Our legislature, you see, has hardening of the arteries and hardening of the heart. The Know Nothings who run the Republican Party who run the legislature want to make sure that Wyoming stays inconsequential. They spend an embarrassing amount of time ranting about Obamacare and pushing regressive social legislation. Remember the 2011 session? That was embarrassing. I should know as I blogged about it extensively. Remember what happened in 2012? The Republicans didn't want health care for its citizens but they did want an aircraft carrier to protect its sovereignty. Really?
No wonder our young people leave the state in droves, eager to find a place that will respect their need to contribute to the future. My fellow blogger Rodger McDaniel put it so well in today's post (and WTE op-ed):
That’s why Wyoming’s greatest export is neither coal nor gas but our youth. The millions we invest in educating children becomes an investment in the future of other states. Communities pretend to bemoan the loss of these young people... Clinging to the past and its symbols assures that anyone with an urge to think about the opportunities of the future will find themselves elsewhere, contributing to some other community somewhere else.Sad, isn't it, that the calcified thinking of one generation can lead to a dubious future for an entire state -- or an entire country.
It doesn't have to be this way. There are a number of fine Democrats running for the legislature, mainly in Laramie County. You can walk for Lee Filer this morning or for Mary Throne. You can help get Marguerite Herman on the county commission. You can vote for recent grad Misty Heil for the LCCC board. You can vote for Kathleen Petersen and Joe Fender and the Esquibel brothers and Jim Byrd and Gary Datus. Imagine a Dem-majority county delegation. It still would be a challenge to blunt the power of the Blunt Skulls from Natrona County and the north country. But it's a start.
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