Here we go again...

It's been nearly 10 years since I made a pilgrimage to Okinawa. When I was there, I made friends with a freelance writer who likes to ping me on days when some weird news story breaks from West Virginia...

...which is to say, we've been in touch a lot.

The best such days are when it's just something weird, like maybe a real X Files-type story. The worst are those days when WV makes the national news over some acts of bigotry and/or craven groveling to exploitative corporations.

The last year or so has been an X Files bust and a bigotry/groveling boom.

Where are Mothman, Bat Boy, and the Braxton County monster when you need them?

Let's start with groveling. Top of my list in that department was the time when a representative of a business group told legislators that we didn't need to update safe water standards since West Virginians are heavier, drink less water and eat less fish.And won the day.

For real.

That moment was another example of why I want to update the state motto from "Mountaineers Are Always Free" to "You Can't Make This **** Up."

But it's been a real banner year for bigotry. We had the state delegate who made a joke about drowning his children if they turned out to be LGBTQ. We had the Islamophobic outburst at the state capitol. We now have a public library board about to consider banning a non-sexually explicit LGBTQ-friendly children's book.

You can probably guess where I'm going with this.

I agree with what WV Senator Joe Manchin said in the wake of the publication of a photo of corrections trainees raising their hands in an apparent Nazi salute: "This is not the West Virginia I know or grew up in."

But things have changed here over the last few years. Dramatically. And, while the outbreaks are by no means confined to West Virginia,they seem to be occurring more frequently here.

It makes me think of the early phases of an epidemic. In Albert Camus' novel The Plague, a parable about the rise of fascism and Nazism that I've often quoted, the first signs begin when dead rats start showing up in the Algerian city of Oran.

Nobody noticed that much at first. Then it was just a nuisance. But pretty soon, it wasn't just rats any more.

I keep going back to something one of the heroes of that novel said about the epidemic:

"All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it’s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences."

The book ends with a warning against being too complacent about such metaphorical outbreaks. The narrator cautions that:

"...the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen-chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city."

Two roads diverged

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. ...” So begins Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.”

Ever since ancient times, people have been fascinated by the power of crossroads. They have been the subject of poetry, song, myth and folklore.

Examples range from Robert Johnson’s classic blues song of the same name back to the days of ancient Greece, where they were sacred to Hermes, god of boundaries, borders and exchanges, and to Hecate, a witchy goddess associated both with magic and the home.

The image shows up in both the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) and the gospels. In Jeremiah 6:16, the prophet says, “Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Metaphorically, I think most of us have come upon crossroads where a choice must be made that can have lifelong consequences.

I think West Virginia is at a major crossroads now, one that will have a lasting impact on its future. It has to do with the face we present to the world: will it be one of narrow-mindedness, fear, hatred and bigotry or one of openness, hospitality, solidarity and basic fairness?

Let’s just say that if the West Virginia Legislature is any indication, the jury is still out. We’ve had one delegate embarrass the state by comparing people who identify as LGBTQ to terrorists ... and worse.

The leadership of the majority Republican Party has condemned these remarks, yet they refuse to move legislation ending discrimination — and some have even attempted to pass legislation that would undo local anti-discrimination ordinances.

Still other lawmakers have sought bills that would keep out refugees and immigrants in a state largely composed of the descendants of refugees and immigrants that is also rapidly aging and losing population.


That kind of thing sends a message loud and clear both to young West Virginians who feel they have no place here and to other bright and energetic people who will think two or three times before moving here.

It discourages the kind of employers and investments that would provide good jobs while promoting a good quality of life.

That degree of closed-mindedness says that education isn’t valued here and that we are proud of what — and who — we don’t know.

That kind of thing sends a message that we should continue to be nothing but a sacrifice zone for extractive industries, whether they are those that take away our natural resources or those that strip-mine our public schools.

It doesn’t have to be that way. To paraphrase the last lines of Frost’s poem, we could take the road less traveled by, and that could make all the difference.

(This appeared as an op-ed in today's Charleston Gazette-Mail.)

Wow

The WV legislative session has been...a cross between a zombie apocalypse and a roller coaster ride. And a root canal. But there have been surprises, not all of them bad. I was amazed to learn that the WV senate voted down a "religious freedom" bill that had turned into and attempt to legalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

I guess the action started last night, when some key Republican senators joined with Democrats to ensure the bill wouldn't harm nondiscrimination ordinances.It was a pretty touching story, in which some people got emotional and decided to follow their conscience.

 This evening, I'm amazed and pleased to say that the senate voted the whole thing down without debate. Here's the AP report.

It just goes to show you never know what is going to happen.

Human motivations being inherently ambiguous, some probably voted against the amended bill because it wasn't strong enough, while others took a strong anti-discrimination stand. In any case, kudos and thanks to the senate for this one.

Annals of meanness

It has occurred to me during this session of the WV legislature that not only do some people not like gays and lesbians but they think about them a lot.




They think about them when it is daytime. They think about them when it is night.




They think about them when the sun is shining. They think about them when it rains.




They think about them in winter. They think about them in spring, summer and fall.




They think about them when the moon is waxing full and when it is waning. And they think about them during full and new moons.




They think about them when the redbud blooms and when the rivers frost.




They think about them when puppies play together and when kittens chase string.




In a word, they probably think about them way more than is healthy.




I could go on to say that they don't like them on a boat or with a goat, but you probably get the idea by now.




The most recent example of this is a resolution introduced in the WV senate that would make it illegal for local governments to pass nondiscrimination ordinances. Not to put too fine a point on it, but apparently it's not enough for some people to be mean; they want to legally compel others to be as well.




I hope at some point people who obsess about this kind of thing get over it. Or, failing that, that they at least get the memo that some of us aren't into their ****.

Another day in hell

Starting on a positive note, kudos to WV Governor Earl Ray Tomblin for vetoing right to work for less legislation as well as the repeal of prevailing wage. He had this to say about that:

“Foremost, I dispute that West Virginia needs a right-to-work law. The issue of right to work has been discussed for a number of years, but I have never had a company cite right to work as a barrier to relocating to West Virginia. We do not lack prospects. Our issues are best addressed by improving our workforce and creating new development opportunities. Since becoming governor in 2010, West Virginia has welcomed more than $10 billion in new investments and expansion projects. I do not believe West Virginia needs a right-to-work law, a law that would lead to little if any economy growth and may lower the wages of West Virginia workers.” 

and

“Last year, I worked with the Legislature to create a compromise on prevailing wage to help local communities by exempting projects less than $500,000 and to improve our state’s prevailing wage calculation. These new rates have been in place for less than a year – we need to give this new methodology time to work. We don’t need to pass bills that lower the wages of West Virginia workers and do little, if anything, to stimulate our economy.”

Alas, the framers of WV's constitution screwed up and left things so that a simple majority is all that is needed to overturn a veto.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE BAD IDEA FACTORY, the WV House passed the misnamed Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It was nice to see this op-ed by WVU's David Fryson opposing this backlash of bigotry.

AS IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, a coalition consisting of WV's ruling class and representative of the thriving pseudo-Christian Taliban are getting to work on gutting school science standards.

And why not--people have to be stupid to put up with this ****, right?

Mother of Exiles

I guess we'd have to ban this poem if some people got their way:

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

To pander or to lead?

A number of WV politicians, like many others across the nation, are falling all over themselves to try to block the entrance of refugees from Syria, many of which are children, from entering the state.

A recent Bloomberg Poll shows that a majority of Americans likewise oppose admitting the refugees. But you know what? Sometimes it's more important to be right than to be popular. Pandering to xenophobia is no doubt an easy gig, but there's no honor in it.

I prefer those who take a principled stand, like NY Congressman Eliot Engel, who had this (and more) to say:

I read a poll the other day. The question was quote, “What’s your attitude towards allowing political refugees to come into the US?” unquote. Sixty-seven point four agreed with the response, “With conditions as they are, we should try to keep them out.” More than two thirds. “Try to keep them out.”

That poll was conducted in the summer of 1938. And the question in its entirety was, “What’s your attitude towards allowing German, Austrian and other political refugees to come into the US?” European Jews. More than two-thirds of Americans thought we should just close the gates just four months before Kristallnacht.

We know how that turned out.

My question: in retrospect, which group from 1938 would you rather have been a part of, the popular one or the right one?

Next question: how about today?

Stop the presses--I agree with Wal-Mart!

There is still a good bit of foaming and howling going on at the WV legislature. As I mentioned yesterday, one example of such is a bill that would make it illegal for cities and counties to pass anti-discrimination ordinances for things like sexual orientation.

It makes me wonder what's next: maybe require people suspected of homosexuality to wear pink triangles?

This legislation is similar to a bill passed in Arkansas which even Wal-Mart found to be over the top. Here's what the retail giant had to say about why this is a bad idea:

Every day, in our stores, we see firsthand the benefits diversity and inclusion have on our associates, customers and communities we serve. It all starts with the core basic belief of respect for the individual. And that means understanding and respecting differences and being inclusive of all people...We feel this legislation is counter to this core basic belief and sends the wrong message about Arkansas.

 Let the record show that I'm with them for once.

What about the Twinkie?

I ran into a friend of mine today at the state asylum  legislature and we were commenting on the rather extreme level of Whack these days.

It kind of reminds me of the Twinkie discussion in the first Ghostbusters movie that went something like this:

Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie... thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.

Substitute West Virginia for New York and Whack for psychokinetic energy and it would work pretty well.

Here's the latest example: one bill now advancing through the House, HB2881, misnamed the WV Intrastate Commerce Improvement Act, would basically make it illegal for cities and counties to pass anti-discrimination ordinances on the basis of sexual orientation.

The Twinkie just keeps getting bigger.

Foam and howl, guys.