That's My Dawgs!

Washington State has passed a gay rights bill. I've tried to track down some commentary on it to see how it's being received, but nobody's really talking about it. Atrios linked to the PI article with no real commentary, but that's all I could find. Still, good for Washington. Sen. Bill Finkbeiner of Kirkland was the deciding vote, having voted against this measure when it failed by a single vote. His statement really struck me as the key issue in this type of legislation,

"What we are really talking about here is...whether or not it's OK to be gay or homosexual in this state. On whether or not it's appropriate to be discriminating against or to discriminate against someone because of that."

Forget gay marriage. Forget adoption rights. Forget rights in medical emergencies. Every person that brings those "this takes us down a slippery slope" arguments to the table is either being dishonest or hasn't thought it out. If there is such a slope, with no rights being the top and unlimited entitlement at the bottom then every right you give people is a step towards the "bottom".

It's issues like this where Republicans really lose their economic conservatism cred. They're trying to tell us, though we all need and benefit from a healthy economy, we should tolerate employers firing perfectly good workers on the basis of some prejudice. I want the most qualified and efficient workers to get the jobs they are qualified to have and I don't need the economy I rely on to be slowed down by some manager that hates gays.

I really wish we had a contingent of conservatives on the site because I've got plenty more to say but don't want it to become any more of a rant than it already is.

"Fiona's got him on the phone / And she's trying not to moan / It's a three-way call and he knows nothing / nothing"