Friday, March 15, 2013

Other people's kids

As you may have heard, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) has just come out in support of marriage equality and he roots that change of heart completely in the fact that his son is gay.
I’ve thought a great deal about this issue, and like millions of Americans in recent years, I’ve changed my mind on the question of marriage for same-sex couples. As we strive as a nation to form a more perfect union, I believe all of our sons and daughters ought to have the same opportunity to experience the joy and stability of marriage.
While I welcome Sen. Portman to this cause, I can't help but notice that his motivation spells out the very reason we are often so polarized on these issues.

In that vein, I think Teagan Goddard might have authored the tweet-of-the-year:
That reminds me of a quote from then-Senator Barack Obama's 2004 speech at the Democratic Convention.
For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga, a belief that we are all connected as one people.

If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for their prescription and having to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent. If there's an Arab-American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.

It is that fundamental belief -- it is that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper -- that makes this country work.
If you want to get down to the nitty-gritty of why our politics seems so broken these days, perhaps it all comes down to not thinking about "other people's kids" - or what President Obama calls the empathy deficit.
I’m not talking about a budget deficit. I’m not talking about a trade deficit. I’m not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.

I’m talking about a moral deficit. I’m talking about an empathy deficit. I’m taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother’s keeper; we are our sister’s keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny.

1 comment:

  1. That's rich. So you only give a shit when it's personal? Nevermind all the kids that were murdered or committed suicide because they were gay. They were all someone's children. But Mr Dickhead in all his self importance believes he's the only one that matters. They can't be called fags anymore because his son is one now.

    What next? They aren't wetbacks anymore because I have Latino neighbors and they're great people. They want the same things I want for myself. This can't be good if the only way for these assholes to embrace humanity is for something to happen to them. I guess we'll be able to push back against oil companies when gas gets too high for them. Or we'll change drug policy when their drug habits are discovered. From the bottom of my heart I extend my middle finger to Senator Portman and those sorry assed farts that call themselves the GOP base.

    Vic78

    ReplyDelete

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