For decades, the slogan for the state of Nebraska was "The Good Life." Although the Nebraska Tourism Commission had rolled out other taglines through the years, that's the only one Nebraskans themselves seemed to know.
Then in 2014, that changed. "Nebraska Nice" was heavily promoted. It didn't go over well. Everyone knows that "nice" means "okay, but boring."
In 2019, the state took a 180-degree turn. "Nebraska: Honestly, it's not for everyone" became the catchphrase. Its ads promoted the outdoors and implied that Nebraska is only for the adventurous. The slogan was actually a challenge.
I did like the new phrasing in promoting tourism. But I wonder if the state is admitting to something else as well.
Nebraska went from "the good life," to "nice" to "not for everyone."
What's next, "It's not for anyone?"
As a resident of Saunders County, I'm beginning to wonder. In June, I was denied the right to vote. Not just me, but every registered voter in the county.
Here's what happened: In 2020, Republican Rep. Don Bacon of the 2nd Congressional District (which includes Omaha) barely retained his seat, winning just 51% of the vote. The officially non-partisan but in fact Republican-dominated one-house state legislature (called the Senate) used the Census data of that year to redistrict conservative Saunders County from the 1st District to the 2nd in the hopes of making it a safer seat for Bacon and future Republicans.
Then in late March 2022, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of the 1st District was forced to resign after being convicted of federal felonies.
Nebraska law says a special election to fill the vacancy must take place within 90 days. That took place in late June. Remember, this wasn't for the new District boundaries, it was for the boundaries as they were in the 2020 election, for the term ending in January 2023.
But in the meantime, the state had already printed ballots for the May primary elections, which were for the new boundaries and the term of office beginning in January '23.
It was just too much trouble to reprint ballots based on the old boundaries for the vacancy election. This meant the people of Saunders County were barred from voting in the election to replace Fortenberry.
We were disenfranchised.
In that vacancy election, Republican Mike Flood won 52.7% of the vote. Voters in parts of Sarpy County, who were moved from the 2nd to the 1st just as Saunders was moved from the 1st to the 2nd, were allowed to vote in this election even though Don Bacon is still their Representative until January. The people of Saunders County couldn't vote in the 1st District vacancy election even though the winner would represent us until January.
In other words, this election was illegal.
The state has one job: to make sure everyone who has the right to vote has the opportunity to do so. Instead, we were denied the right to vote. Nebraska failed.
That's not the only way it has failed. "Every U.S. state except for Nebraska and Idaho has passed at least some legislation allowing legal medical cannabis use." Petitions for a state referendum were disallowed in 2020 and again three weeks ago. State senators refuse to do the decent thing and legalize it themselves This will force the parents of sick children to again go through the rigamarole of getting ballot access in 2024.
I thought Nebraskans had a reputation of not only being "nice," but fairly moderate and reasonable. The state senate, as a whole, is not.
This body includes Bruce Bostelman (my own senator), who spoke against "furries" in the classroom last March in a video that went viral and had the entire nation laughing at us.
100 minutes west of where I live, a high school shut down its school newspaper because its last issue (from last May) was pro-Gay Pride Month and pro-choice on the use of personal pronouns.
Northwest Public Schools board Vice President Zach Mader said that in the past, “I do think there have been talks of doing away with our news if we were not going to be able to control content that we saw (as) inappropriate.”
It's true that Northwest Superintendent Jeff Edwards took issue with the impression that the school censored its students, but it's also true that he gave no other explanation for "pausing" the newspaper. He just didn't like the bad press.
Journalist Rick Brown writes
The actions of the administrators speak volumes… [W]hen I called the district office to ask a few questions — before I could get much farther than introducing myself and asking for the school district’s official side of the story — the person who answered the phone hung up without a word.
If Grand Island is the example, then Nebraska is not for everyone. Especially not LGBTQ+ or their friends and allies. Or anyone who supports the right of young people (who are forced to go to school by law) to express their opinions.
Perhaps Nebraskans, or their "leaders" in the Capitol and Boards of Education, were always this ignorant and intolerant. Then again, has it always been like this? I've never before heard of an entire county being disenfranchised due to sheer laziness.
Perhaps things really are getting weirder.
But I think Nebraska still can be "the good life."
And Nebraska should be for everyone.
James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!
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