…is the resignation of Brendan Eich as CEO of Mozilla, the company that makes the Firefox browser. Eich is a superstar in the world of technology; among other things, he invented Javascript and was one of the founders of Mozilla.
Brendan Eich
But in 2008 he contributed $1,000 to support Proposition 8, the California ballot proposition that defended traditional marriage. For that, he was pilloried by left-wing activists. He lasted barely more than a week before being forced to resign from the company he helped to create. So the liberals claim another scalp.
This is something new in our history, as far as I know. Until now, private citizens could hold whatever political beliefs they wanted, and support political causes as they chose. I don’t recall an instance where a corporate officer has been driven out of a company because he holds unpopular political views. Not until now.
And, of course, there is nothing unusual, or even unpopular, about Eich’s belief that traditional marriage represents good public policy. While the tide obviously has swung in favor of gay marriage in recent years, it is still only a 50/50 proposition. The last poll I saw on the subject, at Rasmussen Reports, found 43% favoring gay marriage and 43% opposed. It is odd, to say the least, that a business executive can be deemed unfit to lead a company because he holds an opinion that is shared by half of his countrymen. By that logic, if Eich’s successor is pro-gay marriage, he should be forced out too. But, of course, that won’t happen.
What we see here is, I think, a harbinger of things to come. The Left is mobilized and on the march, and has no intention of taking any prisoners. Anyone who thinks some kind of accommodation or compromise can be reached with these people is mistaken. They are vicious bullies, and must be dealt with accordingly.
This sort of totalitarianism is not unique to the gay marriage issue. Global warming hysterics are now arguing that those who disagree with them should be imprisoned. Seriously; even though it is the realists, not the alarmists, who win all the arguments. When you can’t win the argument, what do you do? Throw your opponent in jail, or get him fired. Liberals have no intention of living in a pluralistic society. They want to wipe you out, or at a minimum force you underground. And if you don’t fight back, they will succeed, just as they did with Brendan Eich.
UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds points out:
To be clear, for holding, in 2009, the view of gay marriage that Barack Obama held, instead of the view that Dick Cheney held.
It is true that the rapidly changing gay marriage landscape has caught a number of unprincipled laggards looking a bit silly, most obviously Barack Obama. But I don’t think anyone ever believed that Obama was a supporter of traditional marriage. His followers understand that he is a liar, and they take everything he says with a grain of salt. They think they know where he really stands, which is with them. Which, of course, has been a big part of the explanation of the utter failure of the Obama administration.
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