What the hell is wrong with us?

[Brazenly Liberal]

I went to bed weeping and woke up crying some more. I do that a lot these past few days. The sense of possibility, the fear that it will be stolen, the joy at seeing Americans show we are so much better than these past 8 years showed we could be - it’s all just so overwhelming.

Coffee with the morning news. That beautiful new First Family. Ohmigawd, we won Indiana !!?!?!?!?!!! Film of last night’s party in Grant Park, last night’s party in Times Square, last night’s party in (who even knew it existed??) Obama, Japan.

The sun is shining, we’re on our way to a beautiful day here in Illinois. Maybe we’ll take the dogs for a nice long walk in the woods or enjoy one last lazy afternoon sitting in the swing and tossing corn to the chickens. Why not? Life is, overall, pretty damned good.

And then, amid the flood of news about Obama, comes the crawl across the bottom of the television screen. Proposition 8 passed in California. What the fuck??? When I went to sleep, I had been told it was close, but likely to lose. Weren’t we proving all over the country once and for all that we can be and are an inclusive nation? Weren’t we actively, determinedly, joyfully rejecting the old prejudices by a landslide?

We’ll likely never know how many of the votes cast in support of Prop 8 were by well-intentioned but low information voters who were confused by the weirdly and deliberately convoluted language of the proposition. And chances are it won’t survive a Supreme Court challenge.

But, ya know, that’s just not good enough. What the hell is wrong with us that we take such pride in our freedoms, yet work so damned hard to limit which people can enjoy them? What the hell is wrong with us that we fling our military might around wherever we damned please in the name of spreading this wonderful democracy around the globe but strive mightily to keep it from spreading in our own country?

We have elected our first black President. Late, but wonderful nonetheless. What the hell is wrong with us that, at the same time, we had to find a way to codify bigotry toward gays and lesbians?

If freedom is so wonderful, if democracy is the best way to live, why don’t we stop talking about it and actually give it a go? Why, after more than 200 years of working on it, do we still not extend basic civil liberties to all our citizens? What the hell is wrong with us?

I’m going to take today to feel the joy of electing Barack Obama. I’m going to eat some leftover pie and take the dogs for a walk and bathe in the wonder of something I never thought would happen in my lifetime. But tomorrow, it’s time to get back to work. Our GLBT friends and relatives must not be denied the common ordinary rights guaranteed to all of us. The fight goes on and I’ll be damned if I’m willing to allow that this one might not happen in my lifetime!

[Danieljay]

1. Beautiful post... and just know its all changing.. and like the last 8 years have shown us..

Yes we can...

Yes we can...


Hang on sister.. there is nothing wrong with 'us'. There are a lot of 'them' that still need to come around.

[AspenRose]

2. "Codify bigotry"

That's a very good way of putting it. :-(

[rosesaylavee]

3. Better news - Prop 8 results are STILL too close to call.

Another thread had 3 million absentee and provisional ballots to be counted. Creeps were only 350,000 ahead before that count started. They called it too soon.

There is still hope there!

[markbark]

4. Um... IANAL, but,

The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution states:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
--emphasis mine, MAB

Seems pretty straightforward to me... am I missing something here?

--MAB