Election Day-After
I am exceedingly pleased that Barack Obama is our president-elect, that so many people voted for him, and that the strident and hysterical appeals to racism, violence, and nationalism fell only on the ears of the most hysterical of the electorate who are now free to crawl back under the rotting compost heaps whence they came. Yes, yes, they're Americans, too–born here, at least–but it's time they grow up and start acting like Americans.
On the other hand, I am bitterly disappointed that so many Californians could vote in favor of their ballot's proposition 8, vote to take away rights from their fellow Californians. I may even be disgusted–we'll see. It will, however, be a Pyhrric victory, akin to the Supreme-Court victory hard-fought by the Boy Scouts: they got to keep in place their policy of rejecting gay people as scout masters but lost the respect their organization had kept for decades. Was it worth it?
I know, and the opposition knows, that they are on the losing side of history on equality for gay and lesbian people, and yet they persist in these battles as though it means permanent victory when, in fact, we all know that it will be temporary. What will last far longer is the bitter memory of hatred, religious bigotry, and outlandish false witness that they spent to delay the inevitable and keep alive their hard-won reputation for being mean spirited.
Optimistically I'm hoping that this is the last gasp of Republican mean-spiritedness that has pervaded our politics for at least the last two decades. Along with the mean-spiritedness came a whole passel of oligarchic policies that were bad for the economy, bad for society, bad for America. We've now done those experiments and there's now a whole lot of conservative territory we don't need to revisit. Despite anxious Republican assurances to the contrary (already being tried out days before the election), this election was a thundering repudiation of conservative policies. Here's hoping that the Bush administration has done as much damage to Republican ideology as it has to the country and our reputation in the world community.
As we've seen before, now that the Republicans are a minority party again (a role they serve very well), experience shows they'll be all over the idea of promoting bipartisanship as a strategy which they are certain to ignore as a tactic and will forget if they ever regain the majority. Democrats in the Senate: remember the filibuster! Fall for that trick again and it will be "Fool me once…fool me twice…fool me thrice…." Don't be such fools. Bipartisan cooperation is good when it works to accomplish what's good for America.
There are many changes needed in governance, and plenty of legislation and policy that needs overhauling. That will need time to work through. But, there are also many things that have been sorely lacking in American governance during the last eight years that can be corrected instantly. I want to see a restoration of integrity, honesty, transparency, and democracy.
Obama is one man and can't do it all himself. Obama is also the focus of the hopes and energy of the 64 million people who voted for him, and we can accomplish anything we can dream together.
8 Responses
Subscribe to comments via RSS
Subscribe to comments via RSS
Leave a Reply
To thwart spam, comments by new people are held for moderation; give me a bit of time and your comment will show up.
I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.
on Wednesday, 5 November 2008 at 23.50
Permalink
"I know, and the opposition knows, that they are on the losing side of history on equality for gay and lesbian people . . ."
Absolutely right. I just heard the other day Connecticut will begin issuing marriage licenses for same-sex partners on (I think) Nov. 12. Like learning, progress on these things is rarely like a line going up at a 45-degree angle on a graph, but rather like a series of stairs, where a few quick steps up are followed by some time on a plateau. Then it's moving up again.
The majority of Californians will come around, as will most Americans.
on Wednesday, 5 November 2008 at 23.54
Permalink
BTW, I noticed congressional Republicans, in separate interviews, talking about more bipartisanship a week ago and ever since. These were some of the same ones who've so arrogantly lorded it over Democrats, "We've got the votes, and you don't."
IMO, their dedication to bipartisanship is worth just what they've given toward that sometimes worthwhile approach: so much hot air.
on Thursday, 6 November 2008 at 00.26
Permalink
For a moment there I thought you were talking of "Americans too-born", which is an interesting phrase, perhaps related to those who claim to be "born again" or those for whom fanatical patriotism short-circuits most rational thought. I need to think on it for a while. …… "Too-born Americans" …..
on Thursday, 6 November 2008 at 04.22
Permalink
>>>>…and that the strident and hysterical appeals to racism, violence, and nationalism
Dude! I didn't even get started. This was a pillow fight.
>>>>…who are now free to crawl back under the rotting compost heaps whence they came.
You're too kind. My place is much worse.
>>>>I am bitterly disappointed that so many Californians could vote in favor of their ballot's proposition 8
Tsk. A state that went for Obama also voted for this. What happened? Word from my side of the street is that apparently Black and Latino voters broke heavily for prop 8. The demographic future doesn't look good for your side.
on Thursday, 6 November 2008 at 11.06
Permalink
Pillow fights are over, lights out!
If you need to upgrade your place, Fred, you might consider moving up to a double-wide. I understand that the Bush administration still has quite a few on hand in Louisiana, good price, only slightly toxic.
It does seem that demographic voted in favor of P8, but I don't think it was a break for conservatism, rather a break for their religion as ordained by those they think are their religious leaders — unless you mean that is conservatism. It's hard to tell these days.
Oh, I think our demographic future looks fine, actually. Black and hispanic cultural homophobia is challenging but not insurmountable.
Why, they might even have voted with us if more of them knew what they were voting for. Even the P8 proponents realized that the man-woman, "protect marriage" thing wasn't a strong argument that would win voters, so they went the traditional fear route using–again–children as shields: "vote for prop 8 or your children will be indoctrinated into the homosexual lifestyle in Kindergarten!"
That one still had magical power it seems, although "Obama is a socialist and eats babies" seems not to have worked so well. Unfortunately for your side of the street, people do learn.
on Thursday, 6 November 2008 at 14.52
Permalink
>>>>Unfortunately for your side of the street, people do learn.
I don't find knowledge unfortunate. What is unfortunate is when people learn too late, such as when their pocket is empty and their government is large.
on Thursday, 6 November 2008 at 15.57
Permalink
Knowledge is good; wisdom is even better.
on Friday, 7 November 2008 at 03.17
Permalink
RSF wrote: "The demographic future doesn't look good for your side."
Au contraire. There's a pivotal group far larger than black and Hispanics combined: the young. Polls going back at least a decade show high and rapidly rising acceptance by young people of others who happen to be gay or lesbian. Those polls also indicate a growing understanding that one's native sexuality is no more a matter of personal choice than is the color of one's eyes or pitch of one's voice.