A Word In Edgewise: The Days Grow Short…
I‘ve been stressing how important it is to keep talking right down to the wire about the importance of NO votes on the same-sex marriage and voter ID amendments in November.
I’ve urged readers to talk with friends, co-workers, the uncertain and undecided of all stripes; to engage in conversation and reasoned debate. The other day, however, I came upon another potential problem for GLBT allies intending to cast their vote for equal rights for same-sex marriage.
While a NO on the voter ID amendment is clear-cut, it seems that the wording makes some people think they’d be helping their gay friends by voting YES—that such a YES would mean, “Yes, I think our GLBT friends should have the same rights that I enjoy,” not the “Yes, I’m voting against the rights of gays to marry.” We must be careful not to lose NO votes through a simple misunderstanding.
Therefore, in the remaining days before the November elections, remember, as you talk and debate and explain, make it clear that NO is the vote to NOT write discrimination into the Minnesota state constitution. Use whatever other mnemonic device you might dream up to make the message stick, and finally, remind your friend/co-worker/relative that if they are standing in the voting booth and can’t remember, to leave that box blank, because an unchecked box will count as a NO vote.
On another topic: Romney’s cheap, inaccurate shots at the Administration following the horrific murders in Benghazi, Libya, leave me speechless. Fortunately, his words and actions themselves speak eloquently for likely shoot-from-the-hip presidential reactions.
Finally, on a lighter note, should you need a fresh, ad-hominem argument for those proclaiming gay marriage will ruin not only their own union but the very sanctity of marriage itself, ask them how young Levi Johnston’s (dad of Bristol Paliin’s son Tripp) actions jibe with “family values.” Johnston and girlfriend Sunny recently announced the arrival of Tripp’s new half-sister, Beretta—named after an Italian pistol.
While at 500+ years, that Italian firm is the world’s oldest arms manufacturer, what happened to “Made in the USA”? For the next half-sibs I urge a more patriotic American monicker–“Charter,” “Calico,” or “Colt.”
My own cheap shot, you say? Yes, yes–it must be catching….
