Scott Chisholm Lamont, RN.

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)O( Green Man

I hope they get their asses bitten.

Few things are as satisfying as watching the high and mighty take a fall, especially when they have been behaving like arrogant pricks. Take our (in)famous Govenator, for example. Nurses were present at a speech he was giving in Long Beach to protest his decision to freeze the implementation of increased nurse-to-patient ratios. Schwarzenegger told the audience to ignore them as the nurses union is "a special interest" and was quoted as saying they were only upset because "I kick their butt". Needless to say, if the nurses weren't upset before, they certainly were from that point forward - even those that don't belong to the union. The California Nurses Association (the union) has made a point of appearing everywhere they possibly can to protest and to draw attention to Arnold's lack of tact....and to those special interests that Arnold does pay attention to, like the hospital lobby. This has even lead to national coverage (you need a subscription to Time or to pay a fee to read this link). To quote the San Francisco Chronicle: "Since then, the nurses have proved to have the kind of eye for spectacle that even a Hollywood star like Schwarzenegger might admire." I sincerely hope that Arnie will get his butt handed back to him by the nurses (yes, I'm biased).

Then there is Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party in Canada, who has lead the battle against Bill C-38, the piece of legislation which will allow homosexual couples to marry (in keeping with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms). He has been busy trying to get visible minorities on his side, in hopes that they are more socially conservative than the rest of the population, and so will move their support from the Liberal party to the Tories. Fortunately, it seems that those minorities, sensitive to the pluralistic nature of the country, are not to be swayed by this tactic. In a February 18 opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail, John Ibbitson said: "But there are early indications that the strategy is backfiring. Instead, the same-sex issue is probably going to cost Stephen Harper the election." Perhaps they see that if conservatives are willing to quash the status and freedoms of one minority, they might be willing to do the same to any minority (remember the fiasco over turbans and the RCMP uniform?). Meanwhile, the Liberal Party "has overwhelmingly endorsed same-sex marriage in keeping with the minority government's bid to legalize gay weddings. Similar resolutions, all pushed by the party's youth wing, were voted down at three previous conventions." I'll point out here that the Green Party has long endorsed this position.

So, Schwarzenegger and Harper may find themselves on the wrong side of public opinion, and have their own words bite them on the ass at their next election. I bloody hope so.