All eyes were on Arizona Governor Jan Brewer this week as the country waited to see if she would veto the controversial “religious freedom” bill that would have enshrined antigay discrimination as law in the Copper State.
Earlier today, Hillary Clinton lauded Brewer for “recognizing that inclusive leadership is really what the 21st century is all about.”
We can’t help but wonder: Does Jan Brewer really deserve to be praised simply for acting like a decent human being? Especially after she milked the publicity for all it was worth? In addition to keeping everyone in suspense for days, she tweeted a picture of herself vetoing the bill, then held a press conference mere moments afterwards.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Tad
No, she deserves no praise for doing the right thing. She was elected and is paid to do just that. The fact that she doesn’t appear to be more concerned about the bill in the first place gives one pause. One would hope the voters of Arizona are able to find someone who doesn’t come off as a chain-smoking, hard drinking wretch next time. There has been nothing about this situation that has brought redemption or a positive light to the State of Arizona. Nothing.
Fitz
She acted like a decent human? When? No.. She acted like someone who saw the writing on the wall as far as the economic damage that bill could have done. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that she respects your rights.
ED49
If this woman had a chance, probably she would put all the gays in an oven and make homo cookies. She vetoed it because she had to,no doubt.
Mdterp01
Thank you Queerty!!!! Thats what I have been saying on countless other blogs. She doesn’t get praise from me for simply doing the right thing.
Dakotahgeo
Basically, the Republicans threw Governor Prune Face to the wolves, and they threw her right back! Neither side gained a thing except to make each other look totally stupid!
NG22
She deserves praise, but not necessarily admiration. Not all in this country are decent human beings when it comes to gay rights. It was not a given she’d veto SB 1062. Moderate Republicans and the business community wanted her to veto it, but the extremist, religious right members of Arizona’s legislature passed this bill two years in a row. This year, Brewer is closer to the end of her tenure as governor. And word is, if she vetoed this, the legislature would be less willing to pass her agenda items on issues like education reform in the state. She definitely lost political capital with the far right members of her party in the legislature, and as a result of her doing the right thing for Arizona’s LGBT and business communities, she may not be able to pass the reforms she wants to. And when you’re so late in your life and career, you’re thinking about your legacy. As the ACA will be President Obama’s legacy, her proposed reforms would have been her legacy. And by saying no to her own party, that may be in jeopardy.
We should always commend people for doing the right thing. I know when the shoe is on the other foot, I appreciate when Republicans commend Democrats for doing the right thing.
Atomicrob
Praise? That she had the good sense to avoid becoming the George Wallace of the 21st century? No, not praise. Acknowledgment that as she said, she did the right thing fir Arizona.
greyhound1954
@NG22: I live in the Phoenix area and I’m curious to know what these reforms are that you say Brewer wants to base her legacy on. She has been as powerful in pushing her agenda as any single GOP legislator; under her watch, public education has suffered in favor of private schools and charter schools; she was re-elected because of her support of the controversial anti-immigrant legislation; social programs have been gutted; and all the while, she’s falsely claimed that she’s gotten Arizona back on an even economic keel. Her legacy already exists and it’s the same as Reagan’s: the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, and the middle-class got screwed.
randalaw
Had Ms. Brewer made and announced her decision within minutes of the passing of this ludicrous legislation, or even had she made her decision before returning to Arizona, she might be deserving of some sort of acknowledgement, though definitely not praise. As it was, she smugly kept her opinion to herself until she got back home and conferred with people on “both sides of the issue” before coming to the decision to veto the bill. This probably indicates that she still wanted very much to sign it into law, but logic was just in no way on her side. She is a mean, ignorant, arrogant Grinch of a person who should never have been elected dog catcher, much less governor.
DarkZephyr
Actually I think saying SOMETHING nice might encourage others to make similar decisions. Snarking at her won’t.
misterhollywood
I will give her praise on this one. I was not sure which way she was going to go if truth be told. That she was entertaining conversations with different groups is both good and bad. The good is that she gave the appearance that she is open minded. The bad is that this should never have qualified as a legitimate conversation in the first place. Hard to imagine in this day and age people still hate on one another like this but … it still happens.
Respect4all
Human decency is so rare these days that people get called “heroes” just for acting like decent human beings. Just watch the evening news.
TommyBr
Praise? Sure — she did a good thing. She made the world a better place. Does making bitchy comments on internet message boards make the world a better place?
Harley
Praise? Hell, no. It’s pretty bad when even the NFL was calling this law homophobic and bad for business. There wasn’t any “consulting” to be had on this veto.
Mezaien
@DarkZephyr: They are all wolfs in sheep skin. White Christian, Republican, are the enemy of the USA.
Cam
It’s all about cash. Just like gay rights started moving when we finally started pressuring legislatures that groups like HRC told us to leave alone because they were our “Friends”. When we finally held their feet to the fire they finally had to move on gay rights.
With Brewer it was her donors, she was going all crazy and anti-gay and her donors said they would stop donating and she backed off. Politicians don’t care too much about being lauded, they just want to keep their cusy jobs and the money flowing.
Caliban
Praise? Not in my book. She vetoed this in response to the overwhelming backlash from a host of companies and organizations from the NFL to Apple computers. (It helped that Apple is in the process of building a manufacturing plant in AZ.) Her veto was ENTIRELY a financial one, done because it might be “bad for business.”
I have little doubt that if there had been no backlash from business leaders Brewer would have happily signed this heinous legislation into law. As it was she dragged it out over several days, either looking for a way to sign it without it biting her in the ass too bad or to maximize the attention she was getting from the situation. Letting it go on like that might have been a bad move- companies with anti discrimination policies are going to hesitate before locating in AZ.
dougmc92
so- we can shop in AZ…we can still be denied housing and a job…woo hoo
akingsfan
Praised for acting like a decent human being? Are you kidding me? She vetoed this bill NOT because it was the right thing…she vetoed the bill because she realized it would cost the State of Arizona hundreds of millions of dollars! The NFL was considering pulling the Super Bowl out of Arizona. And dozens of other businesses were threatening to boycott Arizona. This was not a “decent”, “right thing to do” decision. It was a financial decision! So praise??? Hell no! Had this not had an impact on Arizona’s financial future, she would have signed this bill in a heartbeat. The true character of a person is not found by simple action. It is found by the intent of their action. Yes, I’m glad she vetoed this disgusting bill. But am I going to nominate her for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year Award??? Hell no! She’s still a homophobic, right-wing nut job who, like most Republicans, only cares about the bottom line ($).
Spike
Decent human being, seriously Queerty?!!? All Jan Brewer did was guarantee that the Superbowl will be played in AZ next year.
BJ McFrisky
@Mezaien: Your racism toward white people is not welcome in this neighborhood, madam.
the other Greg
@dougmc92: “so- we can shop in AZ…we can still be denied housing and a job…woo hoo”
shhhhh… the c*cktail party activists will hear you!
@Spike: Right – if the Super Bowl hadn’t ALREADY been scheduled for AZ next year, I really wonder what would have happened.
jar
The praise goes to those businesses, especially the NFL, who applied pressure on the governor by making clear they would take their money elsewhere. She didn’t do the right thing, she did the necessary thing. No praise for that.
I imagine, though, we will see a lot of this kind of praise for Brewer because the two parties prop each other up to ensure the con can continue, just like Obama pulled the republicans out of the fire of their own destruction after the economic collapse- and continues to do.
Cam
@jar:
Well said!
freerights1127
i hope all of you are happy now. Enjoy having people spit in your food and spitting in your drinks. Enjoy being served by some people that hate your guts. Enjoy having some people not serve you as well as they serve straight customers. When you force people to serve gays and lesbians against their wills,they are not going to serve homosexuals and lesbians in a civil way. Enjoy having terrible service by ‘bigots’ and ‘homophobes’ you asked for it you got it. presto chango
JerryS
Had she done it because it was the right thing to do, absolutely. But that’s not why she did it. The world was coming down on her head and she couldn’t refuse any longer. Had her intentions been honorable, it would not have been a three day decision.
LubbockGayMale
Brewer got caught between a rock and a hard place; she loved the bill and its intent, but hated the economic fallout that might have occurred. Her veto was NOT heroic, but a cave in to economic interests threatening her place in history. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons isn’t heroic; heroic is sticking to your beliefs in the face of opposition. She’s a sell-out, something that more and more GOP/TPers are gonna become as they fall out of grace.
Dakotahgeo
@freerights1127: That possibility is the least of my worries. I’m more perplexed by your Tea Party ranting… it’s not good for your peace of mind. Kudos.
OhioMan
Jan Crow is not a decent human being…more like Pathetic Human Being…
loren_1955
Praise for doing the right thing, I don’t think so. Praise would have been worthy for doing the better thing by Brewer getting ahead of the legislation and publicly stating that the bill would be dead on arrival at her desk. Instead, she allowed a week to go by for Arizona’s reputation to be even further tarnished around the country and the world. Worse, in that week a number convention reservations were canceled and other business lost forever. That is a LOUSY was to run a state. Her legacy? Pandering to the rich and the businesses, same scenario found so many other places, the rich are richer and poor and middle class continue to take the shaft. Being an AZ resident, her leaving will not be missed, hoping beyond hope that the next person is not worse.
jmmartin
The answer to your question is no, she does NOT deserve praise. She bowed to an avalanche of pressure that flowed not only from lgbt-queer people but a handful of second-thought GOP legislators and big business, including the chamber of commerce and even the Superbowl authorities. Besides, the state already had its wake-up call when it passed the show-your-papers law and the refusal to make Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a state holiday. Brewer simply decided to do what Ted Cruz and some of the tea party representatives continue to insist on: cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Mezaien
@BJ McFrisky: You are welcome to leave!!
Bobby Christina Crawford
NO…she deserves disdain and hate filled comments the rest of her life. Gays taking the high road only leads us to bigot hell. It is clear she reluctantly vetoed this and you can bet your sweet ass she will NOW go overboard in making gay bashing comments to ensure her teabagging jeebus freaks that she is still one of them.
She can go suck off Larry Craig in a toilet as far as I’m concerned.
Mezaien
@Bobby Christina Crawford: AHAHAHAHAAH YOU ARE FUNNY AND VERY RIGHT.
randynphx
No!
And I tell you this as a long time resident of Arizona.
Gov. Jan is no friend to the gays!
LubbockGayMale nailed it on the head.
Had she wanted to do the right thing, she would have on day 1 at the US Governors Conference, not day 5 or 6 – but not only this, just minutes before she vetoed it, she actually held discussions with her “team” on the best way to “time” the veto to milk the press – in the end, she thought sooner rather than later was better…so I supposed you could give her a shout out for that – but that’s where it ends.