The 140 Carat Diamond

I'm not a fan of Twitter. Never have been.

Pandering to America's collective ADHD mentality seems just a step or two removed from Wall Street traders dabbling in prescription drugs. As destructive to our brittle literacy as mobile texting devices are to vehicular safety.

A one-hundred and forty character limit? Really?

Why not demand that oil paintings be done on 5” x 5” canvases? Or that symphonies be no more than two minutes long? How about limiting writers to just one-third of their native tongue's vocabulary?

Ceilings on expression never appealed to me. Especially when they concern the written word. It's censorship made seductive because it carries the new car smell of freshly-hatched technology.

So it was with some surprise that I found myself fist-pumping the air after reading a tweet shared by Eric Zorn, he of the Chicago Tribune and the highly worthwhile Change of Subject column. Zorn uncovered a gentleman by the name of Andrew Bradley, who tweets as Betty Bowers.

With a concision and articulation that rivals great poetry, Bradley crystallized the Republican dichotomy found in their confusing and contradictory stands on religion, abortion and gay marriage with the following:

“Religious freedom means no American can be forced to deliver a wedding cake—just a rapist's baby.”

Okay. So maybe I was wrong. Some folks can say a lot with a few words. 

But not me. I need a picture. Or a thousand words.

A Hard Left to the Middle of the Road

It's always a big deal when you find yourself cheering Wal-Mart and Apple, and discover that NASCAR is capable of representing something other than mindless flag-wavers and corporate sponsors.

How uplifting it is to see some of the most-powerful entities in America strike a blow for humanity in the face of odious and toxic legislation.

Yes, the conservative Christian wet dream of government-sanctioned discrimination for anyone who doesn't look and act exactly like them was waylaid by entities traditionally better at exploiting humanity than enabling it.

But how is it that conservative Christians, supposedly immersed in tolerance and love, can't show either? How is it that this seething and petulant minority obtains the political wherewithal to enact such legislation?

I wonder what it says about our government and our elected representation when big business is required to step in and do the right thing. 

Methinks we are in a very bad way.

Let me say that posts to the contrary, I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I am not PC. I'll even admit to suffering occasionally from gay fatigue. On planet La Piazza Gancio, there are several more-pressing issues tearing at the fabric of civilization than whether gays can legally cohabitate.

But hate-based legislation masquerading as religious freedom? That's a big no-no. A great big, ginormous ugh-ugh.

I want the put-upon Christian conservatives of Indiana and Arkansas to experience a real lack of religious freedom. I'd like them to go to Kenya and announce their religious preferences to al-Shabob.

That is a lack of religious freedom. 

Being denied the ability to effectively spit on gays and lesbians is not.

Ignorance is real estate with plenty of room for knowledge. I have the number of a builder if you're interested.