“It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into”

Jonathan Swift
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"The Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital." - Bill Maher
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"The city is crowded my friends are away and I'm on my own
It's too hot to handle so I gotta get up and go

It's a cruel ... cruel summer"

Thursday, November 03, 2005

the last, most difficult, battle

As expected, the State Rednecks from this area were all aglow and all atwitter over Proposition 2 on Tuesday night at West Texas A&M University. State Redneck Warren Chisum, who wrote the nightmarish mishmash of hatred and opaque prose, bubbled over with enthusiasm for the manner in which the amendment would constitutionally enshrine the bigotry already extant under state law. Meanwhile, State Redneck David Swin(e)ford giggled and swooned and said, “I’d say ‘I do’ to Proposition 2.”

Heh. Narrow-minded and short-sighted and bone-crushingly stupid, but not surprising. Mayor Debra McCartt’s reaction was more disappointing, however.

An audience member asked Mayor McCartt for her opinion, and she stated:
"I have been sitting here listening and learning about this. I really didn't know a lot about this before. I am going to pass on telling you. This is something I'm going to vote on just myself."
Not only is that answer a transparent lie—“didn't know a lot about this before”—it is also backstabbing. McCartt has received quite a bit of support from the gay community in Amarillo. During the city elections, she sat down for an interview with the local GLBT newsletter, and she received some fundraising help from prominent members of the community. It’s disappointing that she can’t return their support. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Debra pulled the “no” lever when she votes on Proposition 2 “just [her]self.” But that’s not enough. As a public leader, she should use her bully pulpit.


The silences of McCartt and outgoing WTAMU President Russell Long are perfect examples of why this is the last and most difficult civil rights battle. The only possible explanation for the sudden muteness of the two local leaders is that they both know in their hearts that Proposition 2 is wrong. If they know it is wrong, but support it anyway, it’s easy to see why words would catch in their throats. But I want to believe that both mayor and university president are against this outrageous amendment. If so, they’re simply too weak-willed to publicly stand up against the legions of Panhandlians who privilege the inscrutable words of a several-thousand-year-old book above their own friends and neighbors.


SPACEDARK