to do is sit back and wait...right???  No...get out there and support your fellow human being for them to have the equal right to pursue happiness in this free country.

FOLLOWUP: Harvey Persons' Veto Vote Post

As you may recall from my last post, I predicted that the Douglasville council members would overturn Harvey Person's veto for the Sunday Sales vote, (drum roll please)...I was right!  YES!  First prediction on the new blog comes true!  OK, it was a quite easy prediction to make, so I'm not really impressed either.  The council members also decided to overturn the other veto, which will go into effect May 26, which is to allow for pouring hours to be extended on Saturday night.  The Douglasville Patch does a MUCH better job of expounding upon this than I am going to attempt.

Now, we only have to wait another 3 years to find out if my other prediction, that Persons will not serve a second term, will come true.  I'm sure you're all about to explode with anticipation.  

Oh...and in a completely unrelated...but fun to imply relation...the pictures from Harvey Persons' accident...in a parking lot...with a pole...from February...have been released.  

Harvey Persons is OUT (of office and touch)

All politicians lie.  All politicians mysteriously change their mind after they get elected and are no longer needing to raise funds or win votes.  Harvey Persons, mayor of Douglasville (my home city), is no exception to this.  He recently vetoed referendums to allow the people of Douglasville to vote on Sunday sales of alcohol at stores and to extend pouting hours for restaurants.  You're probably thinking, "So what?!  He was elected to make decisions for his constituents and this is the Bible belt, where rewriting of the Bible to make the Sabbath on Sundays , drinking any alcohol is a sin even though Jesus drank alcoholic wine, gluttony is not a sin, and dancing will send you to hell."  And I agree with you 100%!  He was elected by the people of Douglasville, who voted for his platform, some of which can be found here.  Wait...you didn't click on that last link, so I will quote the relevant part:

"7. Do you think there should be a vote on Sunday package sales allowed? Why or why not?"


"Harvey Persons: I personally do not favor Sunday package sales of alcohol, but feel that there is substantial public opinion to allow it to be placed on the ballot and allow the citizens to decide. The facts for both sides need to be presented and the citizens need to decide this issue."

Wait...did we just read that correctly??  He said he thinks the people should decide.  So why did he veto the referendum?  Oh, that's right, because instead of talking to Phil Miller (the sheriff of Douglas county) or Chris Womack (the police chief in Douglasville), or reading an actual study he would go on the word of a H.E.A.T. officer he did a ride along with.  Now, don't get me wrong, that officer sees drunk drivers everyday, he sees alcohol related auto accidents and deaths that would make anyone never want to touch a drink again.  But that doesn't mean that the officer's perception is reality.  I work in Healthcare IT, so to me, the most important thing in the hospital is clinical computer systems and the access to internal systems.  But that is not reality, it is just my perceived reality.  The most important thing in hospitals is correct diagnosis, access to doctors, etc, etc, not some clinical system that let's the doctor know the person scraped their knee in the 8th grade and had 2 stitches.

Let's also keep in mind that Villa Rica (1 very close city over) allows Sunday sales of alcohol.   So what Persons has actually done, is increase the incentive for a person to drive to another city, and give that city the tax revenue of Sunday sales.

My prediction:  The city council will override Person's veto.  The citizens only need 5 in favor of overturning the veto from the council members votes on May 21, (all 7 originally voted for the referendum).  Persons will not be a mayor for a second term, although he may not run again anyways, he isn't exactly a spring chicken.  In November, the citizens of Douglasville will vote in favor of allowing Sunday sales and extended pouring hours, and Douglasville, along with the rest of Georgia, will slowly emerge from the stone age.  After all, we did finally get rid of the incredibly racist state flag a few years ago.

Let me introduce myself...

So this blog is really meant as more of a joke than anything else. It is basically a blog about me making predictions, 97% of which will never come true, and the 2.99% that do come true will have been obvious at the time. But that 0.01% of my predictions that weren't obvious and do come true, will hopefully land me on CNN or Foxnews as an expert in the situation. I will also take some political stance on things that will one day, most likely prevent me from running for office. I named it "Oracle of HOTLanta" because I live near Atlanta, and all the locals hate it when you call it HOTLanta, therefore I have decided to embrace the name. The oracle part is more of an inside joke, really. I use to be an Oracle DBA, but oracle also is someone that you seek advice through or someone who is considered a medium. Hopefully you get the joke...if not, you're dumb.