Common Sense Prevails This Week

This week seems to have been one of those periods in which people came to their senses. Especially Wednesday. Common sense seems to be catching on. If you look at history it usually does, and that is one of the reasons I am an optimist.

While the U.S. political scene appears to have come back on track with Senator Clinton's recognition that her chances of becoming the Democratic nominee are slim (Slate's Hillary Deathwatch has argued as such since March) and the United States is indeed "ready" for an African-American president, common sense has also popped up in other parts of the world, giving me hope.

In Tokyo, Japan's Supreme Court came to its senses in favor of justice, perhaps realizing that nationality is not an issue of "ethnicity," a concept that no one seems to be able to define:

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday against a law that denied citizenship to children born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and foreign mothers, a court official said. Japan's top court ruled in favor of 10 Japanese-Filipino children suing for citizenship in Japan. The children were split into two separate cases, one filed in 2003 and one filed in 2005. The suits were filed by Filipino mothers who had proved the fathers of their children were Japanese, the report said.

Between NYC and Japan, good sense prevailed in California on Wednesday too. Another court did the right thing, giving proper rights to people, allowing gays to marry:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gay and lesbians couples around California are planning their nuptials following a refusal by the state's highest court to stay its decision egalizing gay marriage.

The California Supreme Court's announcement Wednesday cleared the final hurdle for same-sex couples in the nation's most populous state to wed beginning June 17, when state officials have said counties must start issuing new gender-neutral marriage licenses. Judy Appel, executive director of Our Family Coalition, a San Francisco-based group that advocates for same-sex couples with children, said she was thrilled by the court's refusal to stay the ruling.

The long view of history shows that people eventually do the right thing. Let's hope it lasts.

Photo by Thomas MacEntee.