layla | Post-election notes

The very, very good:

President-Elect Barack Obama. I still grin when I type that. His acceptance speech was inspiring, and McCain's concession speech was gracious and classy. Obama's not perfect and I may not be on board with every element of his party's platform, but I'm so much more pleased with him, from everything I've seen in the debates and so forth, than with any President in my lifetime -- I'm really looking forward to seeing where the next four years go. The more I learn of him, the more I like him. And what could be more of a success story than this -- a first-generation immigrant's son, going in four years from total unknown, to a (near) landslide election to the highest office in the land. America, right now, you seriously kick ass.

The bad:

Alaska, Alaska, Alaska. What is wrong with us? I mean, seriously ... is it so painful to vote for a (moderate, pro-development, pro-gun-rights) Democrat that 50% of us will vote for a convicted felon instead?

And California's Prop. 8 passed (as well as the other anti-gay initiatives in other states). I have no words for how disgusted and angry I am. A legal challenge has already been filed in California, and apparently the 18,000 existing marriages will not be invalidated (as yet), so ... waiting, just waiting.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I was pleased NC managed to boot Dole easily(especially after the Godless ad). And this afternoon we are in the Obama column as well. Amazing. I can remember cursing all the folks that would return Jesse Helms to office.

One of the things that's been so heartening about this campaign is seeing the negative advertising and smear campaigns fail. Actually ... I hate to say it, but that might be what's going on with Stevens, too, because his opponent ran a really nasty campaign against him, and it may have backfired.

I am refusing to let Prop. 8 and all the rest get me down too much. It's frustrating as hell, but Obama's election proved that it's just a matter of time, that senseless bigotry really can be trounced, that we as a people can move beyond it. So, yes, must keep fighting, must keep educating people, and eventually - soon, I hope, soon - everyone will look back and realize how utterly fucking stupid they were being.

The awesome thing about the Obama win is what a damned optimist it's turned me into. I mean, if a guy can go in four years from being a total unknown to the President of the United States (and a guy with dark skin, a foreign name and Muslim relatives -- I don't think the odds can get longer than that!), then who knows *what* is possible?

Hey, Layla--any idea from up there why the reported turnout was so much lower than it was for the last two presidential elections, even with Palin on the ticket? It seems a little screwy from down here.

The non-screwy explanation is that Alaskans just weren't particularly fired up to get out and vote. Most of the conservatives that I know were having trouble getting enthusiastic about McCain, and Palin's popularity at home plummeted like a rock the longer she was allowed to, well, talk on the national stage. And the Democrats may have just gotten complacent because of the polls that showed Stevens and Young with a 20-point lead and stayed home. What I've heard from a few people is that the polls were crowded in the morning but tapered off in the afternoon (as Obama's win became a sure thing). If there *were* a bunch of Dems and independents who stayed home, though, I bet they're kicking themselves now ...

My in-laws (residents of Fairbanks, Kodiak, and Seward since pre-pipeline days) said that this is the first election they can remember ever seeing campaign signs for Uncle Ted. So maybe 50% represents a sudden burst of sanity.

And, P.S., dropped into 'Hunter's Moon' for a quick look, and had to drag myself out nine chapters later--going cross-eyed reading on a laptop screen. Great stuff. Best to Orion and all other ex-Nerlanders.

Ack, Erik, I'm sorry I missed this comment somehow! Thank you so much for the comment on Hunter's Moon; that totally made my day, and I'm sorry again that I missed your comment the first time!

And it seems like sanity eventually DID prevail on the Stevens issue -- thank God.

Then not only custom, but also nature affirms that to do is more disgraceful than to suffer injustice, and that justice is equality.
Quotation of Plato

"...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought." - Albert Einstein !

What do you think ?

Post-election notes

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Quotation of Plato

One Sentence from Einstein !