I'm going to take a few moments out of my fairly-busy Friday to address two issues that are really starting to concern me. I had hoped that my home state of Indiana and my home town of Indianapolis (both of which I'm in a torrid love-hate relationship with) would escape the reactionary anti-Constitutionalism that is sweeping our nation like so many Panzer Mk I's rolling across the Polish steppe. It now appears that we are ready to fall in line with the wave of fear and father-knows-best rationale that is slowly ruining our country.
One such measure, the universally controversial constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is once again gathering steam in the Indiana Senate. The Republican-controlled legislature is concerned about the potential for a court to overturn its already-atrocious "definition of marriage" resolution and
would like to push through a constitutioanl amendment. With a Republican majority and a very, very red populace, it looks like this could potentially pass should it make it to referendum in 2008.
It's not that I ever expected my state to NOT pass a gay marriage ban. I was relieved that it wasn't on the ballot last year, as I absolutely do not trust the people of this state to make a decision like that. I had simply hoped that some of the Republicans in this state would turn out to be old school Small
Government Republicans rather than neocon I-Know-What's-Best-For-You Republicans. I guess Bush's minions have completely wrested control of the party at all levels. Say goodbye to the old GOP, along with any chance they ever had of getting me to vote for one of their candidates (except for John McCain, who is the definition of the word "badass").
So if you're a citizen of Indiana, please do yourself a favor and write to your legislator and ask them to oppose this amendment. It's not about religion or homosexuals infiltrating your precious institution. It's about government involvement in an area of your life that they don't have any business being involved in. I won't reiterate my entire argument against such a ban, I'll only say what I've always said: it troubles me that no one is asking the real
question - "Why is the government involved in the business of marriage at all?"
The second issue, a bit less emotional but no less controversial, is Indianapolis' proposed ban on smoking in public places. According to the article, this ban would be among the most severe in the entire country. It would prohibit smoking not only in publicly-owned facilities (which I'm okay with) and privately-owned restaurants and bars (which clearly violates the proprietor's civil rights), but also in outdoor city parks, ticket lines and at ATMs.
This bit of fascism does surprise me, as Indiana is only a state away from one of the largest tobacco-producing states in the country. I had some hope that the overwhelming redneck population of this city might actually have some benefit for once. I guess I was wrong.
Not being a legal citizen of Indianapolis, I can't really write the city-county council and let them know what tremendous douchebags they're being. If you happen to be a voting citizen of Indy, please give them a call for me. Tell them that Sam said they're oppressors :)
-Sam
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