The city of San Francisco has officially had its Fort Sumter moment. The opening volley, fired by Mayor Gavin Newsome, will come back to hit him square in the ass.

Democracy is meaningless if the will of the people is arbitrarily overthrown by one man who happens to have power. Newsome fervently believes that he is doing the right thing, and that his intentions will make up for any law-breaking he does.

And, let us all remember, he is breaking the law - a law enacted by the people of California.

Some say that this situation is like something out of the Civil Rights era. Well, yes and no. There is no "right" to marry whomever you please - just as there is no "right" to private-school education, no "right" to leather seats in your car, no "right" to a DVD player.

If the mayor of Salt Lake City had started issuing licenses to polygamists, the outcry would have been deafening. Imagine the revolt if a mayor had begun allowing siblings to marry. Yet no argument can be advanced as to why homosexual couples have this "right," and others do not, except that the homosexual lobby is bigger, wealthier, and more popular than the other two.