The Quiet but Sane Majority

In the last couple of days, as a counterpoint to events unfolding in New Hampshire and Maine, there was a bit of drama in the District of Columbia. and, at the center of his own little dust-devil of craziness, former Mayor, now Councilman, crazypants* Marion Barry.†

The council voted unanimously, all 13, in favor of recognizing same-sex marriages that had taken place in jurisdictions where they are legal. Immediately after the vote, it seems that Crazypants Barry invoked a rule calling for a re-vote because he hadn't been paying attention and didn't know what he was voting for. The re-vote ensued. The bill passed 12 to 1, Crazypants Barry being the sole no vote.

So Crazypants Barry goes on a tirade announcing that this act was immoral and that black people in the District would not stand for it and that there would likely be "civil war" over the matter.

Well! He has, apparently, since toned down the "civil war" remarks a bit; today I saw stories in which Crazypants Barry claimed he was "jiving". Still Crazypants after all these years.

But the point is this: many in the media and those reading the media were too willing to believe the Crazypants that blacks in the District would not accept this action by the council, that there might be a "civil war" (incited by Crazypants and some of his violently anti-gay preacher friends who vowed to work against council members who voted in favor, preachers who have since been reminded that they violate the terms of their tax-exempt status if they try to influence elections of council members).

In short, too many people were willing to accept that Crazypants Barry actually spoke for a majority of black residents in the District. On that matter they are wrong.

Let me quote Ta-Nehisi Coates ("Another Point On Barry And Gays", theAtlantic.com, 6 May 2009)

There are 12 members of the City Council. Seven of them are black. One is Marion Barry.

The District of Columbia is majority black. The Council of the District of Columbia is majority black. Only one of those is the Crazypants, who obviously does not speak for the majority of DC blacks.

Through their council members the black majority population of the District of Columbia has decided in favor of moving towards marriage equality for same-sex couples.

This is a good thing.
———-
* The term is due to Queerty. At least, my use of it is.

† Just to demonstrate the "crazypants" moniker, here's Joe.My.God's summary of the Barry career so far:

"Bitch Set Me Up!" said then-DC Mayor Marion Barry in 1990 about the prostitute who led him into a crack cocaine sting, which lead to a six-month stint in a federal prison. Three income tax evasion investigations, a DWI arrest, and four wives later, the current DC Councilman Marion Barry felt no fucking shame in joining the NOM crowd today to lead chants about the immorality of same-sex marriage.

Barry was quoted as saying "I am a politician who is moral." I think "crazypants" is justified, but I knew that decades ago when he kept getting re-elected as mayor.

Posted on May 6, 2009 at 23.37 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity

One Response

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Wednesday, 6 May 2009 at 23.58
    Permalink

    I wonder if Crazypants was channeling Alan Keyes.

    Whenever a complete, outrageous whack job like Barry not only
    gets elected but keeps getting re-elected, my disgust shifts heavily
    toward the idiots who keep voting for said whack job.

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