I guess I'm still a pessimist

[mdlbear]

Obama won. Good. Pretty amazing, actually. Things will improve, though probably not as much or as quickly as I'd like. Or at least not go to Hell quite as quickly.

Prop 8 and Prop 4 appear to be winning in California; I probably won't know the final results before I go to bed, but I'm not particularly hopeful. Damn. It'll be a long, long battle to fix those.

I'm sleepy, and cold, and not as happy as by rights I should be.

I'm not sure why disappointment over 8 is hitting me as hard as it is. Perhaps because it's yet another triumph of hate over love, bigotry over tolerance, religion over rationality. As usual.

Comments

[kayshapero]

I'm just hoping if 8 does pass that it's going to be on a fast track to the Supreme Court, who are going to find it contrary to the US Constitution... Not only is it mean spirited on its own account, just THINK of the precedent if it is allowed to stand... To establish that the state can vote away civil rights from a segment of the population pretty much at whim? Eep!

[capplor.livejournal.com]

Read the 14th amendment. The one that says that ALL are equal under the law.

[kayshapero]

One big reason that I would hope the Supremes find it unconstitutional. *I* find it unconstitutional, dagnabit... It would probably solve the problem once and for all, but it would be so much nicer to do it without my home state which I love doing something quite so idiotic in the first place.

[mdlbear]

I'm a little hopeful -- I read the decision, where the (state) Supremes said explicitly that the right could not simply be amended away, but only a little. Even on a fast track it'll take a long time.

And now, before I too sleep

[capplor.livejournal.com]

http://www.grimmy.com/images/MP_Archive/MP_2008/MP1104.gif

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

It disappoints me, personally as well as idealistically, but it doesn't override the enthusiasm for what we've achieved on a national scale. The presidency can do far more good, or harm, to far more people than California's marriage laws can. And I think the man who just won it has done -- and will do -- enough to change people's perspectives on what is possible, and by whom, and with what kind of organic support, to make a significant change in the ways love, tolerance and rationality are able to fight future battles.

[mdlbear]

True. As I said, I don't know why it hit me so hard. Possibly because it showed that the Religious Right is still frighteningly strong.

Possibly just because I really have become a morning person, and shouldn't be allowed near a keyboard after dark.

[kyrielle]

Possibly because a dark note seems darker when it lands against so much that is more positive and optimistic, also?

[mdlbear]

Quite possibly. Or possibly because I'm old enough to have seen other times of high hopes followed by a backlash.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

When last I checked, Prop 4 was losing solidly.

[mdlbear]

Yes; that had turned around before I went to bed; that's good.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

? I thought the votes weren't all in on 8 yet, and that it was too close to call?

I mean, I'm sorry it isn't going down to resounding defeat, of course, but I had the impression it was a little too early to write the Forces of Good off on this one...

And I do think, that while we may lose a few civil rights battles on this for a while, the younger generation is more tolerant, and it's a matter of time. I'm sorry for those being hurt *now* of course, and I wish there was more I could do to help, but I really feel this is a cause that's a question of "when" not "whether."

[mdlbear]

I'm heartened by the fact that it still hasn't been called, but...

You're probably right, but I think it's a sign that the next few years are going to get particularly ugly. I remember the 1950s and '60s. People got killed...

Including a president.

[mdlbear]

Sometime in the last hour or so 8 has been called as a win. Meaning my gay friends lose their civil rights, unless the CA supreme court throws it out, which will take a while.

[chaoswolf]

IDK, mr_kurt took a picture of a street sign that pointed to hell.