Taking the Initiative

They think you’re stupid. They think you’re wrong, and in this case, they think you’re bigoted and homophobic. They don’t want you involved because they don’t want to give up the power they think they have, the power you gave them, the power you can take away from them. They don’t trust you. This isn’t the first time they’ve thought or acted like this, and it certainly won’t be the last. Yes Oregonians, the State Legislature is once again ignoring your will, your voice, and is once again trying to undermine the nearly century-old initiative process that has brought direct democracy to Oregonians.

Last November Oregonians overwhelmingly passed Measure 36, which clearly defined the institution of marriage to be a union between one man and one woman. The measure met the defined requirements of an amendment to the Oregon Constitution and is now a part of it, as Oregonians wished. But they don’t care. Now the Oregon State Senate has taken it upon itself to override the will of the people and impose their agenda upon the state. This is hardly surprising, given the democrats’ recent nationwide assault on the five-thousand year old institution of marriage as well as their recent nationwide unwillingness to accept electoral results.

Thankfully, there are some people in Salem who still recognize and respect democracy. House Speaker Karen Minnis, in just about the first competent thing she’s ever done as Speaker, has vowed (in my words, not hers) that the Senate’s recent assault on Oregon democracy will not see the light of day in the House chamber. As you might expect, the democrats and their allies in radical interest groups aren’t happy and have succumbed to their tried and true methods of name-calling. Anyone who dares get offended at the radical homosexual agenda, anyone who protests the illegality of last year’s Multnomah County marriages, anyone who clings to the ancient institution of traditional one man, one woman marriage, anyone who stands up for democracy and upholding the will of the people through the initiative process is a bigot, a homophobe, a hatemonger, a member of the “Christian Right” (whether or not they’re actually Christian), and whatever immature names they can conjure up. These names have now been thrown upon Speaker Minnis for doing the job Oregonians elected her to do and for upholding their will, their voice.

The democrats of the Oregon State Legislature don’t care what you think. They never have and they never will. They never have recognized the initiative process or any results of it, except in the very rare circumstance in which they benefit from the result. For years they’ve nullified your laws in the Legislature, struck them down in the Courts, thrown out your petitions, disregarded your signatures, ignored your voice, and acted in spite of it. With every one of these actions they’ve further driven the citizenry out of government and further solidified and institutionalized their oligarchic hold on state government.

Rather than immaturely being called names by fringe activist groups representing an out of touch agenda, Karen Minnis should be praised for standing up for Oregonians not rich or fortunate enough to hold a seat in the Oregon Legislature. She is sending a statement to the elites in government that their reign is not supreme. She is reminding us all who really controls government in a representative, democratic republic.

The Oregon System was established to give a voice to the people of Oregon who were routinely being ignored by corrupt and out of touch career politicians. They were given the power of initiative to act when the Legislature would not. They were given the power of referendum to express their voice on matters of state importance and to check the power of those who would take their hard-earned money away. They were given the power of recall to remove the corrupt, out of touch career politicians who served themselves rather than the people. The State of Oregon has a rich history of expanding and honoring democracy that today’s citizenry- and politicians- should be proud of. If Oregon democrats have forgotten, perhaps the people should remind them of that next year.