Distraction

Leonard Pitts asks,

Isn’t it interesting how reliably social division works as a distraction from things that ought to matter more?

This is why I hate what the Republican party has become. They want smaller government; government off our backs; government is the problem and then this happens in Mississippi (and elsewhere):

Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law a bill legalizing discrimination against LGBT people. It is dubbed the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” which is a cynical lie. The only thing it protects is those doing the discriminating. 

You want to refuse to rent to a lesbian couple? You’re covered. 

You want to refuse to hire a transgendered woman? Go for it. 

You want to force your gay adopted son to undergo so-called conversion therapy? No problem. 

You want to kick an adulterous heterosexual out of your hardware store? Yep, the law says you can even do that. 

Indeed, it says that any gay, transgendered or adulterous individual whose behavior offends the “sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions” of a person, for-profit business, government employee or religious organization can be refused service. 

As if your sexual orientation or marital status were the business of the cashier ringing up your groceries or the barber trimming your hair.

In North Carolina, the distraction over transgender people using public restrooms covers up a threat to all workers.

Tucked inside [the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act] is language that strips North Carolina workers of the ability to sue under a state anti-discrimination law, a right that has been upheld in court since 1985.

Pitts points out that Mississippi has enough problems to get labeled "the worst state to live in". But Republicans need some distraction (and hate) to help turn out voters without letting on that government could work.

You’d think ... Mississippi ... has more pressing concerns than salving the hurt feelings of some putative Christian who doesn’t want to bake a cake for Lester and Steve. 

But addressing those concerns would require serious thought, sustained effort, foresight, creativity and courage. It is easier just to scapegoat the gays.

Update (April 12):  And now Tennessee wants to get in on the hate.

Update (April 15):  There's a wave of backlash since the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage. Also, more about the Mississippi law including some surprising insight:

None other than the late Antonin Scalia put his finger on the problem. To make an individual’s obedience to the law “contingent upon the law’s coincidence with his religious beliefs” amounts to “permitting him, by virtue of his beliefs, ‘to become a law unto himself,’” he said. It “contradicts both constitutional tradition and common sense.”

ead more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article70793567.html#storylink=cp

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article70793567.html#storylink=

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article70793567.html#storylink=cpy