March 11, 2024: All Dressed Up -

I had high hopes, after the Oregon Senate passed bill 1583, that our fair state would outlaw the banning of school library books for discriminatory reasons (discussions of race, two penguin daddies, and so forth). But my hopes were dashed when Republicans in the Oregon House let the bill stall out in committee. 

And that's it. The bill doesn't wait until the next session, it just dies. 

One argument against 1583 was that since it passed on party lines in the Senate, it shouldn't do the same in the House, because then people in red school districts would feel it had been shoved down their throats by blue folks.  Wow. I don't recall worrying about party-line votes much when the other party was in the majority. 

Also, we are apparently supposed to feel good that, when 36 titles were challenged in Canby, only one was eventually banned: Lolita. I realize Lolita has been banned all over the world. It's shocking. Yet somehow, the moms who challenged it (and Beloved, and The Handmaid's Tale) in Canby managed to grow to adulthood when those very books were not banned, were in fact sometimes even taught in schools. 

And just look how well they turned out!

Sorry, I have soured from earlier when I was chuckling over the Florida Moms for Liberty pasting tiny Speedos on Mickey during his romp In the Night Kitchen. Fie upon them and their paper doll pastimes. 

It's not much comfort, but at least the courts have ruled that Measure 113 will be interpreted to mean what voters wanted it to mean. That's the one we-the-citizenry passed in 2022 to bar legislators who stage prolonged walkouts from running for office again. 

We passed it, 68% to 32%!  Voters from both parties said: Show Up for Work, You Bozos - even when you are going to be outvoted! Going to work is YOUR JOB.

And then ten Republicans STILL staged a six-week walkout, so there was no quorum, and no work at all got done. 

At first, I figured they were all old pols who didn't want to run again anyway, This way they could end their careers in a last, glorious blaze of obstructionism. 

But NO! 

No, they wanted to run again! They just believed they could outwit the voters! They went before the Oregon Supreme Court with an argument about what "the next election" after "the current term ends" actually MEANS. See, elections are in November. But TECHNICALLY, the incumbent is still in office until his or her term ends the following JANUARY! Haha! So the election in which one couldn't run is ONE WHOLE CYCLE AWAY! 

I just explained that without bursting a blood vessel. Be impressed.

Senator Tim Knopp (R-Bend)*, the minority leader, worried that enforcing Measure 113 could "crush" dissent. But not going to work can be a matter of principle! 

He conceded that the “significant turnover” of Republican senators would be challenging but said he wasn’t concerned. And despite being barred from seeking reelection, he said he wouldn’t advise Republicans against lengthy walkouts in the future.

“I think legislators need to stand on the principles that they believe in, and if you believe in it enough to make the sacrifice, then you most certainly should,” he told reporters Thursday.

Knopp added that he wasn’t sure what he’ll do next after the 2024 term ends.

“Who knows if this is a pause in public service for me and the others, or if it’s the end of a road and a new beginning for something else,” he said.

*I went to Senator Tim's website, and was astonished to see that he, like me, supports SMART. That's the organization that sponsors volunteers who read to little kids in the schools, as I do. I had a kid who read No, David every week! Though he would laugh and cover his eyes when we got to the full dorsal page (Moms for Liberty pasted little shorts over this one). 

It turned out Senator Tim's SMART is the Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation Workers. 

Also, don't you think "a pause in public service" describes his not going to work for six weeks? No? Anyway, sounds like he could well be back.