“What does it feel like to be in a country where you are continually abused, misused, ignored, and no one ever stops and says, ‘Gee, we were wrong?’”
Sec of State Shirley Weber
The idea or reparations for Californians of Africans descent is a controversial idea which I don’t wish to get into. This is about legalizing ferrets in California. And to do that our most likely, but still unlikely path is through the California legislature.
How complicated could it be? Domestic ferrets are legal in 48 states. There is no documented harm from having them as pets. Domestic animals are legal per our state constitution, but California gets away with that by intentionally misclassifying them as wild animals. The real reason is otherwise. (Environmentalists are concerned about the carbon footprint of pets in general and PETA believes pet ownership is animal slavery and wants to discourage the practice.)
Shirley Weber was my Assemblywoman. She is now the California Secretary of State. In dealing with other legislators, they tell me she is highly regarded. I’ve never heard anything bad about her. So, I have some respect for her as a person. Her staff has always been professional, courteous, and prompt in every dealing I’ve had with them. I even voted for her last election. I usually don’t vote for incumbents.
But I find it ironic that she issued the statement above. That statement could be from us, California ferret owners.
But there’s more to it.
The issue of racial justice is a hot topic. There is a ton of money flowing into Black Lives Matter and other similar organizations. They have clout. No one is ignoring them.
The ferret issue is marginal. It is a simple issue. If legislators were interested in doing the right thing they would give us 15 minutes of their attention to consider the issue.
But no. Only one legislator out of 120 took our request seriously.
As an assemblywoman, Shirley Weber would not meet with us. I filled out all the paperwork for a meeting and was never acknowledged. Even during her zoom meeting “There ought to be a law” they said to fill out the paperwork. Just so happens I had it on my desk. It was never acknowledged.
And then she was appointed as Secretary of State and that was the end of that.
I’m also tired of being ignored. Our rights don’t come from the government. We’re not asking for anything that costs other people money. Quite the contrary in fact.
Our elected officials are supposed to defend them. But in California, it is all about the money, not right or wrong.