<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">onics brass wants to milk taxpayers for a spanking new arena, but voters in liberal-leaning King County may get the final say. What ought to be a simple thumbs up or down has become a bit more complicated by personal politics. Some of the Sonics' new, politically conservative owners from Oklahoma don't quite see legalized gay marriage as the happy institution so many liberals in the Seattle area envision. Put another way, these out-of-towners don't mind desperately seeking cash from the public trough even if they never want to hear some of those folks utter "I do." So, should the public: A) Vote against such right-wing dimness and tell the Sonics owners to skedaddle? Or, Keep gay marriage out of the debate and let the arena idea fall on its own? The matter arises from news this week about Sonics co-owners Tom Ward and Aubrey McClendon. The two donated more than a million bucks to a conservative Christian group that opposes gay marriage. Americans United to Preserve Marriage believes gay couples "flout marriage" by using it for their own political agenda and by cheapening the institution. Ward and McClendon want to enrich marriage by any means necessary, so long as one partner is a man and the other isn't. How special. Truth is, when bigwigs in a sports organization use vast sums of personal cash to support any cause, their money can speak volumes about them as individuals. But it doesn't necessarily speak for the organizations they are part of. The political causes private people champion outside of the office shouldn't be held against their organization. What next? People who get mad at Sonics co-owner Clay Bennett because he may not recycle?</div> Source
