Kudos, New York!

The last-minute decisions of the Republican-controlled NY State legislature have us at once exalted and conflicted. A minimum wage hike that was so long overdue, had just been vetoed by Pataki, and seemed like it might never come to pass, has been put into effect. The Rockefeller drug laws, while still in place, have been significantly reduced in their harshness. (Imagine getting a life sentence for drug possession. That's insane. There are 400 such people in the NYS jails now.) This all seems strangely progressive. In fact, my dad confirms that "labor advocates and progressives generally are looking to the states as renewed 'laboratories of innovation' given the stagnation at the federal level."

Which leaves us torn: on the one hand, we want to get the hell out of the country. On the other, we want to stay in the state, keep up the good work, and make even more progress (and elect Spitzer). Where does this leave us? How funny (not ha-ha funny) is it that we the democrats want to run away from federal government and rely as much as possible on our state's discretion? My hope is that this can protect us against the oncoming (and ongoing) assault on our rights, especially women's reproductive rights. Because otherwise we really might have to hightail it outta here.

Of course since some states are passing gay marriage bans and other pet projects of the Bush Admin. into law, not all the states will be countering the federal trends.

And, hey, if it gets real bad and the divide becomes irreconcilable, there's always secession. I know the good people of DC would love a chance to storm the whitehouse with torches and billy clubs. We can make it a REAL War of Northern Agression!