Here's the latest evidence of the overwhelming opposition to Arizona's okay-to-discriminate bill: A poll showing that by a two-to-one margin, the state's Republicans want Gov. Jan Brewer to veto the legislation:
In the automated poll of 802 Republicans by Coleman Dahm, a Republican political consulting firm in Phoenix, 57.1 percent of respondents who were asked about the bill said they would like Brewer to veto it. Only 27.6 percent said they want her to sign SB1062. The remaining 15.3 percent had no opinion. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.
With rank-and-file Republicans joining everyone from big-name corporations to both of the state's GOP Senators in urging a Brewer veto, the fact that she's
taking so long to announce her decision is all the more curious.
Nonetheless, pretty much everyone thinks her decision will be to veto the bill, even Rush Limbaugh. And Limbaugh's explanation for why she'll veto it is eye-rollingly predictable:
“She’s being bullied by the homosexual lobby in Arizona and elsewhere,” he said. “She’s being bullied by the nationwide drive-by media, she’s being bullied by certain elements of corporate America in order to advance the gay agenda. I guess in that circumstance bullying is admirable. In fact, this kind of bullying is honorable.”
I guess Rush Limbaugh defines standing up against bigotry as bullying, which if nothing else is probably an honest reflection of how he feels. And despite his sarcasm, it is honorable to stand up against discrimination.
But as we wait for Brewer to announce her decision, get ready for some nauseating commentary from pundits about how this episode shows how much the Republican Party has evolved because after several days of outcry, a Republican governor vetoed one of the most offensively homophobic pieces of legislation in recent memory. But it's not the GOP that's changed, it's the society around it. Yes, when caught with their pants down, Republicans might have the awareness to pull them back up, albeit incredibly slowly. The credit for that doesn't go to the Republican Party, however: It goes to the people who fought back against what they were trying to do.