Regulating hate

Today the Wisconsin State Senate is set to consider SB 525, a bill to require people protesting at funerals to do it 500 feet away. The bill is a result of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church members coming to a Wisconsin soldier's funeral with a message that God is killing our soldiers because our country accepts homosexuality. The protest is a result of the conservative branch of the Republican Party preaching hatred toward homosexuals and the moderate branch of the Republican Party letting it happen.

Moving hatred 500 feet away from the funerals is not the solution.

The protests by the Westboro Baptist Church are the offspring of the Republican Party playing a hateful, dangerous game with the extreme branch of their party. Some members of the Republican Party don't believe that banning homosexual marriage and civil unions is the right thing to do, but they have been unwilling to voice their opposition to it. Playing up to the extreme branch of their party brings lots of campaign dollars and many voters on election day.

It also allows them to wave this piece of legislation in front of the abysmal failures of the Republican leadership. They have done more to rip apart the family structure in our country than any homosexual marriage or civil union could ever do, but they hide it all behind flashy legislation about gays, guns, and God. Keeping the focus on hating homosexuals hides the fact that haven't done their actual jobs.

The Republicans at the federal level and here in Wisconsin have stood by and let millions of Americans go without health insurance and taken away the safety net of bankruptcy when a major medical disaster, a leading cause of bankruptcy, wipes them out financially. They have also facilitated the exportation of family-supporting jobs while doing nothing to make sure the jobs that have replaced them pay a living wage. Parents have to work numerous jobs now to make ends meet and that means less time with their kids.

But before they tackle any of that, they have to pass a bill today to push their ugly offspring down the road a little farther. It has become an embarrassment.

Passing this bill won't get anyone health insurance, create new jobs or stop the hatred of homosexuals that they have helped create as a cover for their failures. And soon after that, they have to pass a resolution to prevent happy couples from being able to commit to each other for the rest of their lives. It won't get anyone health insurance or a well-paying job either. It may, however, create more protests.