It’s well above freezing in St Paul and what little snow there was has melted away. The High School Boys’ Hockey Tournament is starting today, so by tradition there should be one last gasp of Winter left. But we have a change of seasons, and that’s a good time to catch up on a few of the topics that we have covered in Barataria that are always still developing.
Monthly Archives: March 2012
“Minnesota for Marriage” – Simply Wrong
Minnesota voters will confront the issue in simple black letters on a white ballot this November. “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?” This “Marriage Amendment” is the most controversial of what is likely to be many ballot questions, and the sides are already gearing up for a fight.
In support of the Amendment there is “Minnesota for Marriage”, a coalition of groups that lobbied the Legislature to put the question on the ballot in the first place. Their arguments are heartfelt, clearly defined, serious – and ultimately misplaced. It is worth taking the time to refute their position carefully so that this issue can be defined by what it is – a Civil Rights issue.
Gasoline, an Explosive Issue
The editor of an online publication revealed more than a little frustration. “Whenever we ask for a piece on the economy,” he told me over lunch, “We either get a story on how nothing is happening or on gas prices.” This was in the summer of 2010, which we now know was close to the bottom of the economy and the point where everything was just starting to turn around.
There wasn’t anything happening then, except for gasoline prices. They went up and down in a kind of rhythm that defied just about everything, as they do today.
The normal fluctuations of something as basic as gasoline can become a partisan issue, at least to the extent that one party has something to capitalize on. This election year, however, the constant up and down of the price of gasoline won’t make it because people don’t know who to blame, they are less dependent on gasoline, and it has the potential for serious blow-back on the Republicans.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 