Rather than celebrate a complete fucking lie (Columbus Day), why not honor the memory of Matthew Shepard who was brutally murdered 11 years ago today? You can start by thanking the Lord we have a president who said this last Saturday.
We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country. We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage ... especially when we are fighting two wars. I will end don't ask-don't tell.
Say goodbye to the Defense of Marriage Act soon as well.
Buh-bye.
3 comments:
Oh, heck, I'll celebrate any day that you aren't polluting young minds!
In the same way that the right found it impossible to warp the country far to the right in the span of eight years, I think we'll see a similar resistance to take large steps to the left.
The country is firmly ensconced in the middle of these two camps, and such changes will take decades. Considering all the other changes that are necessary, it would be be unwise to try to force a new social agenda on top of all the economic agendas that we simply have to accomplish.
Kerry's loss in 2004 was in part due to the backlash against gay marriage spurred by court rulings. Remember all the screaming for a marriage amendment to the constitution at that time? And how, in two years of complete control of the House, the Senate and the presidency the Republicans never did squat about it after that election?
The US is a small-c conservative country, in the old-fashioned sense of conservative, meaning to conserve and preserve. We'll go along with some necessary changes, but if you try to up-end everything at once you'll run into a great deal of resistance and accomplish none of your goals.
Racism and prejudice require decades to eliminate. It takes that long to change the attitudes of most people, as they come to find common ground with the "other." And, honestly, some people will never change and you just have to wait until they die off or become outnumbered and irrelevant.
I know that's no consolation for those who feel oppressed, but you have to gauge the situation and avoid pushing when the country isn't ready yet. Obama's election shows how far we've come in the last 50 years. I think it will be less than 50 years for gays to gain that same level of acceptance, based on how far we have come in recent years. But it's not going to be in the next three.
After all, Conservatives concerned about individual rights should be the first ones to demand that the government get out of the business of telling people who they can and can't marry. The problem is that the current crop of conservative libertarians have abandoned their core principles to get the conservative evangelicals to support the right-wing coalition (something Barry Goldwater grumbled about).
I don't think this coalition will last forever; when the libertarians re-embrace their principles we may see some movement.
Whenever someone insinuates that whitey, back in the days of Columbus, took the land from the indians is to ask them who the indians took it from, and why the indians were always fighting with each other.
Post a Comment