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08/26/2009
'Timber!' vs. equality for Tim & Bert
We would have thought that even our most ardent foes would have a tough time comparing our civil equality to chopped-down trees. But that is exactly what Bob Emrich, the "ex-gay"-supporting head of the Stand For Marriage campaign, does in the opening of a new piece that he's penned for the Portland Press-Herald:
I don't know anyone who looks across acres of clear-cut land and calls it "tree equality."
But that makes as much sense as looking at the extreme changes to Maine's marriage law approved recently by Gov. Baldacci and calling it "marriage equality."
Legislators, governor chopped down Maine's traditional marriage law [PPH]
Well their biased actions do make this writer lose his wood. So maybe that's what Mr. Emrich means.
Or maybe he means to say that just like chopped trees, those who can't seem to grasp the clear-cut concept of civil fairness are nothing short of "stumped."
Your thoughts
Reading your reply, Jeremy, let's us all see where your "with a sense of humor" in your by-line comes from...I laughed out loud! You're the best, kid.
Posted by: tom | Aug 26, 2009 2:57:54 PM
So, the guy surveyed the political landscape of Maine, and surmised that his best bet at turning public opinion against us was to liken us to anti-conservationists. That's quite a stretch in the credibility department, by any definition.
Posted by: Dick Mills | Aug 26, 2009 3:28:01 PM
Actually, clear cutting could very well be considered "tree equality," as could an uncut forest. It's selective cutting that's unequal, not having all the trees stand or fall together. I think he picked a very poor analogy, but then....
Posted by: ColdCountry | Aug 26, 2009 5:18:28 PM
Cut down the trees! Cut down the laws!
Alice: While you talk, he is gone
More: And go he should, if he was the Devil himself, until he broke the law
Roper: So now you'd give the Devil the benefit of law!
More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get to the Devil?
Roper: I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat. This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast - man's laws, not God's - and if you cut them down - and you're just the man to do it - do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of the law, for my own safety's sake
Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons.
Posted by: Timothy (TRiG) | Aug 27, 2009 9:25:16 AM
My first thought was to imply that Mr. Emrich apparently can't see the forest for the trees, but I decided against it because it would be too obvious.
Posted by: JWSwift | Aug 27, 2009 11:17:11 AM
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