Sometimes things just feel so futile.
Like, when I get action notices from one of the many, many liberal advocacy groups that I seem to be on the email list for, urging me to contact my senator or representative, I know that it won’t matter if I do or not. If the issue is access to abortion, my state representative and senator are both personally against that, so it doesn’t matter what their constituents think.
My congressman is also a solid right-winger, so he’s not going to be on board with anything I write to him about. My two Senators, Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, are pretty solidly liberal, so I can already count on them to echo my views.
It feels like if you’re a liberal living in a red-county, it doesn’t really matter what you think. The majority rules here, and the majority goes to church and thinks that gay people are “icky” so they shouldn’t be allowed to get married and raise children. What’s the point in calling my representative or senator? I already know where they stand on the social issues. My state representative (who is an anti-choice DEMOCRAT) told me on Pro-Choice Lobby Day two years ago that he has “a personal faith that guides his decisions on these issues.” How can I argue with that?
And our state senator makes his decisions based on his Christian world view. He has a gay daughter yet still authored a bill to add a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage. How do you talk sense to a person like that?
Sometimes I just wonder what the point of it all is. Maybe I’m just having some sort of birthday existential crisis, or maybe I just need some cheerleading from my liberal cohorts. Or maybe I just need a cigarette.
I am cheering you on! And I am also nagging you to reject the cigarettes, because we need smart liberal moms like you to be a healthy thorn in the side of conservatives for as long as it takes to achieve equality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, and share your frustrations. What's the point of going to a Cravaack townhall, when you know that it's just going to be more of the same. The power of the Godzelka townhall was the mass of liberal folks who showed up and spent time decompressing afterwards. Ward has complained that too many people who know where he stands on some issues contact him just because an advocacy group is pushing it. I'm more inclined to just thank him because I know he is supporting a particular issue of interest to me.
ReplyDeleteI know it's important to register complaints, but when they are total stick-in-the-muds, is it even worth it?