Well.

[demiurgent]

This morning, over on Websnark, I talked about my pride in America and the ideals it was founded on.

Tonight, those ideals took a few shots to the groin.

Eleven anti-gay measures. Eleven.

Oh yeah. And Bush.

Which means we now officially deserve him.

I'm literally afraid of what will happen next. I'm literally afraid of what will happen to us over the next four years. And I am afraid of what history will think of us.

There will come a day when we come out of this. There will. I just hope I live to see it.

Howard Dean would have taken him in straight sets.

Comments

[cinnabari.livejournal.com]

Tonight, those ideals took a few shots to the groin.

Eleven anti-gay measures. Eleven.

And the news tells me that those who voted for Bush voted on 'moral' considerations. Apparently the word means something different to these people than it does to me.

I think I'll join you in being afraid.

[magentamom.livejournal.com]

You're not alone in being afraid.

Apparently, our nation prefers endless war, unsustainable debt, growing poverty, destruction of the environment and the erosion of civil rights and personal liberty. That's the world I'll be leaving my children. I pray they can do better, but this morning I weep for them.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

If the numbers John Stewart quoted are correct, only EIGHT PERCENT of Mississippiannsss voted against the gay marriage ban. And while I don't believe that "one in ten is gay" figure (more like one in thirty as an upper limit), with numbers like that, you can be sure that some gays voted in favor of the ban.

Whee.

[kipplentoast.livejournal.com]

I can't say that this is too much of a surprize, but then, I apparently have less faith than most. My greatest fear of the end result of this election is that we end up with the current administration with out the fear of not being reelected to keep in check.

I know everyone is treating this election as a forgone conclusion... but let's hope for some sort of miracle, eh?

[(Anonymous)]

To the commitee I present: Tristan De Cuhna.

An island rouhgly halfway between the Falklands and South Africa, governed as a British Protectorate.

Population of about 300, all english speaking.

Fishing is the primary industry, although they island is essentially self-sufficient. Every family farms a portion of land for fresh veggies, but most of the island is considered protected, and home to several exotic migratory bird species. There's one pub, no restaurants, and guest lodging means you stay with a local family. A mail boat arrives every six months, and emergency medical problems are airlifted to Johannesburg.

It's also about a far from traditionally predicted fallout patterns as you can get.

Who's with me?

Andy

PS: Damn right about Dean. Or Clark.

[cartoonlad.livejournal.com]

Do they have a T1 line?

o

[(Anonymous)]

you are so smart :)

[(Anonymous)]

I may be. I did say that if Bush won, I was moving to Canada. Those in power will consider this not only a win, but a MANDATE. I do not feel good about this, not good at all.

g.

[rabbi-thor.livejournal.com]

At the rist of sounding melodramatic...

Today, I am ashamed to say that I am an American.

I did my part, I voted Kerry, and I don't believe my vote was wasted. I had my say. It just seems that most of the country doesn't believe what I believe.

I don't know if this country has a place for me today. Were it not for the ties of family and friends, I would be making plans to emmigrate elsewhere.

[jenfullmoon.livejournal.com]

I *really* don't feel like this country wants someone like me around any more.
Hell, if it wasn't so hard to emigrate without decent job skills or a foreign potential spouse, I'd be working on that leaving plan.

[freakfest.livejournal.com]

I believe strongly in the principles upon which this country was built and has grown. Civil liberties. Freedom. Celebrating diversity. I'm trying very hard to raise my daughter to be a free-thinking, open-minded individual without prejudice.

And now I watch as this country chooses a leader who is forcing his morality upon the entire nation. Who believes that gay Americans do not deserve the same rights I have. Who is persistently stripping away our freedoms and civil liberties in the name of "protecting" us from the evils of the world. Who continues to kill people, people with families and friends and LIVES, American military and British military and Iraqis alike, in a senseless war that is all about corporate greed and not at all about terrorism.

At this moment in history, I am not proud to be American. I fear for my daughter's future. And I'm seriously considering packing up my family and moving to Canada. Right after I join the ACLU.

[forsythferret.livejournal.com]

No, we don't deserve him. Nobody deserves to have to deal with these people. But they managed to bamboozle 51% of the people in the country into voting for them, with threats of "you're going to blow up unless you vote for us!"

Between that, and the happy bigot votes in 11! states, I think we're in for Bad Times.

[(Anonymous)]

Yargh. Fiance and I stayed up until 3AM this morning at the big Kerry rally in Copley Square, Boston. The only consolation we got for the election result was a free Bon Jovi concert. "Whoa...halfway there. Whoa...living on a prayer. Living on a prayer!"

--tem

[arconius.livejournal.com]

I take some small consolation in the knowledge that most of my friends live in Blue states. And that the shortest distance from here to Vancouver is all within Blue territory.

Guess I'd better get my affairs in order before the Thought Police come calling.

[demiurgent.livejournal.com]

I'm not looking to emigrate right now. No, we need to fight.

*pause*

Though I'm advocating a Northeastern Secession, even more firmly than before.

I mean, the Plains States and the South would be just as happy without us, and clearly we would be happier without them. And we'd have the Yankees and the Red Sox, and in the end isn't that all the baseball we need?

[blacksnail.livejournal.com]

Not directed at demiurgent, but at many of the collective comments here:

This is ridiculous. Move out of the country because your football team lost this season? Why not move somewhere you could actually make a difference, like Ohio or Florida? This is exactly why the Democrats lost - this "take the ball and go home" mentality that has permeated far too deep. The Democratic party has become the European Union - dozens of different ideologies, all of them incompatible and distrustful of one another, united only in the hope that they can crush the Republicans. "Anyone but Bush" means "lowest-common-denominator selected by committee," and that's what we got. Kerry was the candidate that the Democratic party officially deserved.

So congratulations, we've come full circle. This is exactly the same bemoaning that the Republicans did during the Clinton years. Now it's coming from the other half of the country, only instead of wailings about National Gay Orgy Day we get lamentations of Christian Subjugation Memorial Day. People were "deluded" into voting for Bush this time the same way they were "deluded" into voting for Clinton back when. Perhaps casting much of the country as directionless sheep who are brainwashed simpletons turns off much of the country? When you say "we only care about your vote, stupid," you aren't going to get very far.

Is it shocking to discover that you are not wholly representative of the country, and that other people have views that differ from yours? You do know you can change things, right? I can guarantee you it's possible, but you have to get off your ass, now, and do something about it beyond complaining to the vast empty morass of the Internet. If you actually give a crap - as opposed to half-a-crap - right now is the time to get involved. Right now is when you should start pushing to change things. How many of you actually knew who was running for state office before the past month? The past week? The polls themselves?

Get the hell involved, now. Get educated. Stay out of this he-said she-said high school crap and focus on the issues - not distractions about whether somebody adequately served 35 years ago, but about the stuff that matters, like education, foreign policy, social equality, etc. Figure out what "compromise" means and find ways to make everybody happy, or at least okay with things. Run for local office. Meet with your congressional representation. Learn the issues. Figure out how you stand, not where your party does. Think for yourself.

Take solace in the fact that Barack Obama spanked the ever-living crap out of Alan Keyes in the Illinois Senate race. 70% to 27% - highest margin in Illinois history. Nearly half of Illinois Republicans voted for a guy who liberals call liberal, and that includes Southern Illinois, which is often referred to as the "northernmost southern state." Check out Obama's campaign, how he got where he is now with a wholly positive campaign. Look how he managed compromise without compromising values.

Then get involved and organize. Don't make it "us vs them," make it "working with all Americans to make something better than what we currently have." Stop trying to pretend half the country doesn't exist. Do what you can, because your vote did count - it just wasn't enough this time around. Get involved, get energized, and get active in your community, because that's where it all starts. Do all this now so you'll have a better chance in four years.

Or move to Canada, where you'll have none.