I sympathize with both CDFA position on not bringing ferrets into
california, and the views of whoever who ownes one (or wants to) but does
not want to be an legalization activist.
 
Let's consider our anon.  california resident.  The political process can be
intimidating, they may fear harassment by putting their name on the record
(not unreasonable, it happens), they may work for the gov't, or in a highly
regulated industry where any illegal act could cost them their job.  I've
been involved with various legalization campaigns, and there are always
people who stand to benefit, but will not aid, some people are just not
joiners, or have other demands on their time.  Six months ago I could not
have been as involved with the FML as I am now because I was working 80
hours a week and barely staying afloat.
 
CDFA has some very valid reasons to publically oppose bringing ferrets into
California.  By publically opposing it they place themselves on the moral
high ground, which is very important in politics where many politicians are
moral fanatics (publically).  Politicians fear being labeled 'soft on
crime', and advocating illegal ferret ownership could cost support.  Fish &
Game is law enforcement, and law enforcement is a very powerful lobby, and
no politicians wants to appear anti-law enforcement.
 
Seconadly I believe that ferret legalization also has conditional support
from other groups that could withdraw support if they felt the legalization
organizations supported criminal acts.  I do believe that some suporting
groups have give this support on the condition that their be no civil
disobediance or confrontational acts.
 
Politics is irrational, involves play acting, and not saying what you
really think.
 
CDFA has to put an a proper apperance as OUR lobbyist for legalization.
There is some big money in opposition to ferrets in California, not just F&G
but other groups we all know about, who view keeping ferret illegal here,
and making them illegaL everywhere else as an almost religious issue.
 
The FML is not a little club, it is a public forum and what you say can and
will be used against you.  Since I speak for myself, I don't care if someone
doesn't like it, but an organization can suffer great harm from a mis-spoken
public statement, or even something harmless taken out of context.
 
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[Posted in FML issue 1588]