2008-11-07

US Rejects Religious Nuts

One thing that I find very heartening about this election is that in almost every area of the country except Appalacia, Barack Obama outperformed John Kerry. This signals a shift in attitudes from the social conservatism that has plagued our country for the past 8 years.

The Republican Party has been held hostage by the crazies since Clinton was in office. I think the hostage has finally broken free, but he is emaciated and very weak. I think that when the GOP makes a comeback, it will cast aside a lot of these obsessions.

We do not live in a center-right country. Despite what the "non critical thinkers" will tell you, the vast majority of Americans are pro-choice. This is not a losing battle, it is a lost battle. The anti-gay movement, which the religioius right may call "preserving familiy values" is not lost yet, but they will never win. From the same people who brought us slavery and Jim Crow, whenever you are running against civil rights, you will eventually lose. This is another reason I am so relieved that Obama has won.

Perhaps the republican party will come back as the small government party, which would be a welcome movement to involve in politics. We could have debates over real issues, not made up ones.

The only thing standing in the way of that is the hillbilly from Wasilla, Alaska. Hopefully, with all of the new information coming out, she won't be running in '12, but we need to remain vigilant.

It could have been dirtier

As details emerge of the inner workings of the campaign, it is clear that the negative advertising could easily have been much worse, had the candidates not set up clear guidelines.

Per Newsweek, McCain refused to run any ads attacking Jeremiah Wright or Michelle Obama. He thought that bringing up Wright would smack of racism (it might have) and going after Michelle Obama would have been quite awful (families are generally considered off limits). He also made it a point not to attack Obama's lack of military service.

Obama in a way reciprocated by not directly attacking McCain's age nor his wife.  He did not talk about McCain's previous divorce or the Keating Five scandal from the 1990s.  

Like I said, it could have been worse.

2008-11-05

Legal Challenge on Prop 8

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit regarding Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California. There reasoning is strong: the Supreme Court of California found that marriage is a fundamental right for all couples. In order to take a fundamental right away, it would need to be taken away equally. That is, you would need to take away straight people's rights to marry too. Makes sense to me, the law should not discriminate based on sexual orientation anymore than it should discriminate based on gender or race.

There's another argument that was mentioned, in that you cannot just amend a constitution to take away a fundamental right, you need to hold a constitutional convention, which would require a two-thirds majority.

Either way you cut it, I predict within 10-15 years gay marriage will be legal across the United States.

On a related note, the party of discrimination (the GOP) got gay adoption banned in Arkansas. I guess kids are better off in an abusive foster center than with two loving parents who just happen to be of the same sex. The law also applies to straight unmarried couples.

While our country as a whole moves forward, it is sad to see certain parts of it regressing.

Prop 8

Did California just screw up monumentally and vote to end legalized gay marriage in the state? Quite possibly. With about 90% of the vote in, the Yes vote (this is the vote for intolerance) leads by several hundred thousand votes. If this passes, the US Supreme Court will likely have to step in at some point and rectify the situation. That's one reason the Obama win last night is so important, as he will likely be able to appoint a couple of judges.

Keep in mind that in California, gay marriage has been legal since earlier this year. So if this Consitutional amendment is approved, what would happen?

1. Would this effectively divorce hundreds of thousands of couples? Probably not, since lawyers would argue you cannot take away rights that were already there ex-post facto.
2. We would likely have a case in which already married couples would be able to continue living as such legally, but there would be second class citizens who would not be allowed to marry.

Letter to the World

Dear World,

Barack Obama is now the President Elect of the United States of America. What does this mean to all of us? Quite a bit. Barack has run a much different campaign than any ever seen in the United States. From his decision to fund his campaign using a large amount of smaller donations from citizens, to his marvelous campaign organization, the actual mechanics of his campaign simply overwhelmed anything that the opposition could come up with.

That being said, a great campaign alone can eke out a small win or loss (see 2000 and 2004), but to win a landslide like we saw tonight requires something much greater. What Barack Obama has been able to do is bring together many interests within our country. Old time labor leaders, the educated, the young, as well as Hispanics, African Americans, and those who haven't quite enjoyed the last eight years or those who have seen their 401(k)'s drop in value tremendously over the past month.

Despite this uniting message, various old divisions have re-opened in the past year. It is now time for us to unify as a country to overcome those differences and to bring about meaningful changes in our policies, whether it is in dealing with climate change, health care, government spending, or national security. I challenge each and every one of you to support our new president, and with him our nation.

Obama himself embodies the American dream. Born to an immigrant father, a teenage mother, raised by middle class grandparents; he worked his way through Columbia and Harvard, worked as a community organizer, a teacher, a state senator, a United States Senator, and is now going to be our 44th president.

What Barack Obama represents to me is all that is best about our country, and our best shot at regaining our honor as the leader of the free world. We have left behind the previous generations' hate and intolerance to embrace a new kind of politics, a new way of doing business; finding common ground and doing what is best for our collective interests. Whether it is a goal of bringing healthcare to every American, making sure that we can compete with any country, or ensuring our safety, I am convinced that Barack Obama is the right leader and enthusiastically supported him since the Democratic Primaries.

Barack Obama also represents one more nail in the coffin to the legacy of slavery, something that is still enshrined in the Constitution via the three-fifths clause. From slavery to Civil War, to reconstruction and Jim Crow. From the Civil Rights of the 60's, to a black president in the 2000's, America has come an incredibly long way in its short two hundred and thirty two years. Twenty five years ago when I was born, people would have never predicted this. Our European allies have always seen us as their "racist cousins." With Barack Obama as president, America is now the shining beacon of opportunity for the entire world to envy. We have shown that anyone has the opportunity to be president, and as a country we will not deny these opportunities to individuals based on their background. In 1960, people scoffed at the idea of an Irish-Catholic president. Today, even a darker complexion paired with the name Barack Hussein Obama, Jr does not impose a ceiling on achievement.

As Barack Obama has famously said, "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America, there's the United States of America. There is not a black America, and a white America and Latino America and Asian America - there's the United States of America."

Barack is an inspiration to us all. As the campaign has joined us all together with the words "Yes we can" those same words can be applied to our lives to encourage us to carry out whatever our dreams are. And if we are able to persevere, Yes We Can will become Yes We Did.

And that's exactly what happened tonight.

Yours,
MSC

Fivethirtyeight.com

Nate Silver, of fivethirtyeight.com was eerily accurate in his prediction of the election.  

He has also concluded that there was absolutely no "Bradley Effect" which is basically subtle racism directed as pollsters.  So that myth goes out the door.

2008-11-04

Our New President





McCain Concedes

McCain gives a classy concession speech.

Obama "has inspired hopes of millions of Americans."  "I applaud him."

In a way, I think McCain knew this was coming.  His speech was very, very well written.  That doesn't take away from it though.  He did a good job.

McCain: "These are difficult times for our country and I pledge to help him."



It's Official: President Elect Obama

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr will become the 44th President of the United States of America.


Yes.  We.  Did.

VA = Obama Country

We did it!!!! Virginia went blue for the first time in 44 years!!! All of us who have volunteered countless hours knocking on doors and cold calling supporters can give ourselves a big pat on the back.

Thanks for Fox News (haha) for the early call.

OHIO GOES BLUE!!!!

WE JUST WON OHIO!!!!!  THAT GETS US THE ELECTION AS LONG AS WE DON'T LOSE A BLUE STATE!!!!!

Live Free or Die = Obama

New Hampshire goes to Obama.  McCain's hope of "one last comeback" from that state will not materialize.

Mark Warner (D) wins VA!!

YAY!  Mark Warner wins.  This makes both of our senators democrat for probably the first time in many, many years.

What I'm Watching

Switching between MSNBC and CNN.

Online checking into fivethirtyeight.com

Indiana is TOO CLOSE TO CALL.  That is BIG even if McCain ends up winning.  Bill O'Reilly must be shitting his pants.

Obama wins Dixville Notch!

Obama wins the Dixville Notch vote 15-6 against John McCain.

This republican town votes first in the nation.  Landslide?

2008-11-03

Straight from the ass's mouth

Even Karl Rove knows it's over.

A must read

 
Extremely thoughtful.

The Party of Intolerance

Paul Krugman has an interesting article on why the only members of the republican party left after this election will be the nutjobs.

I concur.  No sane individual could call themselves a republican with Sarah Palin at the helm.  

2008-11-02

Obama's Final Rally in VA

Barack Obama will be in at the Prince William County fairgrounds in Manassas, VA for his final rally, at 9pm on Monday.  Doors open at 5pm.  I may go.  

The fact that Obama will be in VA for the last night of the campaign season shows how much progress this state has made since 2004.  But we can't give up yet.  There are still doors to be knocked on, calls to be made.  Victory is highly likely, but a blowout is not yet assured.  

Let's make it a blowout.