So you’re a teenager who won an oratory contest and you’re scheduled to receive an proclamation from your state rep. And guess what? You’re going to receive it from your state representative on the floor of the Ohio House Legislature. Cool, huh?
But wait. The Democrat Speaker of the House just found out that the award you’re winning was from the National Right to Life and cancelled the presentation.
But you’ll still get your proclamation though. Just…in the mail.
Tossing more gas on the partisan fire inside the Statehouse, a member of the House minority leadership team is criticizing the House speaker for declining to recognize a National Right to Life oratory winner on the chamber floor.
Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, wanted to stand before the House chamber and present an honorary House resolution to a Shelby County student for her accomplishment. Although she qualified for the resolution, House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, turned down Adams’ request for a floor presentation.
“It is an outrage that Speaker Budish has decided to politicize and deny the presentation of a proclamation honoring a national pro-life award on the House floor that was previously approved by the speaker,” Adams said in a release.
Ohio Right to Life called it “an unprecedented act of partisanship.”
“Perhaps his real message to Ohio’s teens is that excelling in public speaking isn’t worth being honored if their views are different than his,” said Mike Gonidakis, executive director of Ohio Right to Life.
This is the first time that Budish has denied a request for a floor presentation,
This is lunacy. Heck, even the crazies at the ACLU are saying this is crazy, according to Ohio Right to Life:
“By declining to recognize Ms. Trisler’s achievement, Speaker Budish has created a troubling precedent that anyone who is deemed ‘controversial’ by House leadership will not be honored,” said ACLU of Ohio Executive Director Christine Link. “Legislators should pay tribute to those who excel in their field, regardless of their political views or affiliations. This decision could cause legislators to second guess issuing proclamations for many Ohioans.”
Remember. Liberals know that in a fair fight they cannot defend abortion. Their only option is to silence us.
February 9, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Remember. Liberals know that in a fair fight they cannot defend abortion. Their only option is to silence us.
Does that include the liberals at the ACLU? Because they seem to be on the 'pro-life' side of this particular situation, as it were.
February 9, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Yeah as well all know the ACLU never tries to shut us Christian types up.
February 9, 2010 at 10:35 pm
A young girl? I thought we were "supposed" to believe that the pro-life crowd is aging!
February 10, 2010 at 8:12 am
With all respect, I don't know why we'd expect such an honor to be presented in a State House.
If an opposite situation presented itself, I certainly would not want a pro-life House Speaker to allow the winner of a NARAL oratory contest to receive a public proclamation.
My point: it is not unreasonable to want to prevent someone who has antithetical views from being publicly honored. The only irrationality here is that anyone could be for abortion in the first place.