Ok, I'm a little calmer today, but a promise is a promise. We've covered the alarming results in Oklahoma, but so many other disturbing things happened on Tuesday. Let's make Human Rights our theme for the day....
1) Iowa votes out ALL of the Supreme Court Justices up for re-election just because they ruled in favor of gay marriage.... seriously? Those positions are always a rubber stamp in election season because frankly no one ever pays attention to what the Iowa Supreme Court is doing unless it has to do with gays or guns (imagine the press surge if they were talking about giving guns to the gays!) Again with the fear-mongering! I would be way more respectful of the decision to oust the entire court if the people that voted for it could list me 2 other rulings each of those justices had made, but I would lay some money down that they can't. But more importantly, what happened to us as a country that we are trending towards REMOVING rights? I know I am not subtle about my gay rights beliefs, but this is becoming a human issue, not a sexual preference issue. We are fighting about the right to committ to someone and have that relationship legally protected. No one is trying to outlaw straight marriage, so opponents' rights are not on the line here. It is troublesome to me how threatened people get by the choices other people are making that don't even affect them at all. Nothing will up voter turnout like a good gay-bashing referendum, and still we puzzle over increased suicides and cries for help. I had to choose between my job security and my belief about gay rights just one time, and I have never questioned my decision... I hope the same is true for the 3 judges that lost their jobs for their integrity this week.
2) Oh, Arizonia... you are such an enigma. Here is what you accomplished this week: hunting is now a constitutional right, affirmative action is now illegal, but medical marijuana is now legal... ???? I am a little confused (I'm not actually, but that sounds nicer than I think you're dumb and I should stop saying that about the entire state), you made the effort to ensure the rights for guns and drugs but took away the rights of the minority and still are unapologetic for what you have done to the rights of the immigrant. It is starting to look like you love freedom as long as it is only granted to the people who look, act, and believe exactly like you do.... do you get how elitist that looks to the rest of us? Some rights are more important to be in the constitution than hunting, for example: the right to due process, the rights of search and siezure, the right for equal employment opportunity, and even the right to be non-white or non-male in Arizona. You can check out those rights in the constitution that the rest of us believe in. Just sayin'
3) I was going to keep going, but some of the irritation is coming back - so lets save a little of my self-righteous ranting for tomorrow.... just 2 more years until we get a chance to try this again.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Election Hangover
Last night was rough in many places for many reasons; let me count the ways...
1) State Questions in Oklahoma. Last night the people of Oklahoma, in generally supermajority terms, accomplished the following things: refused to bring spending on education per child up to the average of our surrounding states; we voted in a governor who made one of her qualifications that you have to be married and have kids to run a state (implied message that her lack of political experience compared to opponent was irrelevant because her opponent wasn't a traditional woman); courts are only allowed to consider state and federal law in deliberations, not international law (only example was forbidding Sharia, Islamic law); all official state business must be conducted in either English or Native American languages, note that it actually said in the referendum that that official state business was not defined.
2) Ok, so Oklahoma itself is enough for one day.
- I am so frustrated today. Not because all these things passed (I figured they would) or because of the giant shift in National power (we all knew it was coming), but because of the mindset the election results reveal. We are so polarized that people have stopped feeling the need to think for themselves and have their decision-making default set on fear. We decided not to give our children and our future a real shot at success not because we hate our kids (no one hates kids holistically), but because we bought into the pie pieces-fear. You can't give money that they need to them, because it will get taken away from me! No one was actually opposed to spending money on education (I hope, but might be wrong) we just didn't trust the legislature to figure out how to pay for it without taking away all of our other social support system. That can't be true. I don't believe that we ever really were choosing between hospitals and schools, between education and mental health - that was fear propaganda that ignored the possibility to get rid of wasteful spending instead - but fear sells and 70% of Oklahoma voters were buying.
- And then there is the state language issue.... did the 75% of you that voted for that read it?? Really READ it?? First of all it says all state action, but acknowledges that it doesn't know what that means exactly. Second, it gives the legislature a blank check to pass whatever laws they want about requiring English. Third, it does allow you to speak a Native language if you want, but that's it! Sooo.... let's look at the fear message included in that.... I have been in the state for a few years now and NEVER been in a situation were someone around me was trying to conduct official business, but only spoke a Native language - this is immigrant bullying. It prohibits you from suing if you get taken advantage of because there was a language barrier, and it sets the stage for you to be fearful of what's coming if you came here for survival before your Rosetta Stone arrived to learn English. What exactly are we afraid of? That the foreigners are going to take over the state and WE will have to learn a new language, or that we will be bothered with the sound of diversity all around us, or worse yet, that at some point we will be encouraged to join the rest of the world in being multilingual?
I am tired of fear-mongering, tired of polarizations, tired of the belief that you are either right or terrifying; and I am disappointed in Oklahoma.
Stay tuned tomorrow for discussions about: Iowa, the Carolinas, Wisconsin, and SOO many other reasons why I might start looking for where I put my Canadian citizenship application just case things start to get really bad....
1) State Questions in Oklahoma. Last night the people of Oklahoma, in generally supermajority terms, accomplished the following things: refused to bring spending on education per child up to the average of our surrounding states; we voted in a governor who made one of her qualifications that you have to be married and have kids to run a state (implied message that her lack of political experience compared to opponent was irrelevant because her opponent wasn't a traditional woman); courts are only allowed to consider state and federal law in deliberations, not international law (only example was forbidding Sharia, Islamic law); all official state business must be conducted in either English or Native American languages, note that it actually said in the referendum that that official state business was not defined.
2) Ok, so Oklahoma itself is enough for one day.
- I am so frustrated today. Not because all these things passed (I figured they would) or because of the giant shift in National power (we all knew it was coming), but because of the mindset the election results reveal. We are so polarized that people have stopped feeling the need to think for themselves and have their decision-making default set on fear. We decided not to give our children and our future a real shot at success not because we hate our kids (no one hates kids holistically), but because we bought into the pie pieces-fear. You can't give money that they need to them, because it will get taken away from me! No one was actually opposed to spending money on education (I hope, but might be wrong) we just didn't trust the legislature to figure out how to pay for it without taking away all of our other social support system. That can't be true. I don't believe that we ever really were choosing between hospitals and schools, between education and mental health - that was fear propaganda that ignored the possibility to get rid of wasteful spending instead - but fear sells and 70% of Oklahoma voters were buying.
- And then there is the state language issue.... did the 75% of you that voted for that read it?? Really READ it?? First of all it says all state action, but acknowledges that it doesn't know what that means exactly. Second, it gives the legislature a blank check to pass whatever laws they want about requiring English. Third, it does allow you to speak a Native language if you want, but that's it! Sooo.... let's look at the fear message included in that.... I have been in the state for a few years now and NEVER been in a situation were someone around me was trying to conduct official business, but only spoke a Native language - this is immigrant bullying. It prohibits you from suing if you get taken advantage of because there was a language barrier, and it sets the stage for you to be fearful of what's coming if you came here for survival before your Rosetta Stone arrived to learn English. What exactly are we afraid of? That the foreigners are going to take over the state and WE will have to learn a new language, or that we will be bothered with the sound of diversity all around us, or worse yet, that at some point we will be encouraged to join the rest of the world in being multilingual?
I am tired of fear-mongering, tired of polarizations, tired of the belief that you are either right or terrifying; and I am disappointed in Oklahoma.
Stay tuned tomorrow for discussions about: Iowa, the Carolinas, Wisconsin, and SOO many other reasons why I might start looking for where I put my Canadian citizenship application just case things start to get really bad....
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