A Bittersweet Election
I never thought I’d ever take as much of an interest in an election as I did this one and I never imagined that the outcome would move me to tears but I did get a bit misty-eyed last night. First I experienced tears of joy listening to the inspiring acceptance speech of a President-elect I truly believe will improve the quality of life for the majority in this country and will improve our standing on the international stage (fortunately, my curiosity over who was the white guy Oprah was hanging all over prevented me from being a total blubbering idiot). And I was thoroughly warmed to know that the American voters have progressed to the point of accepting a black person as Commander in Chief. The cheers I heard on the streets all night were beyond anything I’ve heard even on Superbowl Sunday. How cool is that for a political election? Obama’s victory confirmed that the American dream is alive and well for everybody (even if it’s only worth a fraction of what the Chinese dream is worth).
But unfortunately I later learned that people haven’t made as much progress as I thought so the American dream isn’t alive for everybody. I shed a few tears of sadness when it was certain that gay marriage bans passed in all 11 states where they were on the ballots, reminding me that a lot of ignorance and hatred still exists. It was particularly disappointing that Prop 8 passed in California, where I thought people were more tolerant of alternative lifestyles. I guess I should look on the positive side that 4.76 million people in the state voted in support of equal rights for everybody and that I’m not aware of a single friend who voted against that.
There was further disappointment when I learned the decriminalization of prostitution was shot down in San Francisco. It’s not like I’m a big proponent of sex-for-hire, it’s more an issue of logic to me. However, I was pleased to hear about some progress in a few states:
- Marijuana reforms passed in Massachusetts and Michigan (I’m all for legalizing and taxing pot as I am for prostitution).
- Washington became the second state to approve physician-assisted suicide. I have the horrible suspicion I’m going to live a long life and that all the crap I’ve done to my body will catch up with me so I’d like to know I have a few options when I think the party’s over.
- Nebraska voters approved a ban on race- and gender-based affirmative action. I don’t support preferential treatment based on gender or race any more than I support discrimination.
My disposition was improved throughout the night by watching Fox News and hearing anchor after anchor come up with ridiculous excuses as to why Obama won– that station is pure comedy, which is why it’s always my news channel of choice the three times a year when I actually turn on tv news. I have faith that Obama will prove his detractors wrong and live up to his hype and that he’ll be able to convince the countless moronic McCain supporters who still think he’s a Muslim, Socialist, terrorist-lovin’ Arab that he’s in fact what he says he is. And I predict that Obama will go down as the greatest President of my lifetime.
So I’d just like to say to President-elect Barack Obama: dude, don’t fuck this up.
I was SHOCKED to see the Prop. 8 passed in California. We here in Connecticut shot down Question 1 which was did we want a constitutional convention or not (required on the ballot every 20 years). If approved, our gay marriage rights in our state could have been in jeopardy. Yay Connecticut!