Uppity Wisconsin

Well, okay then, let me see if I understand this:

Fred Risser introduced a bill to ensure that women will not be legally prevented from breast feeding in public. A reporter from the Badger Herald asked Julaine Appling about her opinion on the bill, and printed a (and it looks reasonable to me) truncated quote from her.

Now she is complaining that she was misquoted - because breast feeding is only lewd sometimes and you should only be fined if your breastfeeding somehow crosses the line and becomes lewd. How the hell do you determine that? How much breast shows? How pretty the woman in question is? How happy the baby seems? Is there a community standard for this? Are breasts more lewd in Poy Sippi than in Madison? My mind reels. I'm always amazed at how easy some folks think it is to determine what behavior should and shouldn't be regulated.

If my actual words had been published, the public - including Smith - would have understood that my position is as follows: Breastfeeding is a natural, healthy act that should be allowed in public when done discretely.

Currently, Wisconsin exempts breastfeeding from public indecency laws, therefore allowing women to breast-feed in public without fear of criminal prosecution.

However, when a woman's natural, discrete act crosses the line of being overtly public and obtrusive, nothing -including a $200 ticket - should prevent an individual from telling a breast-feeding woman when discreteness becomes lewdness.

Yes, I know, someone apparently doesn't realize discrete and discreet are two different words, but I'll let that pass.

The question that I really wonder about in this case is - is it more lewd to Julaine if the mother in question is gay? Or less? This all makes my head hurt. I must stop reading what Julaine Appling says.