I’ve been trying to find a copy of the Arizona Bill that wacky Jan Brewer just vetoed, but, even though you would think it should be an easily accessible public record, I can’t find it. Instead, I’ve absorbed as much of the reported, satirized, paraphrased and blatantly misrepresented, (both pro and con), broadcast and published information as possible and hereto give my own, (highly questionable), synopsis:
Hey, it’s Arizona, so any bat shit ooze from state lawmakers shouldn’t be the least bit shocking. The fact that it was all about trampling on the rights and religious beliefs of cake decorators, florists, caterers and photographers who might feel otherwise forced to design, accessorize, feed or photograph some ‘god damned’ gay shenanigans and the whole grey Church and State-ness of all that was never mentioned in its vetoing…well, like I said…Arizona. Only threats of leaving by major corporations that would have cost the state millions in jobs and tax revenue swayed Jolly Jan.
It seems like this is going to be our reality far into the foreseeable future. For instance, Texas passed a law making same-sex marriage illegal, (even if it was performed in a state where it is legal). Then a lucid federal judge finds the law to be unconstitutional, virtually overturning it. The Supreme Court has already spoken, so there will probably be no further place to appeal, but you can count on Texas to find their very own special solution, maybe in the newly expanded right to have a concealed weapon…even in school. Then there are the medically unnecessary procedural laws passed by several states to make legal abortion both difficult and demeaning, (also due mostly to religious pressure). I love this one…California, which has a hands-free while driving and no texting cell phone law, (observed by no one and barely enforced), has sent an amendment to the Guv allowing the use of your phone as a GPS device, (because looking at a 2” x 4” map couldn’t possibly be a distraction).
The reality of government, at every level, is becoming harder and harder to lampoon, (poor Jon Stewart), because it’s already like a preposterous Monty Python skit. To make it, at least, a little more fun, I think all new legislation being delivered to the mayor, or governor or president, should be done in person, by a committee doing the silly walk, with at least one member carrying a dead parrot.