Reality versus Equality

So, there's a debate going on between gay Republicans like BoiFromTroy and GayPatriot and the activists over at Equality California about the appropriate strategies to use to pressure Governor Schwarzenegger, a putative moderate Republican, to reconsider his stated intent to veto AB 849, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act of 2005.

Equality California has launched an entire campaign, called "Twelve Days Of Action" to mobilize the community to express its opinion on the pending legislation. In addition, they used a parliamentary procedure to delay the appearance of the passed legislation from the House to the Governor's Desk, thus giving Equality California more time to put pressure on the Governor.

The question is often framed as one of "realists" versus "activists." The realists take the position that one accepts the "facts on the ground" or the current version of reality. The activists believe that if one agitates enough, one can effect change in the current situation to produce more acceptable "facts."

If one believes that "politics is the art of the possible" it seems to me that the activists have the more persuasive position. However, this doesn't mean that all activism will be successful. Regardless of how much input activists provide to the Senate in the next few days, John Roberts will be the next Chief Justice of the United States. But this doesn't mean that activism is useless or that realists have a better grasp on reality. As usual, what it means is that this is not a binary proposition. One can be part-realist and part-activist.