It Is Not So, There Is Something Called The 14th Amendment

I read the opposition newsletters.

Why?

Well if you want to be informed on all the issues that affect our community then you have to read what the opposition is saying about us. Here is an example from an August email.

Transgender decisionImaginary right to serve
The far left is apoplectic about President Trump’s decision, via tweet, to ban transgender individuals in the U.S. armed forces. “The reality is that a person’s gender identity or expression has nothing to do with their (sic) willingness or ability to defend our nation,” Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Wednesday. “Any able person who wishes to serve in the military should have that right – regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.”

Serving in the armed forces is not and never has been a “right.” Applicants have been turned away for everything from poor eyesight to flat feet.

What should matter most to military recruiters – and, for the most part, does matter the most – is whether a prospective recruit can contribute in a positive way to completion of a military mission. That means being strong enough to endure the rigors of service; smart enough to remember and follow orders; and cooperative enough to be part of a smoothly functioning team. Unit cohesion matters.

Exactly! It should be based on the ability to serve and there are about 19 countries that permit transgender individuals to serve, many of them are our NATO allies.

Also notice how the author compares having flat feet and bad eyesight to us serving in the military, apples and oranges. By comparing us to health issues that bar a person from serving the author is implying that being trans somehow is a medical disability.

The author then goes on to say,

How, exactly, does the addition of women, homosexuals and transgender individuals – to an all-volunteer service, no less – enhance that war-winning character? Until advocates of such change make that argument, and make it effectively, their call to the principles of social justice has no meaning. And, as we noted in a September 2015 editorial: “(P)arents of young men and women should ask their congressional representatives if their children should die fighting for equal opportunity.”

You can see where this author is coming from, he doesn’t want women, homosexuals and transgender individuals in combat at all.
Then at the end of the email blast he plugs their fundraiser banquet.

Last week I wrote about advocacy, another thing that you have to do as an activist is know your opposition and one of the ways you go about that is to subscribe to their newsletter and read their website. And don’t you believe they are not doing the same thing with us, one time I called an amendment “The Scarlet Letter” and on the floor of the Senate one of the senators said that his amendment was not a scarlet letter.

I also know some people who go to the opposition rallies and video record them, for me I don’t have the stomach to go to their rallies.

Another good way to prepare for being an advocate on a bill is this Tully message box…

What we’re saying about us	What we’re saying about our opponent
What the opposing campaign is saying about themselves	What the opposing campaign is saying about us

Using the box you write down everything you can think of that could be used against us and develop strategies to use to counter their messaging.

For the Connecticut non-discrimination bill it worked out pretty good in helping us to come up with talking points to counter the threat from the opposition.

So part of being an activist is doing your homework and learning about your opposition.