And I've been thinking a lot about where I should live, based on what this will do to my commute. Friends suggested relocating to Virginia.
So I did some poking around on line for apartments. The move is not until March, but it never hurts to look. And I found a place in Arlington that was kinda do-able.
But. And it's a big but ... *
I can't shake the belief that moving to Virginia and letting my tax dollars go to Richmond would send a signal that I most adamantly don't want to send.
In Maryland there is Marriage Equality. In Virginia, there isn't.
In Maryland, capital punishment is rarely applied** and is being considered for abolishment because it is the second most unfairly applied form of punishment in the US. (Crack vs. powder cocaine is the first.*** ) Virginia's execution rate per capita is 4th in the nation (after Oklahoma, Texas, and ... Delaware).****
I just can't bring myself to appear to "vote with my feet" that I am for the death penalty and against marriage equality.
I'm not against the death penalty in all cases and think that it can be a good prosecutorial bargaining chip but it hasn't been proven to be a deterrent, it's really expensive, and it's applied with unsupportable amounts of bias.
I'm very much for marriage equality. Enough so that I actually wrote to politicians supporting it. Writing to politicians is just asking to be put on solicitation lists which I hate.
Enough so that I bought a special license plate to say so.
I am for marriage equality because I am for equality. And I'm for love. And families.
"But your vote would count in Virginia!" people like to say.
My vote in Maryland helped pass marriage equality. All my friends' votes in Virginia didn't stop a law writing homophobia into their constitution.
We are moving our offices to Virginia (among other reasons) because it is "business friendly" but I'm staying in Maryland because it is human friendly.
* ... pause for TWSS ...
** 5 people in 35 years, 25th state per capita with a per 10,000 rate of .0009. HT to Death Penalty Info
*** IMHO
**** 108 people in 35 years (second only to Texas w 472) and a per 10K rate of .188
7 comments:
I have a Maryland bias as well, so take this with a grain of salt, but I am extremely unimpressed with the two VA governor candidates as well. One is a right wing kook and the other is a text book sleazy insider politician with all kinds of grubby deals in his recent history. Maryland knows crappy politicians, but both these VA guys look awful to me. Happy you are hanging out in MD for now.
Stick to your guns! Well, um, your principles. Wait, you don't think guns are so bad, so, stick to your guns!
Good for you! Maryland is hardly perfect, but it's better than Virginia.
Of course, you coulda moved to DC, but then you run into that whole nonvoting representation in Congress nonsense.
Part of a conversation with my boss about the move:
My boss: Marylanders talk about Virginia like all the Metro stations are surrounded by --
Me: Morlocks. Yes.
Leta said "Morlocks"... Well, HeeHaw extras actually but it is a subtle distinction.
Reminds me of an episode of west wing in which a gay republican congressman is asked by josh how he can be gay and in the republican party which so clearly is against who he is. To which the gay congressman asks why all the pro gun control people don't join the NRA. One voting meeting and the nra becomes pro gun control. This is of course paraphrased because I don't have the script but you get the drift.
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