Proposition what?

Here in Charles' home state of California, the Presidential race -- the outcome of which, at least in this state, is a foregone conclusion anyway -- is becoming overshadowed by the fierce debate over Proposition 8, which would eliminate the recently-granted right of same-sex couples to marry.

It's worth noting that back in August, Charles' ideological and business partner (and Pajamas Media co-founder) Roger L. Simon actually stuck his neck out and roundly condemned Proposition 8 -- much to the disgust of the Pajamas Media commentariat, naturally.

When one considers Charles' laudable struggle against religious obscurantism, and his repeated condemnations of anti-gay attacks by Muslims, and the fact that the "faith-based coalition" supporting Proposition 8 includes Muslim groups, one wonders why he has chosen not to speak out about this vital and contentious issue. The Yes on 8 campaign has recently resorted to threats and outright lies, while the No on 8 side continues to lag in fundraising.

Besides, if Charles were to come out (so to speak) against Proposition 8, he would be in very good company. And it's not as if his traffic rankings would really suffer -- if six months of non-stop Obama bashing, and constant infusions of new "hatchlings," and an endless array of exciting new Web 2.0 features haven't been enough to boost his ratings past those of the arch-fiends Kos and Huffington, nothing will.

But from his silence, we are forced to conclude that either Charles doesn't care about this issue, which after all only affects the essential civil rights of 2 million or so of his fellow Californians (as opposed to matters of vital national import such as the latest statements by Mary Mapes), or that he is more or less OK with the idea that out-of-state religious groups could successfully conspire to amend the California Constitution and institutionalize bigotry forever.