There is an article in City Pages about a “Vote Yes” billboard that was vandalized recently.  This is a crime that needs to be punished, not a humorous incident to snicker at.

Minnesotans live together, but disagree about many things.  I vote yes, you vote no.  We can argue, but if I beat you up, or break the windows in your house, or slash your tires, I should go to jail.  If I say to the judge “I was drunk” or “but he insulted me”, the judge doubles my sentence and adds a fine.  Excuses don’t wash. The judge is looking for repentence and a commitment from me that mycrime will not be repeated.  Motivation is irrelevant, I crossed that line, committed a crime, and should be punished.  Civility and public safety in our free society depend utterly on the self control of its citizens.

If you read the article in City Pages carefully, you will detect an attitude that almost blames Minnesota for Marriage for their foolishness in putting up the billboard.  Of Course it got vandalized!

As City Pages put it: “It’s the old ‘mess with the bull, you get the horns’ thing.”

The editors at City Pages should remember that they may take controversial stands some day.  If someone commits a crime to silence them, and the police say to them: “mess with the bull, you get the horns”, will they apologize for being foolish, and fade away?

Do we give a pass to those who commit crimes, when the victims are unpopular?

Given the frequent rhetoric of the “vote no” community that they are protecting the oppressed, the irony is thick.