Leave it to the Globe Magazine to substitute to give its view of middle class flight. Our header is what the Globe should have put to make the article more accurate.
Boston has made a paradigm shift within the past two decades. What hasn't changed is prejudice and mistrust between the classes and races. One neighborhood fears declining property values (sketchy people, groups of kids acting up); another neighborhood fears gentrification (big luxury condos, luxury stores and restaurants) and commercialization (big box stores). In the twain are people who have lived in their neighborhoods for decades, paying higher property taxes - sometimes overriden over the 2-1/2% limit - for what is purported for education and health care, but ends up elsewhere, like the general fund or for pork projects.
The middle class in Boston is existent - but it is not as obvious as it once was. In the 1960s, Blue Hill Avenue used to be a enclave for the Boston Jewry. By 1970, it became mostly Afro-American. You have to travel to the far-flung borders of Boston to see a thriving middle class. Hyde Park, West Roxbury, Roslindale, and other parts of the city are good examples where the middle class has not been shoved out and force to flee to a better middle class climate.
What really ruins the dream of the middle class living in the Athens of America is what has oiled the cogs of Boston for centuries - corruption in politics, sky-high housing prices, elitism, a transit system that constantly begs for more money from riders and spends them on vanity projects, and a smug attitude of "we are the best," even contrary to the fact (viz. The Big Dig) . People who have never been to this city or have toured the city only see the surface of what Boston really is, and if the tourist trolley companies had an all-Boston tour, it would certainly take the Athens of America moniker and turn it into the Most Dysfunctional City of America.
The middle class notices this with a gimlet eye for BS. They are taking a look around in their areas, don't like what they see, and plan to leave the area, and quite frankly, I don't blame them.
Update: Here's a different take. There's also the attitude in the suburbs that "if we were like Boston, we'd be successful too, bringing in all that revenue and taxes so we can have better things." Building multi-million dollar condos in Newton will come after they shove a camel through the eye of a needle.
Showing posts with label class warfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label class warfare. Show all posts
5/03/2007
Che with the Machine
When you get right down to it, there are several schools of thought on George W. Bush ("Dubya"):
1. Those who adore Dubya, and think those who hate him are anti-American traitors and communists who should be tried for treason and imprisoned for life.
2. Those who love Dubya, because he's a man who believes in his principles and sticks to them, and unlike those communist heathens who run the House and the Senate, he and Laura believe in America.
3. Those who like Dubya, even though we disagree sometimes with what he says or does. It seems he pays too much attention to one thing and not enough to another - just like his Dad.
4. Those who neither like nor hate Dubya, but realize that there have been better and/or worse presidents. C'mon, would you really want another Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, or Richard Nixon - or would you prefer to clone JFK, Reagan or Clinton?
5. Those who don't like Dubya, but we would rather see other Republicans as President, like John McCain, Rudy Guiliani, and if we're really desperate, Pat Buchanan.
6. Those who don't like Dubya, but chose the lesser evil because the Dem candidates were duds. Dean was/is a loudmouth loose cannon, Gore and Kerry were/are boring, and (insert favorite deity or belief here) only knows what would happen under a Kucinich presidency.
7. Those who don't like Dubya, and don't like Republicans, but are moderate "blue dog" Democrats who hate the moonbat left wing who bought off the Democrats like a cheap prostitute - Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller, and maybe Jim Webb, former SecNav.
8. Those who hate Dubya, because they still hold the belief that he "stole the election" from Al Gore. Al Gore stopped the recount of the votes in Florida, but that would void their case for all those anti-Bush books and stickers. Once in awhile, they get this strange idea he's actually being controlled by the evil Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. On the other hand, they also think the moonbat left wing is too crazy for them, and that few non-binding resolutions and strong speeches will be fine - no need for him to be boiled in oil, put in stocks, and hung like a piece of beef jerky.
9. Those who loathe Dubya, because he's trying to kill their plans for a violent revolution to implement a neo-Soviet America - where the poor remain in poverty, the minorities will kowtow to the rich white bosses, and anyone who does not worship their socialist dogma to the very letter will be forcibly indoctrinated, outcast, or hurt. If you already believe in these tenets (or can fake them really, really well), they'll leave you alone, but prepare for pop quizzes.
10. Those who have absolute, all-consuming and total hatred for Dubya, and think those who love him are rich redneck Christian theocrats who should be tried, sentenced, and killed. They want total and absolute power, and they will stop and nothing until they get it. Their only focus is to put in a fidel-castro/hugo chavez like bully who will put those non-believers in hard labor camps until they either submit or die.
che guevara, the SOB who laughed when a reporter asked if Cuba would ever have free elections, would be proud to see his rabid fans recreate parts of 9 and 10. (Or at least have those them sell in the key of B flat minor for 99 cents at the iTunes store.)
3/31/2007
Make Income Redistribution History, Backwards Sherwood Forest edition
Boston Magazine's John Wolfson does an excellent piece on how the Massachusetts State Lottery is the ultimate redistribution scheme: it takes money from the poor - earned or paid by the government - and gives it to the government, who then distributes it to all 351 cities and towns in the form of lottery aid.
The shiny new fire engine in Weston? Thank the people in West Roxbury who shelled out $300 on a book of scratch tickets and ended up winning a mere $75-80. Newburyport gets to avoid a property tax override because the residents of Lawrence were able to spend 2/3 of their paycheck on Keno. And the city of Lynn probably financed new teachers, firemen, policemen, and other public works for Swampscott, Marblehead, and very small Western New England towns that have all but one Lottery agent, if any.
And, of course, the other people who depend on the poor's paychecks - the ones that have low if not nil Massachusetts state income taxes - is the Legislature, who will happily recoup the monies given in Medicaid, WIC payments, and other government payments in the form of Lottery revenues; if you can entice a poor person to whom you're shelling out benefits to try to become rich and get rid of welfare/debt through the path of least resistance, rather than hard work and education, chances are they'll take the bait...and continue being poor, if not penniless.
The right way to show the poor that the lottery is not the best investment scheme is to show them the real odds of some of these games, not the odds the Lottery promotes*. Treat the Lottery like the do cigarettes, drugs and alcohol - it's a vice, a stupid tax, it's legalized robbery - and make it unattractive and nasty. Reducing the prize payouts from a liberal 71% to a more realistic 52-55%, posting the real odds on the backs of tickets, and showing exactly what taxes will be taken out and how much the prizes are really worth will make the poor think twice on buying a strip of tickets, eliminating or hiding the verification codes on scratch tickets, introducing harder, more complex scratch games (Bingo is a good start), and reducing promotion and public relations may diminish that bromide "You Have to Play" to "Do You Really Want to Waste Your Money On This Scheme?"
So robbing Peter to pay Paul, and then having Paul give back all of his money and arrive in Peter's lap is an "opiate of the masses" that benefits only two people - the wealthy and the government.
*For instant tickets, the odds are calculated by taking the number of tickets and dividing them by the total number of tickets available for that game. For example, the new Red Sox $10 ticket is listed by the MSL as having odds of 1 in 3.55. This is actually correct - if you consider how the prize is paid out (e.g. for $20, you get get $20, two $10's, $10 plus two $5's, etc. and each prize has different odds; the odds of getting $20 as a single value is tougher than getting 4 $5's.) We took their odds and ran it through an Excel spreadsheet, and it indeed came out to 1 in 3.55.
Then we asked ourselves what the odds were on getting a certain prize without regards to how the prize is paid (e.g. a $50 prize, no matter how it came out). We noticed that the total odds for a certain prizes actually went down - but the total odds went up! To get any prize on this new ticket, the real odds are 1 in 74.56 - roughly 21 times more than the Lottery advertises! The Lottery also states "you have the best chance to win $100!" Not quite...the odds of winning $100 on that ticket are actually 1 in 54.84. In a book of 100 tickets, this comes out to a ticket, maybe two, giving you that magic $100.
And for the people who think they'll get that $1 million on that scratch ticket they bought all at once, tax-free, think again: 30% in taxes are taken out automatically for all winnings over $5,000, and anything over $600 - $4,999 gets 5% taken by the Commonwealth (since 2004; before then, anything under $5,000 merely had to be reported to the IRS and no mass taxes were taken out).
The shiny new fire engine in Weston? Thank the people in West Roxbury who shelled out $300 on a book of scratch tickets and ended up winning a mere $75-80. Newburyport gets to avoid a property tax override because the residents of Lawrence were able to spend 2/3 of their paycheck on Keno. And the city of Lynn probably financed new teachers, firemen, policemen, and other public works for Swampscott, Marblehead, and very small Western New England towns that have all but one Lottery agent, if any.
And, of course, the other people who depend on the poor's paychecks - the ones that have low if not nil Massachusetts state income taxes - is the Legislature, who will happily recoup the monies given in Medicaid, WIC payments, and other government payments in the form of Lottery revenues; if you can entice a poor person to whom you're shelling out benefits to try to become rich and get rid of welfare/debt through the path of least resistance, rather than hard work and education, chances are they'll take the bait...and continue being poor, if not penniless.
The right way to show the poor that the lottery is not the best investment scheme is to show them the real odds of some of these games, not the odds the Lottery promotes*. Treat the Lottery like the do cigarettes, drugs and alcohol - it's a vice, a stupid tax, it's legalized robbery - and make it unattractive and nasty. Reducing the prize payouts from a liberal 71% to a more realistic 52-55%, posting the real odds on the backs of tickets, and showing exactly what taxes will be taken out and how much the prizes are really worth will make the poor think twice on buying a strip of tickets, eliminating or hiding the verification codes on scratch tickets, introducing harder, more complex scratch games (Bingo is a good start), and reducing promotion and public relations may diminish that bromide "You Have to Play" to "Do You Really Want to Waste Your Money On This Scheme?"
So robbing Peter to pay Paul, and then having Paul give back all of his money and arrive in Peter's lap is an "opiate of the masses" that benefits only two people - the wealthy and the government.
*For instant tickets, the odds are calculated by taking the number of tickets and dividing them by the total number of tickets available for that game. For example, the new Red Sox $10 ticket is listed by the MSL as having odds of 1 in 3.55. This is actually correct - if you consider how the prize is paid out (e.g. for $20, you get get $20, two $10's, $10 plus two $5's, etc. and each prize has different odds; the odds of getting $20 as a single value is tougher than getting 4 $5's.) We took their odds and ran it through an Excel spreadsheet, and it indeed came out to 1 in 3.55.
Then we asked ourselves what the odds were on getting a certain prize without regards to how the prize is paid (e.g. a $50 prize, no matter how it came out). We noticed that the total odds for a certain prizes actually went down - but the total odds went up! To get any prize on this new ticket, the real odds are 1 in 74.56 - roughly 21 times more than the Lottery advertises! The Lottery also states "you have the best chance to win $100!" Not quite...the odds of winning $100 on that ticket are actually 1 in 54.84. In a book of 100 tickets, this comes out to a ticket, maybe two, giving you that magic $100.
And for the people who think they'll get that $1 million on that scratch ticket they bought all at once, tax-free, think again: 30% in taxes are taken out automatically for all winnings over $5,000, and anything over $600 - $4,999 gets 5% taken by the Commonwealth (since 2004; before then, anything under $5,000 merely had to be reported to the IRS and no mass taxes were taken out).
3/30/2007
Lynn invades Swampscott, annexes Marblehead, film at 11
"Lynn students will be slaves to the captains of industry!" saith a pol/hack from Swampscott.
"Like, as if, grody to the max, barf me out, Mr. Bufu," retorts Lynn students, before making mustaches and missing teeth out of this pol's picture.
Lynn, for those of you who don't know Massachusetts, is a city about 15 miles northeast of downtown Boston, and is a large city in Essex County. It used to be an industrial city, but some sections are actually quite nice and verdant. But this doesn't mean people should run right out to Lynn - some sections rival Roxbury and Dorchester, and are definitely not for casual walking.
"Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin...you don't come out the way you came in." The old ditty is true, we tell you!
"Like, as if, grody to the max, barf me out, Mr. Bufu," retorts Lynn students, before making mustaches and missing teeth out of this pol's picture.
Lynn, for those of you who don't know Massachusetts, is a city about 15 miles northeast of downtown Boston, and is a large city in Essex County. It used to be an industrial city, but some sections are actually quite nice and verdant. But this doesn't mean people should run right out to Lynn - some sections rival Roxbury and Dorchester, and are definitely not for casual walking.
"Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin...you don't come out the way you came in." The old ditty is true, we tell you!
3/21/2007
Hands off my Egg Foo Young and my Sweet and Sour Chicken!
Anytime we read press releases from CSPI Food Police, it's always the same: attempt to forbid people from eating certain things by hyping how bad it is (fat grams, calories, etc.). People read the article, and do either one of two things.
1. They go out and purchase the things anyway, and enjoy it, Food Police be damned!
2. They research the CSPI's findings, and then actually listen to these self-righteous scaremongers who probably hide those "forbidden" things in their refrigerators.
The Americanized version of Chinese food (there is a difference; more detail in a moment) - the oily, grease-dripping, lotus-flour covered gems of glory - is what has the CSPI Food Police in an finger-wagging frenzy.
We'll agree with them that the stuff that's served in your local restaurant is nowhere near the "real deal" Chinese cuisine you get in Chinatowns across the nation. You won't get exotic noodle soups, dim sum, or any of the stuff Chinese locals consider staples unless you take the trip down to Chinatown and spend an extra couple of bucks for top-shelf stuff. On the other hand, damning all of the local Chinese restaurants for not offering healthier (for CSPI, it would likely be twigs, tofu and anything not involving any form of meat) dishes is not just simplistic, it's elitist and racist.
If you look really, really hard enough for better items, or ask your local Chinese food restaurant, not only will they gladly cook your food to order (it might take longer or it might taste different to other palates), they'll toss in a couple of recipes and direct you to dishes that are exotic, yet affordable, and can be done much more cheaply than ordering it from their place. What's scarier than the fat grams a certain Chinese dish might contain? The relative ease activists like CSPI can scare people, and give them fear and loathing in treats like food.
1. They go out and purchase the things anyway, and enjoy it, Food Police be damned!
2. They research the CSPI's findings, and then actually listen to these self-righteous scaremongers who probably hide those "forbidden" things in their refrigerators.
The Americanized version of Chinese food (there is a difference; more detail in a moment) - the oily, grease-dripping, lotus-flour covered gems of glory - is what has the CSPI Food Police in an finger-wagging frenzy.
We'll agree with them that the stuff that's served in your local restaurant is nowhere near the "real deal" Chinese cuisine you get in Chinatowns across the nation. You won't get exotic noodle soups, dim sum, or any of the stuff Chinese locals consider staples unless you take the trip down to Chinatown and spend an extra couple of bucks for top-shelf stuff. On the other hand, damning all of the local Chinese restaurants for not offering healthier (for CSPI, it would likely be twigs, tofu and anything not involving any form of meat) dishes is not just simplistic, it's elitist and racist.
If you look really, really hard enough for better items, or ask your local Chinese food restaurant, not only will they gladly cook your food to order (it might take longer or it might taste different to other palates), they'll toss in a couple of recipes and direct you to dishes that are exotic, yet affordable, and can be done much more cheaply than ordering it from their place. What's scarier than the fat grams a certain Chinese dish might contain? The relative ease activists like CSPI can scare people, and give them fear and loathing in treats like food.
3/20/2007
Narcissist-Leninist, si! Answer Questions? no!
hugo chavez, he of the "free oil bribes" that Joe Kennedy likes to promote, is avoiding one certain reporter in Orlando named Andreas Oppenheimer and his valid questions.
They are not the soft-ball questions Baba Wawa asked on 20/20. These are rational, adult questions that do not have pat answers - at least not ones the useful idiots will swallow like such flavorful candy. "You" in this case is the Venezuelan thug and chief narcissist/Leninist himself:
Our answers: military coups easily mollify protestors and give the dictator-for-life power much quicker; closing down independent TV stations gives you more time for insane, narcissistic ravings from a South American thug; fidel castro is popular because people are conditioned to fear him, as speaking out against fidel is a one-way ticket to a Cuban gulag, and OAS human-rights inspectors aren't loaded full of foreign useful idiots, political activists masquerading as celebrities, fawning editors of newspapers who wish their government could be overtaken in such a raw display of power, and publicity-hungry hucksters who believe the only way the world works is villains = good and heroes = bad. Oh, and those OAS people don't have those kicky blue hats that don't have sulfur in them.
They are not the soft-ball questions Baba Wawa asked on 20/20. These are rational, adult questions that do not have pat answers - at least not ones the useful idiots will swallow like such flavorful candy. "You" in this case is the Venezuelan thug and chief narcissist/Leninist himself:
If you are so democratic, why do you glorify military coups? If you are so progressive, why do you close down independent television stations? If your hero [f]idel [c]astro is so popular in Cuba, why doesn't he allow a free election? If you respect human rights, why don't you allow OAS (Organization of American States) human-rights inspectors into your country?
Our answers: military coups easily mollify protestors and give the dictator-for-life power much quicker; closing down independent TV stations gives you more time for insane, narcissistic ravings from a South American thug; fidel castro is popular because people are conditioned to fear him, as speaking out against fidel is a one-way ticket to a Cuban gulag, and OAS human-rights inspectors aren't loaded full of foreign useful idiots, political activists masquerading as celebrities, fawning editors of newspapers who wish their government could be overtaken in such a raw display of power, and publicity-hungry hucksters who believe the only way the world works is villains = good and heroes = bad. Oh, and those OAS people don't have those kicky blue hats that don't have sulfur in them.
1/18/2007
Resist the Illegal Occupation in Vermont!
Bill O'Reilly wants the public to boycott Vermont for having a lenient judge letting off a molester off with a light sentence.
The Vermont media hates Bill O'Reilly's guts, telling him he doesn't know what he'd talking about, when in fact they're afraid if there really is an O'Reilly-led boycott, the tourist and skiing money goes out the window.
Maybe we shouldn't mention that Vermont is occupied by New York City's furthest of the far left, huh?
The Vermont media hates Bill O'Reilly's guts, telling him he doesn't know what he'd talking about, when in fact they're afraid if there really is an O'Reilly-led boycott, the tourist and skiing money goes out the window.
Maybe we shouldn't mention that Vermont is occupied by New York City's furthest of the far left, huh?
1/04/2007
Make Income Redistribution History, Parts OHN, THN, TRN, FRN and FHN*
You know him just by his voice - the voice that could take the hardest cheese on earth and grate it finely. It's the voice that could be heard from Riverside Station - all the way from Park Street.
He looks like he needs several hot showers, plus a delousing or three.
Yes, true believers, it's the "you got any spare change?" guy, the bane of police, VB from Fox 25's ultra-special friend, the man who receives coins just so people can get away from him as far as they can.
According to the Weekly Dig and the Metrowest Daily News, you won't hear voice for awhile - as Framingham's finest hauled him to jail for - what else? Asking for spare change - on Routes 126 and 135.
Funny thing is...your spare change is going right back to the Commonwealth. Why, you ask?
BECAUSE THE SPARE CHANGE GUY USES HIS SPARE CHANGE FOR THE LOTTERY!
And how do we know?
Because he's asked US for change in the stores that sell lottery tickets!
That's right, folks...your pity is being played like a fine violin by this scummy con man. Any time you see this con man, do NOT give him any money. Walk fast and get away from this scammer - and contact the nearest police officer.
If you see a person selling the Spare Change newspaper, however, they are legitimate and worthy of your spare change. At least it won't be spent on tonight's Cash Winfall.
* The codes above represent $100, $200, $300, $400, and $500. We play the lottery once in a while, but we do it in moderation. That is, we don't pull the scams like this turd does do to get their lottery 'fix.'
And before the prudes out there start screaming about the lottery being a 'stupid' tax or go into your little white guilt 'people who can least afford it' spiel, remember that you also drop money whenever Madonna or a few celebrities snap their fingers to 'make poverty history,' yet you don't know that the 'stupid' tax these people participate in pays for your fire stations, schools, and other things. On the other hand, people have fallen under the spell of gambling and have sold everything short of their first born for that "one big hit." Our advice: a buck or two for a chance is fine, but if you do win anything, save it.
He looks like he needs several hot showers, plus a delousing or three.
Yes, true believers, it's the "you got any spare change?" guy, the bane of police, VB from Fox 25's ultra-special friend, the man who receives coins just so people can get away from him as far as they can.
According to the Weekly Dig and the Metrowest Daily News, you won't hear voice for awhile - as Framingham's finest hauled him to jail for - what else? Asking for spare change - on Routes 126 and 135.
Funny thing is...your spare change is going right back to the Commonwealth. Why, you ask?
BECAUSE THE SPARE CHANGE GUY USES HIS SPARE CHANGE FOR THE LOTTERY!
And how do we know?
Because he's asked US for change in the stores that sell lottery tickets!
That's right, folks...your pity is being played like a fine violin by this scummy con man. Any time you see this con man, do NOT give him any money. Walk fast and get away from this scammer - and contact the nearest police officer.
If you see a person selling the Spare Change newspaper, however, they are legitimate and worthy of your spare change. At least it won't be spent on tonight's Cash Winfall.
* The codes above represent $100, $200, $300, $400, and $500. We play the lottery once in a while, but we do it in moderation. That is, we don't pull the scams like this turd does do to get their lottery 'fix.'
And before the prudes out there start screaming about the lottery being a 'stupid' tax or go into your little white guilt 'people who can least afford it' spiel, remember that you also drop money whenever Madonna or a few celebrities snap their fingers to 'make poverty history,' yet you don't know that the 'stupid' tax these people participate in pays for your fire stations, schools, and other things. On the other hand, people have fallen under the spell of gambling and have sold everything short of their first born for that "one big hit." Our advice: a buck or two for a chance is fine, but if you do win anything, save it.
12/27/2006
Prop 2-1/2 is already in the crosshairs!
The more and more we read into the SJC's decision to allow same-sex couples to marry, the more and more we get confused.
We were going to write a screed last night, but after reading Jon Keller's article, we pulled a Jay Severin - allow us to retract and rephrase. (And we agree with Jon Keller - Prop 2-1/2 is not just in the crosshairs, but ready to be attacked like Fort Wagner. And all couples and families will be facing much larger property tax increases should Prop 2-1/2 be repealed.)
Who, exactly, is on the wrong side of this issue? Not the couples who want to marry and have it legally in the books as Mrs. and Mrs. Smith or Mr. and Mr. Jones. The very act of betrothal is an legal act of commitment, in the books of the county seat, that if married person A dies or gets sick or divorces, married person B is not required to jump ugly with the county probate court - where children or property might be involved.
The SJC, in their wisdom, took an approach that the opponents and proponents of same-sex marriage have bent and twisted way out of proportion. It is neither "the courts have spoken and can never be voted on" nor "the courts have overstepped their boundaries and violated the Constitution." The SJC took pains to say, "This same-sex marriage law looks all right, but make sure all the bases are covered."
The bases, sadly to say, are covered - with ginned up lawyers, crooked pols, and militant activists. The real issue is for one side to convince the public that their position is right, and if they win, would they mind keeping up their winning streak with a donation or two, or perhaps a vote for me in the primaries?
What doesn't help is that the Massachusetts state legislature has become more like the Soviet Politburo, mixed in with Mafia crime family machinations for good measure. The same yahoos who are clamoring for these Legislature to defy the SJC's request to do something, other than dance and babble in front of a camera, either put too much trust in their pols, or don't have enough smarts to know they're being bamboozled.
Remember the Clean Elections Law, in which candidates would only receive public money if they accepted no contributions or private or personal funds? After the hacks got really scared that a "Clean Elections" candidate didn't have to work hard or press the flesh as often as the tried-and-true back-room dealings, where pork and committee chairmanships could be bought and sold with a glass of scotch and a handshake, Tom Finneran & Co. killed it off.
Who's to say that if same-sex marriage did come to a vote and became truly legal as the SJC intended it, the legislature wouldn't hesitate to suffocate that law too - and effectively giving the anti-same-sex crowd an unintentional victory - and immediately making same-sex marriages null and void. Caveat emptor.
We were going to write a screed last night, but after reading Jon Keller's article, we pulled a Jay Severin - allow us to retract and rephrase. (And we agree with Jon Keller - Prop 2-1/2 is not just in the crosshairs, but ready to be attacked like Fort Wagner. And all couples and families will be facing much larger property tax increases should Prop 2-1/2 be repealed.)
Who, exactly, is on the wrong side of this issue? Not the couples who want to marry and have it legally in the books as Mrs. and Mrs. Smith or Mr. and Mr. Jones. The very act of betrothal is an legal act of commitment, in the books of the county seat, that if married person A dies or gets sick or divorces, married person B is not required to jump ugly with the county probate court - where children or property might be involved.
The SJC, in their wisdom, took an approach that the opponents and proponents of same-sex marriage have bent and twisted way out of proportion. It is neither "the courts have spoken and can never be voted on" nor "the courts have overstepped their boundaries and violated the Constitution." The SJC took pains to say, "This same-sex marriage law looks all right, but make sure all the bases are covered."
The bases, sadly to say, are covered - with ginned up lawyers, crooked pols, and militant activists. The real issue is for one side to convince the public that their position is right, and if they win, would they mind keeping up their winning streak with a donation or two, or perhaps a vote for me in the primaries?
What doesn't help is that the Massachusetts state legislature has become more like the Soviet Politburo, mixed in with Mafia crime family machinations for good measure. The same yahoos who are clamoring for these Legislature to defy the SJC's request to do something, other than dance and babble in front of a camera, either put too much trust in their pols, or don't have enough smarts to know they're being bamboozled.
Remember the Clean Elections Law, in which candidates would only receive public money if they accepted no contributions or private or personal funds? After the hacks got really scared that a "Clean Elections" candidate didn't have to work hard or press the flesh as often as the tried-and-true back-room dealings, where pork and committee chairmanships could be bought and sold with a glass of scotch and a handshake, Tom Finneran & Co. killed it off.
Who's to say that if same-sex marriage did come to a vote and became truly legal as the SJC intended it, the legislature wouldn't hesitate to suffocate that law too - and effectively giving the anti-same-sex crowd an unintentional victory - and immediately making same-sex marriages null and void. Caveat emptor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)