Rights... Or Wrongs...
Where do rights come from?
I was asked that by one of extended family members this holiday as I tried [yet again] to explain my anger over Mitt.
To review ( and I wish blogger would let me do tags… if it did I would then start tagging how many times I complain about Mitt. Until then I won’t tag LJ either), the Ma. State Supreme Court decided that Gays should be allowed to get married… Mitt decided that since he wanted to get elected president in’08 and that America seems to hate the gays- that he would do everything in his power to stop this… Or in Mitt speech that the PEOPLE of Ma. should be allowed to vote on gay rights.
I know I’ve blogged about this a couple of times as I find this idea horrible and disgusting.
But this person made me wonder where we get our rights. I mean yeah they’re in the declaration, the pre-amble, and the bill of rights… But do these pieces of papers really give us rights? Especially if someone like W. or Mitt can use white out to change these documents. I would also add that I consider the Bill of Rights to be a “living document”, to be edited so we can add freedom of race, to our previous freedom of religion so that blacks could have equal rights…
I am of the belief that our rights should be ADDED to, early and often.
On the same hand, I don’t think our rights- once won, should be allowed to be SUBTRACTED. Only one amendment took away rights (Poor peoples right to drink) and that was only amendment to be overturned (well until W. started thinking about what rights we were allowed in a post 9/11 world)
I don’t like the idea that in 2008- the people of Massachusetts might have a chance to vote on the rights of Gays. This bothers me as I don’t trust my fellow citizens to “do the right thing”. I didn’t trust Mitt who said ‘that the people should vote’ as it let him off the hook.
I don’t like the fact that a bunch of right wing nuts then got a petition to make the State Senate change the state constitution so that it will do an end run around the State Supreme Court and change the law to disallow gay marriage. These people did every dirty trick they could think of to get signatures. Yup good Christians lied about what they were asking signatures for… which is odd because if they truly believed that people were against gay marriage, then couldn’t they have gotten enough sigs WITHOUT lying.
As I said about a week ago, that Mitt was mad because the State Senate would NOT vote on gay marriage. Mitt’s right wing nuts tried to sue the Senate to vote on gay marriage. The State Supreme Court decided that THEY could not force the Senate to vote… but that voters should remember what the Senate did come 2008.
Sadly the State Senate caved and put gay marriage to a vote.
This was not good because in order to be put on the ballot- the State Senate needs to vote on a bill twice… and here’s the fun part- there doesn’t need to be a majority FOR the bill. Of the 196 votes cast- only 62 were FOR the anti gay marriage amendment.
Only 50 yea votes were needed.
Fifty out of 196 (I’m assuming for a moment that all those who could vote- did. As I don’t know how many state congressmen there are in Ma. Sorry) How f’ing low is that bar?
That’s why I didn’t want the State Congress to vote on this. I figured that even in this “bluest” of bluest state… that they’d find 50 spineless people who are worried about if they’ll get the catholic/CHRISTIAN/angry voters.
So I figure in 2008- we’re going to vote for people’s rights.
And as I get angry about this- I wonder how backwards W., Mitt and the repugs have made this country- and again I ask, where do my rights come from?
I wonder about rights not just for gays- but because I’m a Jew. I know that “back in the old country’- Russia… Jews were second class citizens who weren’t allowed to vote. I know that in both Ivanhoe and Shakespear- it was pointed out that since GOOD christens weren’t allowed to charge interest- what christens would do is borrow money from jews- then when the bill came due, they’d go to court and charge the jew with heresy- so that the jew would be killed, and the christens wound then not only have their debts absolved BUT they’d then be able to take what other property the jew had…
How is it that we’re the “last superpower” but countries like the Netherlands and Canada( and as Evan pointed out- South Africa- allow for gay marriages and the U.S. doesn’t. How do gays get rights? Why don’t they have them? And do I have to worry about MY rights?
( first they came for gay marriage… )
I was asked that by one of extended family members this holiday as I tried [yet again] to explain my anger over Mitt.
To review ( and I wish blogger would let me do tags… if it did I would then start tagging how many times I complain about Mitt. Until then I won’t tag LJ either), the Ma. State Supreme Court decided that Gays should be allowed to get married… Mitt decided that since he wanted to get elected president in’08 and that America seems to hate the gays- that he would do everything in his power to stop this… Or in Mitt speech that the PEOPLE of Ma. should be allowed to vote on gay rights.
I know I’ve blogged about this a couple of times as I find this idea horrible and disgusting.
But this person made me wonder where we get our rights. I mean yeah they’re in the declaration, the pre-amble, and the bill of rights… But do these pieces of papers really give us rights? Especially if someone like W. or Mitt can use white out to change these documents. I would also add that I consider the Bill of Rights to be a “living document”, to be edited so we can add freedom of race, to our previous freedom of religion so that blacks could have equal rights…
I am of the belief that our rights should be ADDED to, early and often.
On the same hand, I don’t think our rights- once won, should be allowed to be SUBTRACTED. Only one amendment took away rights (Poor peoples right to drink) and that was only amendment to be overturned (well until W. started thinking about what rights we were allowed in a post 9/11 world)
I don’t like the idea that in 2008- the people of Massachusetts might have a chance to vote on the rights of Gays. This bothers me as I don’t trust my fellow citizens to “do the right thing”. I didn’t trust Mitt who said ‘that the people should vote’ as it let him off the hook.
I don’t like the fact that a bunch of right wing nuts then got a petition to make the State Senate change the state constitution so that it will do an end run around the State Supreme Court and change the law to disallow gay marriage. These people did every dirty trick they could think of to get signatures. Yup good Christians lied about what they were asking signatures for… which is odd because if they truly believed that people were against gay marriage, then couldn’t they have gotten enough sigs WITHOUT lying.
As I said about a week ago, that Mitt was mad because the State Senate would NOT vote on gay marriage. Mitt’s right wing nuts tried to sue the Senate to vote on gay marriage. The State Supreme Court decided that THEY could not force the Senate to vote… but that voters should remember what the Senate did come 2008.
Sadly the State Senate caved and put gay marriage to a vote.
This was not good because in order to be put on the ballot- the State Senate needs to vote on a bill twice… and here’s the fun part- there doesn’t need to be a majority FOR the bill. Of the 196 votes cast- only 62 were FOR the anti gay marriage amendment.
Only 50 yea votes were needed.
Fifty out of 196 (I’m assuming for a moment that all those who could vote- did. As I don’t know how many state congressmen there are in Ma. Sorry) How f’ing low is that bar?
That’s why I didn’t want the State Congress to vote on this. I figured that even in this “bluest” of bluest state… that they’d find 50 spineless people who are worried about if they’ll get the catholic/CHRISTIAN/angry voters.
So I figure in 2008- we’re going to vote for people’s rights.
And as I get angry about this- I wonder how backwards W., Mitt and the repugs have made this country- and again I ask, where do my rights come from?
I wonder about rights not just for gays- but because I’m a Jew. I know that “back in the old country’- Russia… Jews were second class citizens who weren’t allowed to vote. I know that in both Ivanhoe and Shakespear- it was pointed out that since GOOD christens weren’t allowed to charge interest- what christens would do is borrow money from jews- then when the bill came due, they’d go to court and charge the jew with heresy- so that the jew would be killed, and the christens wound then not only have their debts absolved BUT they’d then be able to take what other property the jew had…
How is it that we’re the “last superpower” but countries like the Netherlands and Canada( and as Evan pointed out- South Africa- allow for gay marriages and the U.S. doesn’t. How do gays get rights? Why don’t they have them? And do I have to worry about MY rights?
( first they came for gay marriage… )
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