More of a rant really

I'm still shaking my head by the hypocrisy and...other stuff...shown by some members of the US and WV senate. The majority in the former couldn't be bothered to come up with a workable COVID relief bill for the last two months or so but is racing to stack the Supreme Court deck before the election. 

Of course, WV senator Shelley Moore Capito is all on board, despite saying this four years ago when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the court:

“Before a Supreme Court justice is confirmed to a lifetime position on the bench, West Virginians and the American people should have the ability to weigh in at the ballot box this November. My position does not change with the naming of a nominee today.”

This time around, she had this to say:

 “I support the choice to move forward with the confirmation process and will consider President Trump’s nominee on her merits as West Virginians would expect me to do. In these trying and polarized times, it is important to exercise our constitutional authority and move forward with the process.”

Then there's this: 17 Republican members of the WV Senate signed on to a letter sent to the presidents of WVU and Marshall University that among other things expressed outrage over WVU football players putting BLM stickers on their helmets. Oh yeah, and the senators referred to Black Lives Matter as a "domestic terrorist group," basically saying the assertion that Black lives indeed matter amounts to hate speech.

Apparently this tantrum kept the senators too busy to express outrage at the death of over 200,000 Americans to COVID due in part to a botched response from the Trump administration.

Can't wait to see what happens next...

 

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.