Politicians are Terrible at Their Jobs - Good and Bad

Back in 2010, Arizona passed HB 2281, a law that prohibited schools from offering any classes that

"1. PROMOTE THE OVERTHROW OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
2. PROMOTE RESENTMENT TOWARD A RACE OR CLASS OF PEOPLE.
3. ARE DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR PUPILS OF A PARTICULAR ETHNIC GROUP.
4. ADVOCATE ETHNIC SOLIDARITY INSTEAD OF THE TREATMENT OF PUPILS AS INDIVIDUALS."

This made it illegal to offer classes on subjects like Chicano/a literature in public school. You will note that Arizona has one of the highest Chicano/a populations in the country. While this piece of legislation was a hamfisted and reprehensible attempt to quash multiculturalism, it had the unintended consequence of mobilizing intellectuals and promoting ethnic studies like never before. You can read all about it in this Atlantic article.

The thing about politicians is that most of them have little imagination. They are constrained by the very tools that grant them power. Racist white people told the legislature that they resented being called racist, so the legislature said, "I got it! We'll just make it illegal for them to learn about racism in the first place." Republicans have long held the belief that ignorance is the path to harmony (see: conservative stances on sex, drugs, and non-capitalist views of history and law).

I feel that a similar story will play out over the next four years as Republicans attempt to roll back civil rights and legalize bigotry. Sure, you can make it legal for a business owner in Buttfuck, Illinois to refuse someone a cake based on their sexual orientation. You can grant protections to county clerks that don't want to do their jobs. But the winds are not with these people. The majority does not share their opinion. As with North Carolina's bathroom bill, people will find that bigotry isn't great for business.

All of this is scant comfort to the LGBT community, I'm sure. This is not meant to diminish the effects of bigotry or to say that the Republicans can't cause immense harm. They can. And they certainly will. There will be casualties. But it is a reminder that their reach often exceeds their grasp, and the guy leading them has small hands indeed.