As our government - at all levels - becomes more and more dysfunctional it can be daunting to keep track of all the stupid, misguided and awful things that are happening. It is, in fact, one of the reasons I have been less active writing about such things in this space, as I have become overwhelmingly discouraged and horrified by the sheer mass of idiocy and meanness. But there a few things that have happened of late that must be known.
There are, to me, three hot topics right now in our society: civil rights for homosexuals, reproductive rights and gun control. There are obviously many others - veterans benefits, voter suppression, government dysfunction and income inequality to name but a few - but those first three are the ones really pushing my buttons right now, and the following are examples of why.
The governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, recently had some legislation come across her desk to sign into law or veto. You know, like governors do. One of these was designed to make it easier for veterans to gain employment in her state by easing the regulations and bureaucracy surrounding state professional certifications. Almost everywhere has certification requirements for many kinds of work - electrical contracting for example - and often do not accept other states' certificates. So if you join the military and get training resulting in such a certificate, but you get it in, say, Georgia, it won't help you get a job in New Mexico. So a bill to help remove this obstacle to employment for veterans seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, the N.M. state legislature thought so and approved said bill and sent it to Martinez, who promptly vetoed it. What? There has to be some rational explanation for this, doesn't there? Some extenuating circumstance or hidden part of the bill that bought the veto? There is. Unfortunately, the part that Martinez didn't like was that it extended this benefit to all veterans, including homosexuals. How do we know this is the reason? Because she followed this veto with a signature to enact the same bill but only for "straight" people. Are you fucking kidding me? Shame on you, governor.
Then there is the latest madness surrounding abortion. First off, we really need to change this topic to that of "reproductive rights" because that is what we are really talking about, but that is a post unto itself. A few states have recently started passing laws that are not even thinly veiled attempts to ban abortion, which in no uncertain terms is LEGAL in the United States. It is clearly and completely unconstitutional to enact such laws and they will be struck down, but the fact that these states are doing this anyway - besides being monumentally stupid as it costs their state giant money - is disturbing as they ways they go about it are offensive and cruel. The latest example comes from Kansas (joining Arkansas, Mississippi and South Dakota in this odious club) who besides enacting TRAP laws has mandated that a woman choosing to have an abortion, for any reason, will be read a script that informs her of a link between abortion and breast cancer. What's wrong with that, you say? They are just being given complete medical advice, right, something they should have? It would be fine except that it ISN'T TRUE. The so-called research is bullshit, has been shot down repeatedly, and is being presented as truth to scare women. Lying to create fear is terrorism. Shame on you, Kansas.
America supports universal background checks for gun purchases. I maintain that something that 92% of the population is in favor of is something you can describe as being a thing the country wants. And it is from all over the map. The majority of Republicans, the majority of gun owners, even the majority or freaking NRA members, all support universal background checks. Ninety-two percent! So it would not seem unreasonable that legislation could be brought forward, voted on and approved. "Of the people, by the people, for the people". Sound familiar? Well, as of Monday the 8th of April, fourteen senators said that they would filibuster any attempt to vote on said legislation. Filibuster! They didn't say they would vote against the legislation, as is their right, but that they would not allow anyone to vote at all. That attempt to filibuster has since been foiled, but those senators' actions should not be overlooked. Shame on you, senators.
Apropos to this topic, one of the Sandy Hook parents said an amazing thing recently (at an event surrounding Connecticut's passing of comprehensive gun reforms - go CT!) that I found poignant. When asked if she was worried about the nation moving on and not continuing to fight for better gun laws, she described how it felt like yesterday that the shooting took place but felt like years since she had seen her son. And we can't pay attention for four months? Four months in which over 3,300 people have died by guns. Shame on us.
Things are getting crazier by the day out there folks, and as soon as we stop paying attention we have no one to blame but ourselves.
