Amanda Greever

“Golden Girls” has always been one of my favorite shows, more so now than it when it first aired in the 1980s. Just in case you’ve been living under a rock or a bridge, the show showcased the adventures of three women, Dorothy, Blanche and Rose, celebrating their golden years while living together in a house in Miami. To round out the group, you had Sophia, Dorothy’s 80-something mother, who had a razor-sharp wit. Sure, the show was filled with laughs and hijinks, but the writers still managed to tackle some tough issues in the show.

Take an episode I watched this past week. Blanche, a true Southern belle, received a visit from her baby brother Clayton. She’d been worried about him because he hadn’t dated or been involved with anyone seriously since his marriage had broken up. So, Blanche set him up with a lovely woman, but the date didn’t go so well.

I’ll skip all the details and hit the big finish: Clayton was gay but was scared to death to tell Blanche. He wasn’t sure how she’d react and if she could accept him. It took her some time, but by the end of the episode, which was called “Scared Straight,” she wanted to see her brother happy, whether with a woman or a man.

That episode aired in 1988, and over 20 years later, homosexuality is as big an issue as ever. Maine is the latest state to say no to gay marriage. I liked the phrasing a Time article used: “30 straight state elections.” That’s the winning streak of gay marriage opponents. The article also called gay marriage “an issue that simply will not go away.” Really? Do we expect it to? Sure, election after election is knocking gay activists back a bit, but do we really expect them to simply quit fighting for what they want? It’s not just about the right to marry whomever they please. It’s about rights, period.

A friend of mine recently got a new job. She’s a lesbian and in a committed relationship with another woman, but her boss didn’t know when she hired her. However, on her first day, the boss keeps asking questions about my friend’s personal life and significant other. My friend, getting more uncomfortable by the minute, kept dodging the questions, simply saying, “It’s complicated.” However, the boss wasn’t to be deterred and kept asking question after question, refusing to take a hint. And finally she got the info she craved when my friend came out, saying she was a lesbian and dating a girl.

The boss was shocked but not really upset. However, my friend began to panic about the security of her job because hard as it might be to believe, there are no rights protecting gay people from losing their jobs. Sure, you would think it would be blatant discrimination, but no, there aren’t laws saying so yet.

While the fight for gay rights may be a hot topic right now, the issue dates back a long time. The first actual gay-rights march was held in 1969. Of course, the support for gay rights was as vehemently opposed back then as it is now.

It’s been 40 years since that march, and where are we now? Looking back at those 40 years, we have the AIDS scare of the ’80s, the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in the ’90s, Prop 8 and other atrocities that make me hang my head in shame as one of those straight people of this nation. But in those same 40 years, you have the first marriages to take place in this country. And yes, it may look like a losing battle, but gay rights is gaining more and more support.

I realize that there are plenty of arguments that could be cited on both sides. One can state religious reasons, the other constitutional ones. But I like to look to Blanche of the “Golden Girls.” She wasn’t a fan of homosexuality. She didn’t believe in it, but at her core and in her heart, there was something more important: she wanted to see her brother happy.

Do we really want to live in a society where we choose to see others unhappy? Should my friend really have to be worried about losing her job because her sexuality might not be the “norm?” Should she really have to be worried to let people know the love of her life is another woman, and that one day, she wants to marry her?

I don’t know, maybe I’m just beating a dead horse again. I guess for me, it goes beyond religion and the Constitution. Maybe human rights are the most important reason of all.

“I am not a quitter. I am a fighter.”

Those are words Sarah Palin used to defend her decision to resign her position as governor of Alaska. The decision comes a year and a half before her first term ends. In the interview she granted with CNN, she noted that she had taken the tougher path in making this decision.

She blamed the “political bloodsport” that had sprung up since she was picked to be a vice presidential candidate, the yin to John McCain’s yang. She said her decision was spurred on by the various ethics complaints that had been filed against her. She said that the complaints were frivolous and took away from what the great state of Alaska deserved.

CNN also quoted her personal lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, in saying she needed a break after being “on duty for two and a half years solid.” He also said that jokes made by late-night host David Letterman had helped to contribute to her decision. Apparently Palin feels that she and her family were being attacked and was just tired of it all. Darn tootin’!

I’ll admit that the media has had a field day with this former beauty queen and her incessant manner of making those who listen to her feel a little bit brighter. Or dumber for having actually listened to the woman try to come out with a coherent thought.

Her interviews with Katie Couric were great entertainment. I honestly looked at them on YouTube when I needed a laugh. The characterization presented by Saturday Night Live’s Tina Fey was really more on the mark than many were willing to admit. You betcha they were!

And now Palin is under fire again, a fire of her own making. She claims she is a fighter yet the pressure of being in the spotlight and critiques have caused her to retreat. She doesn’t like the word “retreat” and instead says she’s making a progress of sorts. The problem is the fact that it’s not simply her critics that are blown away and bothered by her decision to resign. It’s her constituents, as well.

Palin signed a contract of sorts with the voters of Alaska. When they elected her, it was with the understanding that she would serve a four-year term and do what is in their best interests. Instead, she resigns and calls the days after that announcement “exhilarating.” She planned the announcement for the eve of Independence Day as she called this her moment of freedom.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not heartbroken by the fact that Sarah Palin resigned. I’ve found some amusement in the hubbub that’s been created. What makes it even more amusing is the fact that she is not ruling out the possibility that she will run for the 2012 presidency or any other public office. She says that right now she doesn’t need a title to serve the people of the great state of Alaska or Joe Six-Pack.

This lady has got some gumption for thinking it’s OK to resign an elected post because the pressure was too much and yet still be able to hope the voters of this country will trust her in one of the most powerful positions in the world. Lady, if you thought the pressure and criticism of being Alaska’s governor was bad, what do you think about the big job. The president doesn’t simply worry about one state, he or she worries about 50. Then there’s international relations because really, we don’t want another country’s nukes aimed at our heads.

Once you step into the spotlight, whether in public office or simply as a well-known figure, you accept the fact that not everyone will like you. You will be heckled, criticized and insulted. No one is popular with everyone, not even yours truly. A danger of being a public figure is the very knowledge that someone, somewhere would love to see you crash and burn. Don’t get me wrong. The limelight is not all bad but the higher you go, the more pressure there will be.

I’d love to see a woman in the highest position in the land. When I was in high school, I was determined I would be the first female to earn that office. Well, my chances are growing slimmer but the thought of Sarah Palin as president makes me throw up a little bit.

I’m both shocked and amused by those still hoping she’ll make a run for it in 2012. But I have to ask, do we really want a president that might wake up one day and decide she needs a break?

Fingers have been pointing and accusations have been flying like mad the last few days. On May 31, Dr. George Tiller was gunned down at his church in Wichita, Kan. Tiller wasn’t the doctor patients went to for bunions or backaches. No, he was an abortion doctor who specialized in late-term procedures.

For those who don’t know, late-term abortions are performed after the 20th or so week when the fetus is more developed and viable, or has a higher rate of survival. You can distinguish features, fingers, toes, etc. For some, late-term could apply to anytime after 12 weeks. It’s a procedure that is banned in several states and scorned by many.

It wasn’t the first attempt on Tiller’s life. In 1993, a woman went to his Wichita clinic and shot him in both arms. She was tried and found guilty of attempted murder. That woman only managed an attempt. Last weekend a man finished the job — while Tiller was passing out church bulletins as he performed his duties as an usher at his church.

I first learned of Tiller’s murder Monday evening as I was watching “The Ed Show” on MSNBC — hosted by talk radio host Ed Schultz. The words across the bottom of the screen read “Words Can Kill.” Those words paused my remote clicking and I decided to see what Schultz had to say. The segment blasted Bill O’Reilly — host of “The O’Reilly Factor” on rival news network FOX News — because he had been an outspoken opponent of Tiller, often dubbing him “Tiller the baby killer” and noting that the doctor would kill a baby for $5,000. Schultz called O’Reilly’s language “dangerous” and noted that “… freedom of speech doesn’t mean you can just go out there and say whatever the heck you want. …” Really? I thought that is what freedom of speech means, almost exactly.

Schultz brought on Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, who said that inflammatory words like O’Reilly’s encourage people to take the law into their own hands.

Schultz also showed a clip of Randall Terry of the Web site, www.overturnroe.com, reminding all pro-life supporters that Tiller was a mass murderer and that they shouldn’t let his death deter them from their goal and surrender their “best weapons of rhetoric.” In other words, their words, actions, protests and of course, the pictures of the dead babies.

I’ve done a lot of reading on George Tiller the last few days. I’ve read about abortions, including the late-term variety Tiller practiced. I’ve looked at the pictures of dead babies that opponents say Tiller aborted. I’ve read forums and comments of people heartbroken that this man is dead.

This isn’t about abortion. It’s not about whether it’s OK to kill a baby, whether it be four weeks or 24. It’s not about whether Tiller was trying to save lives as many have claimed. It’s not about Tiller earning the moniker of mass murderer, as others have said. It’s about murder, plain and simple.

Tiller was gunned down in his church, among his peers where he went to worship. This was a hate crime in every sense of the term. This wasn’t restitution for any lives he’d taken. This was murder. Tiller was a hated man in this country, even by some who had never met him. His death brings up an interesting point, though. Was his life less valuable than those of the babies that never had a chance to have lives of their own? Tiller left behind a wife, four children and 10 grandchildren. Is his death not murder, just as pro-life advocates claim abortion is?

I grew up in a black-and-white world. Things were either right or wrong. There was no gray. However, the older I get, the more I realize that this entire world is shades of gray, some darker while others are bright. Unfortunately, the older I get the more I see the ugliness of this world.

We call ourselves the greatest country in the world, and I believe that we are. However, we’re by no means perfect because all Americans are not created equally. We are still a nation of intolerance, although we’ve grown leaps and bounds.

The civil rights movements is in the past, but the “N” word is still used by some as an ugly name for black people. Stereotypical attitudes still run rampant, and interracial couples are still not completely accepted. Gay couples are not allowed to marry in most states because their chromosomes match. Instead, they are called sinners, and Bible verses are quoted.

And now some murders are more justified than others. I won’t say that Tiller was a martyr or a saint. No, I won’t try to tell you or anyone else that what he was doing was right. What I will say is he didn’t deserve to die at the hands of a gunman. It wasn’t up to you or me or that shooter to judge Tiller and decide his fate.

As far as we have progressed in our technology and ideology, we’re still sometimes as backward as we were the day Adam and Eve were kicked out of Eden. I was taught that we are “One Nation Under God.” When are we going to start acting like it? When do the senseless murders stop? When do the hate crimes stop? When does the hate itself stop?