Salt Lake City drive-in, August 1958, from Google’s new Life magazine archive. If it makes you feel better, we were doomed long before most of us were born.

Life photo archive [Google]

The California Supreme Court may take up Prop 8 for review today, and in so doing the justices face recall if they thwart the will of the Mormon church.

That’s how democracy works, of course. If you don’t hate with us, you’re against us.

But we’ll save that fun for later. Because buried near the end of the L.A. Times story reviewing the constitutional issues we find this nugget:

Proposition 8’s [Andrew] Pugno said voters could indeed resurrect a ban on mixed-race marriages if the issue had been decided purely on state constitutional grounds.

The reference here is to a 1948 decision that struck down a ban on interracial marriage. Pugno — general counsel for “ProtectMarriage.com” — says California voters could easily reinstate that ban, if only the state court hadn’t reached for federal justifications.

In other words: All California marriages are subject to the whim of the electorate, unless the Feds butt in.

Protect marriage? Hell, California just voted to undermine it.

Recall specter hangs over high court as it considers Prop. 8 challenges [LAT]

The Republicans need a new party chairman come January, and Townhall’s Matt Lewis has just the candidate.

He’s dynamic. He’s charming. He’s deep. He’s—

Fred Thompson?

Oh, yeah. And because GOP rules would require a female co-chairman, you know Matt’s choice for runningmate ain’t Olympia Snowe.

“With the party in the hands of a high-wattage Thompson-Palin tag team, I’m pretty sure that the two could seize the offensive and leave the new president in the dust,” Matt writes. “After four years of Obama’s socialist policies, something tells me that the American people are going to be ready for another tea party.”

Matt, we’ve got yer back on this one. Because while you’re waiting for your tea party, a Thompson-Palin tag team would guarantee the rest of us one helluva rave.

Can Palin and Thompson lead GOP tea party? [Politico]

Johnny Rotten pays the rent. Sellout or metapunk? You make the call!

A billion levels of awesome [Sadly, No!]

You blow twenty million bucks to deny Americans their rights as human beings, and what do you get for it? Grief.

“People of faith have been intimidated for simply exercising their democratic rights… These are not actions that are worthy of the democratic ideals of our nation. The end of a free and fair election should not be the beginning of a hostile response in America.”

That was a statement issued Friday by Mormon leaders, who apparently didn’t expect to be held accountable for their actions.

Which in no way is related to another statement from a church spokesman decrying other people of faith for exercising their democratic rights to vote against a Mormon candidate in the Republican presidential primaries:

“Latter-day Saints were just amazed to think there was such bigotry in the country.”

Because when you do it, it’s a matter of principle.

Mormon Church feels the heat over Proposition 8 [LAT]

MTV cancels TRL:

“It’s kind of upsetting,” said Annie Whitaker, 19, of Silver Spring, Md., who has been a fan of the show since its inception. “It’s like for 10 years, it was a big thing to sit around the TV waiting for a video premiere from your favorite artist. Now, how will we know when there is a new video out?”

Don’t laugh. In twenty-five years, she’ll be the Republican vice-presidential candidate.

MTV’s ‘Total Request Live’ ends its decade-long run Sunday [LAT]

Hey all you Stinquers! Come to D.C. for the Unicorn’s Inauguration and see history in action while hanging out with other cynical stinques. Inauguration is Tuesday, January 20, 2009, for those of you who haven’t had 1/20/09 as a bumper sticker for the past 5 years. Monday is a holiday (MLK Day, appropriately), so you don’t even have to miss as much work.

We’re trying to get a rough idea of how many people might be coming so we can figure out venue for post-Inaugural festivities. So read on past the jump for more details on how to get to DC, where to stay, and feel free to share your initial snarky thoughts in the comments. If you are thinking of coming, email your Inaugural Weekend Planning Team at unicorn [at] stinque.com.

By your Stinque Inaugural Weekend Planning Team
(baked, JNOV, MellBell, Nabisco, and SanFranLefty)

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