Post-Election Post
I am pleased about a lot of the outcomes from yesterday:
1. Pennsylvania wiped Santorum off the Senate floor. (Loyal readers of Dan Savage will appreciate this; if you don't know what I'm talking about, google "Santorum" and "Dan Savage." WARNING: This is not for the faint of heart or children under the age of 18.)
2. The U.S. House of Representatives now has a Democratic majority.
3. The U.S. Senate may also have a majority. Come ooooooooooon, Virginia and Montana!
4. South Dakota defeated the misogynist, bass-ackwards near-ban on abortion.
5. Arizona defeated the gay marriage ban.
6. My own state of Wisconsin still has a Democratic governor.
7. So does Kansas.
8. John Gard lost his race (he's a nasty WI conservative who wants to ban birth control pills and labor unions, for starters.)
Unfortunately, these victories are tempered somewhat by the fact that Wisconsin also voted to reinstate the death penalty and passed the gay marriage ban amendment with a 59% majority. I'm so ashamed by these things. Wisconsin had the country's oldest moratorium on the death penalty. Why did they bring it up for this election? Probably to increase Republican turn-out; I don't really know. I believe the death penalty is barbaric and wrong, but even if I didn't, I wouldn't support this amendment. It's no secret that our justice system is deeply flawed and that there are people on death row who don't belong there, or who didn't get adequate legal defense because they were too poor, too black, or both. We shouldn't even be considering the death penalty when it's so far away from being meted out "fairly."
And then there's the gay marriage ban. Gay marriage already wasn't legal here, but Wisconsin voters decided to pass the first constitutional amendment in history that takes rights away from people. Not only are same-sex marriages and civil unions banned, but so are domestic partner benefits, the legal right to make medical decisions, and other rights that married heteros have. I refuse to understand the reasoning behind this. Homophobia doesn't even explain it satisfactorily enough for me. You've got a problem with gays and lesbians? Fine, that's something you need to work out on a personal level. But what's the point of taking civil rights away from them? Tell me, how exactly does legal gay marriage hurt your family? Will your marriage crumble because a couple of dudes tie the knot? Do you think gay marriage will make more people gay? Straight people are the ones having gay babies, after all. This amendment is heinous and bigoted, but it isn't going to change the fact that gays and lesbians WILL have relationships, WILL have families, and WILL otherwise be engaged, productive members of society. You can't make them disappear.
Finally, I've got a couple things to say to the Democratic party:
It's about damn time. Now don't screw this up.
1. Pennsylvania wiped Santorum off the Senate floor. (Loyal readers of Dan Savage will appreciate this; if you don't know what I'm talking about, google "Santorum" and "Dan Savage." WARNING: This is not for the faint of heart or children under the age of 18.)
2. The U.S. House of Representatives now has a Democratic majority.
3. The U.S. Senate may also have a majority. Come ooooooooooon, Virginia and Montana!
4. South Dakota defeated the misogynist, bass-ackwards near-ban on abortion.
5. Arizona defeated the gay marriage ban.
6. My own state of Wisconsin still has a Democratic governor.
7. So does Kansas.
8. John Gard lost his race (he's a nasty WI conservative who wants to ban birth control pills and labor unions, for starters.)
Unfortunately, these victories are tempered somewhat by the fact that Wisconsin also voted to reinstate the death penalty and passed the gay marriage ban amendment with a 59% majority. I'm so ashamed by these things. Wisconsin had the country's oldest moratorium on the death penalty. Why did they bring it up for this election? Probably to increase Republican turn-out; I don't really know. I believe the death penalty is barbaric and wrong, but even if I didn't, I wouldn't support this amendment. It's no secret that our justice system is deeply flawed and that there are people on death row who don't belong there, or who didn't get adequate legal defense because they were too poor, too black, or both. We shouldn't even be considering the death penalty when it's so far away from being meted out "fairly."
And then there's the gay marriage ban. Gay marriage already wasn't legal here, but Wisconsin voters decided to pass the first constitutional amendment in history that takes rights away from people. Not only are same-sex marriages and civil unions banned, but so are domestic partner benefits, the legal right to make medical decisions, and other rights that married heteros have. I refuse to understand the reasoning behind this. Homophobia doesn't even explain it satisfactorily enough for me. You've got a problem with gays and lesbians? Fine, that's something you need to work out on a personal level. But what's the point of taking civil rights away from them? Tell me, how exactly does legal gay marriage hurt your family? Will your marriage crumble because a couple of dudes tie the knot? Do you think gay marriage will make more people gay? Straight people are the ones having gay babies, after all. This amendment is heinous and bigoted, but it isn't going to change the fact that gays and lesbians WILL have relationships, WILL have families, and WILL otherwise be engaged, productive members of society. You can't make them disappear.
Finally, I've got a couple things to say to the Democratic party:
It's about damn time. Now don't screw this up.
Comments
Another bright light, though: Here in Kansas, we defeated our intensely misogynistic attorney general Phil Kline, the guy who made the national news for his subpeonas of the medical records of women patients at two clinics that perform abortions. And he was defeated soundly.
Right now I'm going to go over to the nursing home and hope my lifelong Democrat grandma is coherent enough this morning to understand the good news.
--Steph