Thoughts inspired by a discussion elsewhere

[jhetley]

"States' Rights" may have been a code-phrase for institutionalized racism and repression, but the concept was part of the Constitution of this land.  Repressing the right of the individual states to make laws suited to their citizens has, as a direct descendant, the push to ban abortion and gay marriage on a national level. 

Likewise, national laws on voter registration parallel the Federal meddling in Maine's right to issue a driver's license based strictly on a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle in a safe and legal manner . . .

Comments

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

That's what happens when a valid question gets tied to an indefensible or unpopular -- or simply losing -- cause. (I'm halfway convinced that feminism in America, for example, suffered for most of the twentieth century from its association in the public mind with the Temperance movement, and hence with Prohibition.) After that, it becomes impossible to discuss the question as it relates to any other issue, because to do so is to be suspected of actually desiring to re-open a consideration of the indefensible X.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

You're probably right about suffragettes and prohibition, in general. In specific, my grandmother used to march in rallies for a woman's right to vote, and then enjoyed a cold beer or two on a summer afternoon . . .

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

That's the thing about public-mind associations . . . they're always sweeping generalizations even when they're accurate, and they don't even need to be accurate to get stuck onto something. They just have to be there.