And crown thy good / with brotherhood / from sea to shining sea
Internets, I have to tell you: I wept actual tears of joy last night. Little old foul-mouthed cynical black-hearted me, blubbering like a loon, starting when they called Ohio and going pretty much right straight through Obama’s awesome, awesome speech. I am so thrilled, it’s hard to put it into words – or at least, words that don’t make me sound like a sappy-ass fool. Conditioned as I was to expect the rug pulled out from under me (see: 2000, 2004; see also: shenanigans; see also: crushing/bewildering defeat pertaining thereto), I half-expected even to wake up to headlines about McCain rescinding his concession, or some nightmarish vote challenge in Pennsylvania or similar horrific shit. But it’s true, it’s really really true:
PRESIDENT. OBAMA.
Gives you goosebumps, don’t it? In one day, the whole world changed – we shucked off that scaly skin we’ve been wearing around for eight long, dark years, we told the rest of humanity that we’re ready to join them again, we’re ready to be our best selves, we’re tired of the ceaseless grinding shit-machine we’d become and we as a nation are transformed. Obama is not magic, he’s not perfect, he’s not God – but he is a great leap forward for hope, for change, for the future. Holy SHIT, it feels good to feel good again!
-----------------
But this joy, unfortunately, is not the unalloyed variety. I speak, of course, of the loathsome Proposition 8, the willful entrenchment of vile and hateful bigotry into our state’s Constitution. I can’t walk around grinning my face off and doing my little happy dance about Obama, lest someone think I’m celebrating Prop 8’s (all-but-certain) passage, and I can’t mope around all glum, lest someone think I’m mourning McCain’s loss. It’s weird around my office, here in SF, among my co-workers – several of whom have married their partners recently in this window of opportunity, fearing they might not have the chance later.
It is astonishing to me that so many of the two-thirds of Californians who voted for Obama – a vote for change, progress, inclusion – simultaneously voted to strip a basic right from their co-workers, neighbors, friends and family members. It’s so ugly, so cruel and unnecessary – I’m so disappointed in my fellow Californians, and so heartsick for the people whose lives and marriages are directly affected by this loss of equality. It’s ridiculous, and it sucks, and I hate that so much of the energy behind it came from out-of-state religionists (it’s all “states’ rights, yay!” until it’s something THOSE motherfuckers don’t like, ain’t it?). Mr. Gleemonex blames “that jackass Newsom” (whose grandstanding “whether they like it or not” clip featured prominently in a lot of Pro-8 ads), and I can’t say I disagree; a lady who rides the bus with me furiously demanded that any church that posted signs, paid for mailers, or mentioned it from the pulpit should have its tax-exempt status revoked immediately (I definitely second that!).
I’m trying desperately to find some silver lining – I’m assuming there will be legal challenges, and that some lucky couple will eventually find their way to the U.S. Supreme Court (HHL, is that how it would work?), and maybe – MAYBE – the right to marry will go national in one blow, and these fucknuts will have won the battle (Prop 8) but lost the war.
We have to hope. And with President Obama at the helm, there is reason to hope.
May Shatner bless us, every one.
PRESIDENT. OBAMA.
Gives you goosebumps, don’t it? In one day, the whole world changed – we shucked off that scaly skin we’ve been wearing around for eight long, dark years, we told the rest of humanity that we’re ready to join them again, we’re ready to be our best selves, we’re tired of the ceaseless grinding shit-machine we’d become and we as a nation are transformed. Obama is not magic, he’s not perfect, he’s not God – but he is a great leap forward for hope, for change, for the future. Holy SHIT, it feels good to feel good again!
-----------------
But this joy, unfortunately, is not the unalloyed variety. I speak, of course, of the loathsome Proposition 8, the willful entrenchment of vile and hateful bigotry into our state’s Constitution. I can’t walk around grinning my face off and doing my little happy dance about Obama, lest someone think I’m celebrating Prop 8’s (all-but-certain) passage, and I can’t mope around all glum, lest someone think I’m mourning McCain’s loss. It’s weird around my office, here in SF, among my co-workers – several of whom have married their partners recently in this window of opportunity, fearing they might not have the chance later.
It is astonishing to me that so many of the two-thirds of Californians who voted for Obama – a vote for change, progress, inclusion – simultaneously voted to strip a basic right from their co-workers, neighbors, friends and family members. It’s so ugly, so cruel and unnecessary – I’m so disappointed in my fellow Californians, and so heartsick for the people whose lives and marriages are directly affected by this loss of equality. It’s ridiculous, and it sucks, and I hate that so much of the energy behind it came from out-of-state religionists (it’s all “states’ rights, yay!” until it’s something THOSE motherfuckers don’t like, ain’t it?). Mr. Gleemonex blames “that jackass Newsom” (whose grandstanding “whether they like it or not” clip featured prominently in a lot of Pro-8 ads), and I can’t say I disagree; a lady who rides the bus with me furiously demanded that any church that posted signs, paid for mailers, or mentioned it from the pulpit should have its tax-exempt status revoked immediately (I definitely second that!).
I’m trying desperately to find some silver lining – I’m assuming there will be legal challenges, and that some lucky couple will eventually find their way to the U.S. Supreme Court (HHL, is that how it would work?), and maybe – MAYBE – the right to marry will go national in one blow, and these fucknuts will have won the battle (Prop 8) but lost the war.
We have to hope. And with President Obama at the helm, there is reason to hope.
May Shatner bless us, every one.
Labels: balls o'clock a.m., booze makes things better, christ on toast points -- politics, things that are great, yes Sensei
posted by Gleemonex at 11:54 AM
2 Comments:
Yeah, the state's rights thing is a touchy subject with me. While I'm kind of a believer in such a theory, here's the thing: if state's rights had been protected at all costs, someone like Obama wouldn't have the right to go to a white school, much less run for president in a Re-he-he-heeed State like the one in which I live. You know, sometimes I don't want the ignoramuses around me making policy...
Oh I hear ya, bgirl. I'm just saying, it's all those people who want states' rights for THEIR little thing (segregation, banning interracial marriage, etc.), but not for OURS ... hypocritical at its core, that is.
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