Oy, I drank a lot last night. I high-fived a lot of strangers. I called my brother and yelled into his voicemail. It was awesome. In the end, I'm still not quite believing that we won. But we did. Really.
A couple of thoughts:
I don't think it behooves us to forget that John McCain's campaign was predicated on fear: fear of Muslims, fear of people from the middle-east. It was a deeply shameful campaign. To those who suggest we move on and heal: no. Karl Rove, George Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain and Sarah Palin have effectively dismantled the historic Republican platform of small government and personal responsibility and rebuilt it as one of race-baiting and fear-mongering. Let's not forget that. And let's hope that the Republicans out there start demanding better candidates. It's great to win, but it scares me that the Sarah Palin show played to the delight of crowds.
56 million people voted for McCain/Palin. 56 millions. That is a LOT of people. I bet a chunk of those people are cowering in their beds today, waiting for the Manchurian Candidate to put on his turban and start in with the terrorizing. I bet another chunk are expecting legislation requiring gay marriages and abortions for all. I bet a lot of them are just plain old dumbfucks.
I'm joyful that my guy won. I'm humbled and overwhelmed that my country elected as its leader the guy who based his campaign on the belief that we can be better, the guy who actually seems to believe in crazy concepts like fundamental decency, democracy and, you know, science. But I'm still a little disappointed. We didn't hit the trifecta. Prop 8 passed. In Arkansas, they think it's better to bounce kids around foster homes and group facilities than it is to let gay people adopt them. Which is just such unremitting, unrelenting bullshit.
But, that said, there's something about the election of Barack Obama that gives me hope that these last hurdles to basic human rights will eventually be jumped. I mean, y'all, think about it: President Barack Hussein Obama!
