Kansas Gov Sam Brownback strips LGBT state employees of non-discrimination protection

[marplots]

I have no problem with the source. I'm sure the information is pretty solid. There was criticism of the way Salon (and Brinker) presented it. People seemed to be confusing Salon with the Boston Globe.

Not anymore. Look at the same story at the Wichita Eagle link above. Straight news vs. spin. Fox News and Salon, strange bedfellows. You get the feeling there's someone offstage whispering, "Make sure you get your talking points in."

I think it's useful to point this out once in a while. Especially when the example is so obvious.

I'm probably sensitive to it because I had a go editing similar articles for a Pro-cannabis newspaper. Writers were constantly slipping in mentions of forfeiture laws or prison sentences or the highly touted medical benefits of cannabinoids. My universal response, when striking out lines (or even whole paragraphs) was, "What does this have to do with the story?"

I came to think of it as "scent marking" in the way a preacher might put a few "praise Jesus's" into the conversation, or the way Muslim zealots might pepper their speech by namedropping Allah. Animals of the same species probably don't even notice the smell. Because it's their smell too. Outsiders, however, catch the stink of it right off.

It works the same from either side of the political/issue spectrum. "That's an Obamanation!" is the same for one side as thinking "gun-lovers" a useful construct for the other. I reject the notion that critical thinkers should ignore it as normal discourse, especially when disguised as news. We should object, and object strenuously.

"I'm sorry, I can't pay attention to what you are saying because there's an enormous stalactite of gooey snot hanging from your nose."

 

[Myron Proudfoot]

Whereas in the private sector nobody cares, so long as you clean up afterwards if you do it on the conference table.

"Excuse me, what are you doing? I booked this conference room for this time block."

"HEY, HEY , HEY! WATCH OUT! You're squishing the donuts from this morning's branch meeting! God, there's sprinkles everywhere!"

"Don't mind me, I just came in to get some coffee."

"Performance review time again?"

"Please hurry and finish, there are two other couples waiting their turn outside."

 

[BenBurch]

A Conservative supporting the mistreatment of LGBT people. I'm surprised, I tell ya. I thought they were all about equality.

They are.

Equal misery for everybody (except of course the donors who own them body and soul.)

 

[Spindrift]

The other Kansas, Ar-Kansas, is one upping Brownback by passing legislation legalizing LGBT discrimination.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/dominichold...ted-to-pass-law-allowing-lgbt-disc#.sdd4DZPqz

 

[Tony Stark]

The other Kansas, Ar-Kansas, is one upping Brownback by passing legislation legalizing LGBT discrimination.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/dominichold...ted-to-pass-law-allowing-lgbt-disc#.sdd4DZPqz

Republicans are such wonderful people.

 

[maxpower1227]

Jon Stewart raised a good point last night: What was done to Santorum for his homophobic bigotry could much more easily be done to someone with a name like "Brownback". Maybe it's time to give Dan Savage a call.

 

[DavidJames]

Republicans are such wonderful people.

Indeed try to get one here to repudiate this kind of thing, rare if not impossible.

 

[CORed]

Hence the need for workers' rights to withdraw their labour. Or is it illegal to go on strike in the USA?

It wouldn't surprise me, given the shameful history of murdering union organisers and government forces attacking strikers.

It is illegal for federal employees to go on strike in the USA. For state employees, it probably varies by state. Teachers (who usually work for a local school district), can and sometimes do go on strike (I'm not sure if this is universal. State laws may vary). Private sector employees most certainly can strike, though it's become less effective as corporations have learned that a strike often harms the workers more than the company.

As for murdering union organizers and government forces attacking strikers, yeah, there was a lot of that 100 years and more ago, but I can't think of any examples much more recent than that.

 

[ponderingturtle]

The private sector tends to be more progressive than the government in some matters. They have to be, because most of it would be damaged by bad publicity. Sure, my employer could fire me for being gay. They wouldn't, because the next morning it'd be in the news and they'd hate negative publicity and the loss of business. But if I worked for the government, they wouldn't care about those things--everybody hates the government already, and the government doesn't have to worry about losing money because it just takes yours whether you want it to or not. The private sector is a much friendlier place for LGBTs.

I am less convinced about the universal effectiveness of such public shaming being as useful as that in the private sector. I have certainly heard of a number of people losing their jobs and it seeming to be likely related to their homosexuality or marital status while being homosexual. It will be very effective for some businesses in some areas and less so at others.