We’re used to the profound level of insignificance typically found in the editorials in the Olympian. (Actual topics from the past couple weeks: education, Martin Luther King Jr., and volunteers – good; stalking and derelict buildings – bad. And that’s not counting the notorious “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down” feature.)
However, even we were surprised at the Olympian’s take on the gay marriage debate now playing out in the state legislature. To recap: Governor Gregoire, apparently hoping her political base will forgive and forget everything else she’s done over two terms, came out strongly for marriage equality, helping push a bill to close to passage in the state Senate (as of press time).
So, how did the Olympian respond? Let’s start with the first words of their editorial: “Will Washington become the seventh state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage? Will lawmakers be so distracted by the contentious issue that they let it divert them from their primary purpose – balancing the state budget?”
What?! Seriously? That’s what they’re concerned about? Whether it will distract legislators from the state budget? Are they joking? Sadly no.
Reading the rest of the editorial, we find no indication whatsoever of the Olympian editors’ views on gay marriage itself. No support, no opposition, not even concerns or reservations. This is the biggest political showdown to date (at least in Washington State) over the biggest civil rights issue of our generation, and the Olympian literally has no opinion on it. Astounding.
(OP&L doesn’t cover state issues, and technically this editorial is about the Olympian, not gay marriage, but since we brought it up: Of course the legislature should pass marriage equality. They should have passed it years ago. The people who oppose marriage equality today will one day be remembered like the people who opposed school desegregation.)
In case you think we’re taking the Olympian’s words out of context, their own headline for the editorial was “Same-sex marriage could be distraction from budget crisis”.
The legislature passes a couple hundred or so bills every session, some controversial, some not, in addition to the budget. No one is going to get to the end of the session and say, “Oops, we were so distracted, we forgot to vote.”
Marriage equality might pass, or might not. And the budget might pass in the regular session, or might get delayed until a special session (as the Olympian says they fear). In any case, the outcome will be determined by political decisions, not because anyone got distracted.
Another simple option for avoiding distraction: pass the bill quickly and move on.
But surely the Olympian editors know all that. The sheer inanity of their editorial is so extraordinary that we can’t help but suspect that it is cover for something else. What aren’t they saying?
They discuss Gregoire’s self-described “journey” on this issue at some length; maybe the editors are on their own journey, but just can’t bring themselves to admit it. Maybe they want to support marriage equality, but there is some homophobe higher up the corporate food chain who won’t let them say so. Or the reverse. Or maybe they fear losing subscribers and advertisers whichever position they take, so they fear to take either.
Failing to express an opinion on an issue of public significance amounts to an endorsement of the status quo. For that alone, the Olympian editorial board must be considered anti-marriage equality.
That’s bad enough. What makes it worse is that the dominant local media outlet has topped itself with another editorial that simply fails to contribute anything useful to the conversation.