Nothing else to say... (Congrats Obama, though)

[jbailey]

Andrew: I had such high hopes for the US, until I check the ballot measure results
me: Yeah. =(

Comments

[mmmmtino.livejournal.com]

There are still a lot of results left to come in. Don't give up yet! No results yet from Santa Cruz or Monterey, and only 10% in from Los Angeles.

m

[jbailey.livejournal.com]

True, and while I care most about 8 and 4 in California, just looking at the ballot measures across the country is really depressing. I'm not even sure what hurts more, knowing that some of these passed (Define marriage in Florida, Arizona; Adoptive Parents in Arkansas) or that some of these wound up on the ballot at all (Ban Affirmative Action, Nebraska; Make English Official Language, Missouri)

There are times I just find this place heartbreaking and the thought of how much work there is to do overwhelming. I think because the criminal code is federal back home, we don't wind up with the same patchwork as here.

But yeah, I'll be watching the ongoing results and hoping/wishing/praying.

[mmmmtino.livejournal.com]

I appreciate that--and it is a little depressing sometimes. Change comes slowly!

in peace,
Michael

[ccmmcc.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty down, myself, but there's hope, at least in California, and probably, longer term, throughout the U.S.

If you read the decision handed down by the California Supreme Court that paved the way for same-sex marriage in the state, the justices make it pretty clear that they were choosing between two possibilities -- either making marriage available to all or no longer having "marriage" sanctioned by the state and going to domestic partnerships for all. So that's one possible result if 8 passes.

There are also a number of opportunities for legal challenges to the initiative, including the fact that the constitutional change it imposes isn't really an amendment.

And, finally, I have to think that with Barack as president, we will see the U.S. Supreme Court shift back to the center or even center-left, and that will open the door to challenging some of this crap at the federal level. Ultimately, that's the big win with Barack -- had McCain won, I honestly feel that we would have been shutting the door on everything this country ever did or could stand for based on what the Founders believed and wrote. With Barack, we have the chance to take the country back from the forces of hate and intolerance.

But, yeah, it's still depressing that there are so many selfish people willing to impose their crippled worldviews on everyone else. With any luck these crappy laws will encourage more people to move out of those states and come help the blue states be more like America is meant to be, and suffer the consequences of losing all those brilliant young people as they've been doing over the last forty or so years.