Portman: when the personal becomes political

[piston]

I'm listening to the logic, to the explanations -- when it hits you personally, like a gay son, it's a powerful means of political evolution -- and disagree totally. Portman's message is utterly self serving! Can there not be a bigger political vision than what happens to you?! What next? Your daughter gets raped and becomes pregnant and you'll convert to the need of abortion?! Your town is hit by extreme weather and destroyed; only then do you accept the need to do something about climate change?

Totally short-sighted.

[Teresa B]

I'm listening to the logic, to the explanations -- when it hits you personally, like a gay son, it's a powerful means of political evolution -- and disagree totally. Portman's message is utterly self serving! Can there not be a bigger political vision than what happens to you?! What next? Your daughter gets raped and becomes pregnant and you'll convert to the need of abortion?! Your town is hit by extreme weather and destroyed; only then do you accept the need to do something about climate change?

Totally short-sighted.

There's no logic to it--otherwise we would all be focusing on ways to improve the well-being of everyone. If we would see the truth that we are all human beings, and the plight of any person is the plight of all of us, then we would naturally see the bigger vision you wish for. Unfortunately it seems all too often that the quality of empathy is not only lacking, but sometimes even derided.

Teresa

[jbuck919]

My impression is that the world of politicians who are anti-whatever is divided, not necessarily evenly, between those who are (willfully?) ignorantly comfortable with what they profess and those who are simply hypocrites. Let's look at the glass as half full, Jacques. It is the realization on the part of Republican politicians that they have been bashing their own loved ones whose ilk exists in most families that will, or so it seems, finally get us full civil rights for gay people in this country. And that is huge progress over a comparatively short period of time.