The Real Kato Online

Paul Moore: It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room.

Jane Craig: No. It's awful.

Last night I was up until about 2:00 a.m., debating with someone I didn't know, about the North Carolina marriage amendment, on Facebook.

Ugh.

Those of you who know me know this: I generally try not to assert superiority over anyone. I do not like stereotypes, and the stereotype of the "smart Asian" makes me cringe.

But: when someone who may or may not have completed high school, and whose career now reads "trainee at a Pepsi plant", tries to tell me that they have a deeper knowledge of constitutional law, theology, economics, and public policy than I do... frankly, I'm offended. I have read the entire Bible several times over and have delved into many passages in the original Hebrew and Greek. I have studied the Constitution and a hundred Supreme Court decisions, and I can recite to you most of the various decisions that support the Establishment Clause and the Incorporation Doctrine. I've studied Keynesian economics and neoclassical criticisms. Also I know a large variety of Internet memes, Urban Dictionary terms, and funny cat videos.

So you know what? When you assert that Obama will ruin the country, and that China owns the U.S., and that God will judge homosexuals... you do not impress me. When you assert that liberals will take away your freedoms and force you to give up your private health insurance and force your church to marry gays... I tell you this: YOU, MR. WHITE PROTESTANT, HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE YOUR RIGHTS TAKEN AWAY.

Maybe that's all that it is... you have to have been the victim of discrimination, hatred, and bigotry to appreciate its harmful effects. Or, you have to be one of my enlightened and beautiful friends, apparently.

Today North Carolina voted to amend its Constitution with a horrific amendment that institutionalizes bigotry and discrimination. I am ashamed and embarrassed to live in this state. But as long as I live here I will fight this shamefulness.

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Don't be the last one. Stand up and fight.

Permalink Comment

Posted by Ken in: commentary, politics

Security

Sunday, 2012 February 5 - 3:46 pm

Amy's wallet was lost or stolen last week, when we were out at a douchey nightclub downtown (we didn't even want to be there, but got roped into it). In the wallet were a driver's license, a credit card, a bank card, and her social security card. Yeah, we know, no one should carry their social security card around with them, but an employer said they needed to see it. (They don't, by the way; the SSN can be verified by employers online.)

Anyway, that got me thinking about the antiquated mechanisms we have for identity security.

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