Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.

Watching the Wyoming legislature continue to take away the basic rights of some of our neighbors to marry and be in committed, loving relationships, I am left confused about just what “big government” is.
Members of the Wyoming legislature pontificate about the imperative to reduce the role of government in the lives of citizens. In fact the 2010 Wyoming GOP distinguished their candidates from what they claimed to be the wont of Democrats. “Republicans believe responsibility for each person's station in life ultimately resides with each individual person. The Republican Party encourages individuals to work to secure the benefits of society for themselves, their families, and for those who are unable to care for themselves. Democrats believe each person's rights can be sacrificed to the assumed needs of the group.”
I write of Republican claims because the there is no viable Democratic caucus left after voters left only 14 Democrats in the entire 90 member legislature. With that kind of majority and the GOP platform, citizens had an expectation these conservatives would permit “individuals to work to secure the benefits of society for themselves, their families.”
Unmasked by a debate on so-called “social issues” the super majority turn outs to be big government folks. They actually want bigger government, a government so big they can use it to replace our individual rights with their own personal religious and moral views. Their big government goals were summarized by Frank Peasley (R-Douglas) who argued for their definition of marriage. “I think all this is, is an outpost in culture that says, 'Listen, I feel like you're destroying everything else that I have,…just let me define the relationship I'm in, OK?”

And so it is. Elected officials using their positions of trust and power in state government to define the relationship they happen to be in as the only relationship any of us can have.

How much bigger can any government get?

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for a well thought out response to an ugly situation.

    ReplyDelete