Fighting the Bad Fight: New Article on the NY Regulation Fight
by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 1, 2008 3:58 PM EST
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The Times Union ran an article today on Assemblyman Bob Reilly's fight to keep MMA from becoming "legalized" in the state of New York. The juicy bits:
the soft-spoken Democratic lawmaker from Colonie, best known for giving his legislative salary to charity, remains a major impediment to the mixed martial arts industry's intense lobbying to get it legalized in New York state.
Reilly's impassioned remarks in opposition of the sport in a session of the Assembly's Committee on Tourism, Art and Sports Development last spring derailed the legislation, at least temporarily. Reilly said most constituents who have weighed in oppose it.
"I consider it brutal and savage. The lobbying and money behind it has gotten so intense since then that I feel like David against Goliath," Reilly said. "But I won't succumb to pressure."
...
Reilly railed against the caged battles once dubbed "human cockfighting." His fellow committee members, some of whom had little knowledge of the sport, voted against reporting out a bill that would have paved the way for making it legal in New York. It is currently sanctioned in 36 states.
"I'll express ignorance of this sport, but after Bob described what a vicious sport it was, it was voted down by everybody on the committee," said Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Niagara Falls. She's one of 20 members on the committee chaired by Steven Englebright, a Democrat from Suffolk County.
The last quote from DelMonte is the one that bothers me the most. The idea that people in charge of making decisions of this nature admit to being ignorant of the sport but then allow a single very biased opinion to sway them is irresponsible at best. The truth is, if you are unaware of the facts you need to get facts and not rely on one person's version of the truth to be the only information you take in.
I seriously doubt that any other situation could come up where a single opinion could be expressed and Assemblymen and women would say "well...that's all I need to hear. I'm convinced!" It's like going on trial and after the opening argument from the prosecution the judge turning to the defendant and saying "Well, you're obviously guilty because that guy says so."
Guys like Reilly take the hard and fast stance that this is about keeping a moral perspective rather than just go after easy money. The truth is that an honest moral and ethical decision is one made based on knowledge and facts from both sides of the issue.
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MMA is brutal...
but he killed the fuck out of that bird on the wall…
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 1, 2008 4:10 PM EST up reply actions
While what DelMonte said sounded extremely stupid, I’m not surprised that an impassioned speech provides enough headwind for a politician take the path of least resistance. Obviously, she doesn’t feel like the support of her constituency is intertwined with legalizing MMA. That’s not a principled approach, but again I’m not surprised. I don’t want to cast all that serve in public office in the same light; that would be unfair and inaccurate. However, I would like to have my cynical ass proven wrong on this topic.
my advice to some willing soul living in new york:
step 1 – find contact info for all the legislators involved
step 2 – draft form letters to educate them on the true nature of the sport (as well as the economic advantages), that can be personalized.
step 3 – create a blog with said information, and tell the entire online mma “community” about it.
it’s amazing how effective this kind of thing can be, when done properly.
I'm quite willing to take that up myself...
…even though I don’t live in New York.
Unfortunately our site name is a bit of an…iffy thing for trying to convince someone that the sport isn’t barbaric
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 1, 2008 4:23 PM EST up reply actions
ha, good point i suppose
something like “LegalizeMMAinNY.blogspot.com” that’s dedicated to the specific cause would work… and i believe those sites are free to create.
i suppose anyone could create it, i just figured the more new york residents involved, the better.
“I’ll express ignorance of this sport, but after Bob described what a vicious sport it was, it was voted down by everybody on the committee,” said Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Niagara Falls.
What? You mean you don’t have a lemming-like personality? :)
Seriously, if I were a local entrepreneur, I’d be pretty pissed that those in power can so carelessly effect my business in these downtrodden times, without a second thought.
I bet Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte expects due diligence when it comes to her mechanic or financial advisor or even mailman. And if that’s the case, she should be ready to apply those same expectations on herself, especially since she is in a position of power. For shame!
This is a case of
The ignorant leading the blind. I’m shocked this guy admits to ignorance and he spews out all that crap.
The people making the laws – you know, those in charge of voting on policies that affect how the rest of us live – apparently make decisions before they are informed. At this point, the fact that this guy is an elected official with responsibilities that affect the rest of us is a black eye for state government – and democracy as a whole.
If Bob here took fifteen minutes out of his hunting schedule to read a few statistics and well formulated arguments – maybe even a clip of some high end technical MMA – and still found the sport to be barbaric and immoral, I wouldn’t like it but at least I would know that my elected officials are doing their jobs and getting informed on issues they vote on. Hell, I would think the guy to be an idiot because you have to be to vote no to mixed martial arts at this point, but at least he did his homework. He did not. And, apparently, neither did Mrs. Delmonte.
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