I'm not sure, as I begin this diary, how long it will be or how much I will say. Because I had a bit of time on my hands I was browsing some of my other favorite internet sites (yes, I have other sites I like besides this one) and ran across a wonderful and powerful video featuring Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane. The site I found it on, Good As You, is one I don't visit as often as I ought to.
Normally I'd simply embed the video, which is, after all, on YouTube, but Jeremy Hooper, the man behind Good As You, has helpfully cued it (a skill I haven't yet mastered) to begin at the most important point, around 8 1/2 minutes into a 16 1/12 minute presentation at an event called "Thinkfest" which I actually know nothing about.
You can find a link to the specific article, with the cued up embedded video, right here. Kane's presentation is well worth watching in its entirety. I'll give you some commentary below that orange thing on your screen.
Kane is one of the good guys (and gals) in the fight for marriage equality. As has been reported widely, here and elsewhere, there are several court cases underway right now, challenging Pennsylvania's state-level equivalent to the now-eviscerated federal Defense of Marriage Act. The laws are so similar to each other that they even have the same name. That isn't by coincidence, and it is equally not coincidental that, despite Republican Governor Tom Corbett's insistence on maintaining it, the state law is legally doomed. Kane, in her role as state Attorney General, is refusing to defend the law on the quite reasonable basis that it is patently unconstitutional.
By watching the video you can see right away what an amazing individual Kane is and why right-wingers in Pennsylvania are terrified of her. Her framing of the issue is quite brilliant. She begins by asking her audience to imagine that, thanks to the person sitting next to them, they are finding themselves arrested and being taken to jail (on what charge? Doesn't matter.). She notes that law enforcement is the only branch of government that can take away an individual's freedom under cover of law. She then suggests that each audience member look at the person next to him or her and realize that, rightly or wrongly, their neighbor is the one who is responsible for him (or her) having their freedom taken away. She then goes on to explain why, under the Constitution, that should NEVER happen, linking her argument in defense of marriage equality not only to previous fights for equality, focusing in particular to the Womens' Suffrage movement, but to her own family history.
Go ahead. Watch the video. You won't be disappointed. If I lived in Pennsylvania, I would vote for this woman for ANYTHING. If she ever runs for national office I'll be sure I do the same.