I don't always do what my mother asks...
Wednesday, 17-Mar-2010 @ 6:17p
Thank Harry Burn (a post by GoofyHoofy)
If you ever wondered who elected Abraham Lincoln, or Grover Cleveland, or Woodrow Wilson, or any of the Presidents before him, it was men. Women couldn't vote. Finally, in 1919, after 7 decades of protest and suffrage, Congress passed the 19th amendment giving that right to women.
But a Constitutional amendment requires passage by 3/4ths of the states, and by the summer of 1920, only 35 of the required 36 had done so. Three had explicitly refused, the others found it not important enough to consider, at least for a while.
Anti-suffrage forces were happy when the Tennessee legislature decided to take up the cause, the head count being slightly against the proposal, but when it came to a vote the count was 28-28.
Harry Burn, then in his first term as a state legislator, had previously announced that he was a "no" vote, but then he got a letter from his mother urging him to vote yes. He did, and that broke the tie and put Tennessee in as the 36th state, and the amendment was ratified.
Asked later what changed his mind he said, "A good boy always does what his mother asks him to do." In spite of, or rather because of that, Burn had to go into hiding for several days, the anti-suffrage forces being so outraged by his "betrayal."
In our lifetime it seems normal that men and women share the vote, but women have been eligible in only the last 16 Presidential elections, while men have voted for all 44 US Presidents thus far.
Sometimes one vote makes a difference. It did for Harry Burn - and for 51% of the country who, up to that point, had no voice in the laws under which they were governed.
Iambic Dudameter
Wednesday, 13-Jan-2010 @ 1:24p
Two Gentlemen of Lebowski:
LEBOWSKI
Was it I, sir, who urinated on your rug?
THE KNAVE
Not in person, sir—but if a man is his name, and his reputation his indelible inkstain, surely thy sea of care is tormented; what tongue shall smooth thy name?
LEBOWSKI
Make me to understand, sir, for you are slow of speech as I of step, and I am unsatisfied in motive. When any rug is micturated upon within these city walls, must I stand accountable? Or are you as one of a thousand rogues, fishing for sixpence betwixt another man’s pursestrings? Are you a labourer, Master Lebowski, earning that you eat, getting that you wear?
Random Thoughts of the Day (MLP)
Thursday, 20-Aug-2009 @ 10:13p
Author unknown, I'm just a parrot here...
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
Bad decisions make good stories.
I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
( more... )
Irrefutable argument against socialized medicine...
Tuesday, 11-Aug-2009 @ 12:38a
From Investor's Business Daily where we learn how socialized health care in the UK leads to euthanasia..
IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For Failure
"The U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) basically figures out who deserves treatment by using a cost-utility analysis based on the "quality adjusted life year."
People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.
Aren't we lucky Hawking wasn't born in the UK! It's impossible to argue against facts like that!
(you can tell he's American because he doesn't have a British accent)
A human face on a current debate
Wednesday, 20-May-2009 @ 10:11p
I recently reconnected with my friend Steven, who I'd known well during the early '90s but had lost touch with over the years. I happened to stumble across an interview with him online over the weekend which sent me off searching for his name on Facebook and all those other places where layabouts from my generation congregate.
When I first met Steven he'd recently met Peter and I watched as their relationship bloomed and grew. I grew to be friends with both of them over the years. As it turns out, Steven and Peter stayed together this whole time and even got married just as soon as the state of Massachusetts allowed them.
Quite tragically, though, Peter died in an accident just about a month ago -- literally just a few weeks before I stumbled across Steven's name and tracked them down. I'm gutted to learn the news and morbidly fascinated by the coincidence of the timing. I wish (and sort of don't wish) I'd found that interview a year ago, or even just a few months ago. It's rough, you know?
In the aftermath of Peter's death, Steven wrote about the impact their marriage had on his ability to navigate the complications surrounding his husband's death. It's sad to reflect on how different the circumstance might have been in the absence of a marriage, a reality faced by gay couples in all those states which do not allow gay marriage. Steven is articulate and his story is moving:
"We will win when we focus on equality."
I'm glad that he was motivated to write about his life because I think it's invaluable for this debate over gay marriage to be grounded in real people and real stories and not the abstract societal ideals that the conversation is so often about. I'm sad for my friend, but I'm more sad for the couples who have to deal with death and weren't allowed to marry.
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