A recipe for stirring up a controversy.
1. Find a controversial Supreme Court ruling
2. Wait until a prominent Texas elected official weighs in on the matter
3. Misconstrue the actual opinion and report that said elected official is "defying the American Government!"
4. Watch the National Talking heads take this incorrect reporting and run with it.
5. Double down by running partisan opinion pieces further misconstruing the argument.
6. Frame all pieces contrary to this meme in a "yeah,but" manner
When you see something that's as poorly reported as this issue has been, if you're a thinking person it should make you question why you believe the opinions and proclivities of reporters and their editors on much of anything.
In fact, Ken Paxton did NOT state that Texas could "defy" the SCOTUS ruling on gay marriage at all. What he did say was that in cases where a County has someone certified and on staff willing to issue marriage licenses to all, then a conscientious objector may choose to opt out of their duties in doing so and be reassigned if necessary. In counties where there is no other option, a person still has the option to object but they should be ready to face personal, legal proceedings but that the State will not play a role in their defense. Instead, Paxton reminded objectors that there were pro-bono lawyers available who would plea their case for them.
We've seen this play out on a smaller scale in Mississippi where a clerk resigned her position rather than perform an action that ran counter to her religious beliefs. What Paxton's opinion stated was that, if there is another member of staff to fill the roles, that person would have, in Texas, retained employment albeit in a different role.
It's reaction to items such as this that highlights the big lie that has been the crux of the GLBT argument until this point. In the famous "pizza parlor" case, we were told that the GLBT lobby wasn't out to ruin lives if you disagreed with them, they just wanted equal access and protection.
Now that they have that, they're moving forward to the next phase of the plan which is to have all religious objectors fired, their personal items burned and the ground salted in the wake. As a good friend of mine says frequently "You will be made to care."
One of the problems that we're now witnessing is that, in almost all cases, those who are perpetually offended always have to have another issue to point to as causing offense. It's not enough that equality has been granted, people have to believe in their hearts and minds that the victors are correct. If they don't, they should be mocked and ridiculed and driven from public (and private) life to live as a pariah among their peers. Perhaps be should consider a "S" mark in black to be worn at all times signifying "straight"?
It's possible that, as a straight, Caucasian Christian male firmly rooted in what is considered to be the "historic ruling majority" that I can't work-up sufficient dander over people believing differently than I to a point that I want them to lose their jobs and their lives be ruined. Or, it's possible that I can't work up this kind of dander because I believe in the right of everyone to disagree with me?
It's also possible that the media is choosing to report on Paxton this way because they are a part of some vast Leftist conspiracy to run the Republicans in Texas out on a rail. Or, it's possible that they are reporting this way because they have it out for Ken Paxton?
While their might be a smidgeon of truth in both of those the more likely scenario is that they are reporting this issue this way because that's what they've been told to report by the people in Austin to whom they listen. When they attend happy-hours and dinner socials all of the talk is about Big Bad Ken coming down on 'teh' gays and trying to subvert the will of 'Merica.
Today's media lives in an echo chamber and they are more likely to suffer from cognitive dissonance then even a conservative political blogger who works at an oil and gas company. (Hi!) The problem is that they are also less likely to understand conservative positions on issues because they rarely, if ever, talk about them with non-politicians. It's this way of thinking that results in the Tea Party becoming a cast of nutters, that pulls reporting on issues into the land of the absurd, and which dumbs down political discourse in a State which is in desperate need of it.
You may have read this and thought "good" that anyone who religiously objects doesn't deserve to be given a microphone in the public square. You may equate them to racists, thieves and child molesters for all I know.
You would be wrong. It is vitally important that Texas, and the United States of America for that matter, continue to allow and encourage the free exchange of ideas, no matter how those ideas may personally offend.
Because free speech IS, by definition, offensive. If you're not offended, then you're not really paying attention.
