"There is much unpleasant, albeit necessary work to be done this session, and I hope (but doubt)that the DFL will resist distracting attention from the "real" issues by waving this rotting, stinking red herring under our noses.. It's nasty politics. Focus on the Budget, gang. Leave Arlon and his pet bill alone and it will go away."
If these were ordinary times, I may be persuaded to agree with you Paul. But these are not ordinary times and I have to tell you, I have a knot in my gut that gets bigger every day and doesn't show any sign of unraveling anytime soon. The fact that Rep. Linder even feels comfortable introducing such a bill in the MN State House makes me worried for what kinds of laws will be produced in such an atmosphere.
Your post does speak to the disconnect I have noticed between the suburbs and the city (though I hate to divide the world yet again). I saw a car in a Rainbow parking lot in Cottage Grove this past weekend with 4 American flags attached to it, flapping in the bitter wind. I saw no "SAY NO TO WAR WITH IRAQ" signs like I do in my Audubon Park neighborhood or in the East Isles/Lowry Hill neighborhoods. Why is the reality between the city and the suburbs so different? And why is it such a priority for people who don't live in MPLS to attack not only LGA but our values in terms of human rights as well? It seems to me to be reflective of what our country is doing right now internationally.
To me there is no more important work to be done than what the DFL is doing in response to Rep. Lindner, what the MPLS City Council is doing in defense of civil rights, and what the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners did to register their support of our state human rights law as it stands today. The worst thing we could ever do is believe that bills like the ones introduced by Rep. Lindner will just go away. They won't and they haven't. Not now and not ever.
Amy Draeger Audubon Park
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