Read It First....Then Tell 'Em To Piss Off

Imagine it's just any day in Maine, an ordinary day, and you are out and about doing errands, groceries, dry cleaning, post office. And it's there, at the Post office, that something odd happens. You walk in with your letters to mail, or a handful of bills to buy stamps, and a woman asks you to sign a petition; she's holding two clipboards.

"What's the petition for?" You ask.

"This one, " she says, holding up the one in her left hand, "is against gay marriage. But this one," she shows you the one in her right hand, "is for gay marriage."

You're perplexed, because gay marriage....marriage equality....is legal in Maine. So, you take a look, a close look, at both petitions, and discover that they are both against marriage equality.

That's what Gerard Caron discovered at the Auburn, Maine, Post Office. And he said a friend had the same thing happen to him at the Lewiston Post Office.

from the SunJournal

Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state, said her office has received calls from people concerned about the petitioning process, but not a surprising number.

"It's a buyer beware situation for the voter; they really need to be sure of what they are signing," she said. "But people can say what they want, it's a First Amendment issue. We don't have anything in law that allows us to monitor or enforce signature gatherers."

I understand First Amendment rights, and i understand people behind against marriage equality based on religious issues--no matter how old, how antiquated. But I don't understand how it's right to allow people to gather signatures for a ballot initiative by lying to people about what they are signing.

So, if you live in Maine, and some glassy-eyed-wingnut-with-a-pasted-on-smile asks you to sign something, READ IT!