Category: Society Page 38 of 69

I would never, in a million years, have imagined this possible:

That’s 100,000 people who went through a good amount of time and effort in order to participate in the American political process.  It’s also a suggestion that I still have much to learn about this country, and the people in it.  And I’m thrilled to be reminded of that like this.

Here’s a political attack that never occurred to me:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown this week accused Democrats of spreading a false rumor that he is a vegetarian in this meat-loving state.

“I am not and have never been a vegetarian,” Brown said.

“I am disgusted by the baseless allegation that I am a vegetarian and that my personal eating habits should somehow be construed as opposed to the economic interests of Montana’s livestock industry.”

Really?  I mean, I’m no stranger to people’s reactions to vegetarians.  Hell, I might even be able to claim some special familiarity with the Montana political reaction to vegetarians – a couple of years ago, I was at a dinner table next to Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT).  Some sort of apparently wonderful sirloin steak was the menu for the evening, and when the server brought my plate, I declined and asked for something veg.  It brought comment from the rest of the table (who were mostly the sort of folks one might imagine would want to have dinner with Conrad Burns), but he just briefly looked at me sideways, shrugged his shoulders, and kept on eating.  He’s not exactly the most tolerant fellow in the world, so I figure if it wasn’t a big deal to him, I can’t imagine it’s a big deal to other Montanans.

As you may know, California’s constitutional right to marriage is under attack by the usual suspects in the form of a ballot initiative (called Proposition 8).   You may – like I did, until recently – think that it was a stunt that faced little chance of success.   That, unfortunately, isn’t true.  Big money has come from religious organizations (Mormon church, Knights of Columbus, etc.) and the latest polls have opinion standing 47-42 in favor of banning marriage equality in California.

California ballot initiatives are largely advertising campaign contests, which require an enormous amount of money in those media markets.  The money gap between both sides is substantial (perhaps because so many of us took Prop 8’s defeat for granted).  According to a recent email from MassEquality, “the anti-gay right has raised $25.4 million – that’s 10 million dollars more than our side.”  This has never been – and will not be – a place where I regularly promote donations.  But I’m hoping you’ll consider supporting the Vote No On Prop 8 efforts with a contribution of as little as $5 or with your time phone banking (you can do that from your own home – no need to be in California).  You can learn more about the campaign here.

So many campaigns that we already pour our time and money into can often feel as if they won’t make a much of a difference.  But this is important.  It’s an essential step to preserving one of the biggest steps forward in the pursuit of a more just and decent society.   Please help.