Wednesday, November 5th
While I'm generally pleased at Obama's victory last night, I am only cautiously optimistic that there will be much in the way of swift and substantive change in the direction of the country. Things are so bad and the Democrats margin of victory, while impressive, does not leave them with a fillibuster proof majority in the Senate or even a cohesive party and philosophy. Obama is fairly untested on the national stage and had better make his next moves fairly carefully, all against a background of the usual right wing noise machine that has always worked better as an opposition tool than a tool of the party in power. I'm just pretty sure that things won't get a whole lot worse. At least Caribou Barbie has been packed off back to the frozen north where she can gaze at foreign countries from her back porch and cease to bother us any more.I'm disappointed, but not surprised by the results on Proposition 8 in California, my previous home, and the other anti-LGBT measures that passed. The majority will never grant rights to the minority or the other through popular vote. If it had been up to popular vote, Chinese would be unable to own property, miscegenation laws would still be on the books and African-Americans would still be relegated to 'separate but equal' status. In our culture, minority rights have always had to come through the courts and legislative process. Marriage in any one state won't really matter, though, until they start actually enforcing the 14th amendment and repeal the stupid DOMA signed by Clinton.
A thought. What if the Human Rights Campaign raised $5 million dollars to put a constitutional amendment on the California ballot invalidating marriages performed in Mormon temples. Getting the signatories wouldn't be that hard and a strategic ad campaign highlighting some of the Mormons' stranger beliefs might actually get such an amendment passed. Turnabout as fair play or life lesson as to how the state has no real business determining whose marriages are valid or whose are not.
Not a whole lot else going on. Have to sit down and do some writing for a murder mystery and on Politically Incorrect Cabaret now that the election is over.
posted by Andy @ 3:33 PM
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