In an attempt to convince Shirley Huntley to support marriage equality, Maya Angelou gave the New York Senator a call.
"I would ask every man and every woman who's had the blessing of having children, 'Would you deny your son or your daughter the ecstasy of finding someone to love?' To love someone takes a lot of courage. So how much more is one challenged when the love is of the same sex and the laws say, ‘I forbid you from loving this person’?” Angelou asked the Senator.
Even though Huntley is a fan of Angelou's poetry, she was unmoved by the statement. “If they gave me a million dollars, tax free, I just wouldn’t vote for it,” she said. Can I just point out that taking money for the vote would actually be illegal? Having one of the greatest poets of all time asking you to reconsider… well, there are no laws against that.
– Dewitt
If a senator is openly admitting to not considering the opinions of her people, and openly admitting that nothing can persuade her (or wait does she have any children we can convert to our agenda?) then she should immediately step down or be impeached. That is admitting to not fulfilling her role in democracy.
Actually, Craash… there are two theories about representative democracy. One is that elected officials should always vote the way they believe the majority of their constituents want. The other is that elected officials are chosen because we expect them to use their experience and conscience to vote, regardless of how any particular opinion wave might suggest in their districts.
Both are valid perspectives. They often overlap considerably – a district dominated by conservative Republicans or liberal Democrats will seldom elect someone out of sync with the majority. But sometimes, what the people want may conflict with what the representative believes is right – and that’s when he or she has to make a choice.