Over the past few days, I've found myself often having to fight the feeling that I'm living in a dream. After eight years of criminal ineptitude, corruption, and greed, 11.4.08 heralded what now can only be accurately described as a sea change. I'm not naive enough to believe the idiotic notion that life will once again be wonderful once President Barack Obama takes the oath of office on 1.20.09. Still, it's hard not to feel optimistic again...something I haven't felt over the past eight years.
I could continue to rail against the incompetence and ineptitude of The Worst President EVER © - Lord knows I've done enough of that over the past few years- but I'm going to make a concerted effort to look to the future instead of the past. We cannot change what's come before, but we can certainly work to make the future better for ourselves and our children and grandchildren. Barack Obama is but one man, and by himself will be able to do little to improve anything. What his election does, and should, herald is that change can come from the bottom up. By running one of the most effective grassroots campaigns ever, Obama put the lie to the contention that one person, one vote can't make a difference. Indeed, one person, one vote is the only political reality that ever has made a difference in this country.
When I take off my rose-colored glasses and survey the political landscape, it's tough to escape the reality that there's a LOT of work remaining to be done. All one needs is to look at California to see this. Yes, the very same African-American community that helped to so overwhelmingly deliver the state to Obama also voted in a 70% majority to approve Proposition 8, which outlaws same-sex marriage. No, African-Americans are not solely to blame for turning California into the poster child for hatred of and discrimination against "Teh Gayz", but clearly the lessons of the Civil Rights movement have been lost on the African-American community.
Yeah, I got my civil rights. You go get your own....
Yes, we have a LOT of work in front of us. Until politicians like Barack Obama have the moral courage to stand up and demand equality for ALL Americans, then none of us will enjoy true equality. Unfortunately, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" still seems to apply only if you have the correct imaginary friend and hew to the majority ideology, theology, lifestyle, and sexual orienation.
Like most on the Left, I'm ecstatic that Barack Obama is our President-elect. All you have to do is to consider the alternative to understand why I feel that way. Nonetheless, this is still a far from perfect union. We still live in a world where both Presidential candidates treated Muslims like lepers and refused to address the crying need for sexual orientation and lifestyle to be addressed as part of the equation for equality. We still live in a world where moral courage is at a minimum when it comes to standing up for minorities when the majority despises them.
In a perfect world, Barack Obama would fly to California and take a principled stand, demanding that Proposition 8 and hate-fueled measures like it go the way of the buffalo. There needs to be only one recognized reality: if you do not believe in same-sex marriage, then don't have one. One person's morality, theology, and/or ignorance and prejudice cannot and should not be allowed to hold sway over the rights and liberties that accrue to someone who happens to think, act, and live differently. Majority hatred of a minority cannot and should not be the basis for public policy. Californians deserve better. WE DESERVE BETTER.
51% of California voters ought to be ashamed of themselves for perpetuating the fear, hatred, and ignorance that has been part and parcel of our history. Yes you did; I certainly hope you wake up every morning wondering what in the Hell you've done. May the Golden Rule kick your ass.
