Link: Republican senator with gay son now backs gay marriage
Its great to see some republicans have a change of heart towards gay rights, but in light of the political philosophy of democracy its fucked up to know why there are changing. The question I’ve since pondered about since this(and previ…
- Date
- March 18, 2013
- Collection
- Commonplace
- Reading time
- 2 min read
- Type
- Link
- Archive status
- Written by Fiifi
From the archive: Originally shared on 2013-03-18 through mrfiifiappiah. Language, links, and opinions reflect their original context.
Its great to see some republicans have a change of heart towards gay rights, but in light of the political philosophy of democracy its fucked up to know why there are changing.
The question I’ve since pondered about since this(and previously similar) story broke is what if the son said it was all a prank. Is the senator going to apologize and then change his mind back? This to me seriously questions the reasoning the senator and other politicians use to enact laws for the rest of the country in the first place. Was he never mindful of how parents who had gay kids felt when he opposed gay marriage?
I really wish people (/media) poked politicians with personal questions about why they stand for what they stand for. I think it will at best force some politicians to second guess what they support or don’t support.
Like I said, its great that he’s had a change of heart, but who knows what else he needs to personally go through in order to make a reverse decision about. Will politicians change their stance on assault weapons if their child was killed with one?
Without sounding like some biased left-wing liberal on MSNBC, it is imperative to note that BOTH aisles suffer from this lack of introspection- this example just happened to be right on point.
And of course the plausible counter argument is that, politicians can’t serve the interest of everyone in society. But I believe we all share underlying principles every sane person can agree with. Politicians have JUST ONE JOB: create laws that are fair to everyone! I know its a hard nut to crack, but so is everyone else’s job. We wouldn’t be paying politicians to enact laws for us if we knew they were going to be the sole beneficiaries of the laws.
Who exactly do politicians represent if they are not putting themselves in the shoes of the people who put them in office?Whether they voted for them or not, gay or straight, black, white or yellow, rich or poor, bla bla bla or la la la. It must be hard to think about the guy that didn’t vote for you, but that’s what being a leader and a [good] politician is about: thinking about everyone- they should have all people at heart when enacting laws; that way they wouldn’t have to change their minds later on.