Activism Across America

In Utah, there’s a State Senator who thinks that he’s being brave by daring to insult people. Senator Chris Buttars made public statements calling homosexual people, “They’re probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of.”

Homosexuality is a greater threat to America than the economic crisis? That’s absurd.

The greatest threat to America that I can think of is ignorance of the Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees - after all, it’s the Constitution that makes the USA the USA.

The Human Rights Campaign is organizing an effort to talk back to State Senator Buttars, and let him know that his bizarre beliefs are not shared by many Americans.

Progressives respect the law. That’s why we’re so outraged at the behavior of the Bush White House. Blatant disregard for the law disturbs us.Our regard for the law, however, does not come from a love of authority. Rather, it comes from a regard for the human beings it protects. For that reason, we are offended when the power of law enforcement is abused.Progressives watch carefully over law enforcement officials because of the authority they are given. We remember incidents like the one that took place in Utah this autumn, when a policeman attacked a nonviolent driver with a taser at a routine traffic stop. The soul of the law is the ability to check the power of authority, not the ability to wield power without restraint. (Source: Wasatch Watcher, November 25, 2007)

This week, the following states, along with the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba, announced the formation of the cross-border Western Climate Initiative, in which the member states and provinces agree to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent before the year 2020: