US and Californian Politics

[nonsenseprocess]

I'm putting this behind a cut for those on my flist who don't live in the United States and are probably deeply sick of our election by now. For those of you who do live in the US and are sick of the election - well, honestly, I hope you read it anyway. If I could stand outside and repeatedly scream this at the top of my lungs without ruining my

Comments

[nonsenseprocess]

*hugs!* God, California's record with same-sex marriage is so deeply depressing to me. And if Prop 8 passes, if they amend the state constitution, we're going to be so screwed, for so long. And from what I can see Connecticut is going to have to deal with this too. Any state whose Supreme Court says 'hey, maybe it's fucking not okay to do the whole 'separate but equal' thing all over again' is going to get buried under the hatred of parts of the religious right.

If McCain/Palin get elected we're going to deserve whatever we get. And we're not going to get anything good.

[thespottedmind]

We celebrated so much when Connecticut legalized, but it's true- it's always going to be a fight. I don't know which is sadder- that it is, or that I'm unsurprised.

[nonsenseprocess]

I felt incredibly disconnected in May when almost everyone I knew was celebrating and all I could feel was this sense of dread that it was going to be taken away (again). Voting on whether or not your fellow citizens should be allowed the same legal rights as everyone else is a terrifying concept.

Hopefully Connecticut deals with it better than California has. (And - well, hopefully California deals with it better than I fear we will.)

[madonnadellatte]

*hug* There are also a lot of us who live outside the US but are very much affected by what goes on in it, and we're sitting here on the sidelines with our fingers crossed.

I really hope it goes well down there in November, even though I /will/ be overseas and I'm /not/ an american.

[nonsenseprocess]

*hugs much* I know. I was listening to a Canadian radio station yesterday, one that plays only Canadian indie bands, and there was a political mash-up song about how horrible it would be if McCain was elected. And I felt - almost apologetic that other countries have to care about this, that our potentially stupid mistakes have such far-reaching consequences. And I know everything's connected and that Canada is, you know, metaphorically and literally closer to the US than most, but it was still jarring.

Thank you for the well-wishing! Hopefully we don't actually screw everyone, including ourselves, over.

[madonnadellatte]

Haha, I guess we're just so used to it up here. One thing about being used to it is we forget that you guys don't /realise/ how much it affects us - or, i guess, we forget why it's so easy for people down there not to realize it.

Anyways oh my gosh everyone should vote! Canadians will be so mad at anyone who doesn't vote. We'll be like, YOU ARE ONLY SERVING TO UNDERLINE YOUR PRIVILEGE OF HAVING A CHOICE IN THIS IMPORTANT DECISION AND NOT CARING.

[plaidseven]

Thank you sooo much for that ontheissues site. It's a godsend! It actually makes me understand things!

Arg, I wish I lived in California so that I could vote against Prop 8. And those other states too. But alas! Too bad I can't vote anyway.

*hugs*

[nonsenseprocess]

*hugs!* I'm delighted the link was useful to you. And re: Prop 8, I really appreciate the support anyway. If you want to try to do something (and you certainly don't have to - it's not your state! but California does tend to set precedents, in theory if not in practice [grr, medical marijuana]), you could donate to one of the groups fighting Prop 8, or even spread around some of the great anti-Prop 8 ads like this one, which is an excerpt from a Harvey Milk speech. "I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you have got to give them hope."

I think we seriously underestimate what a difference we can make just by spreading information and being vocally supportive. Even just psychologically - if every day I read about more religious groups donating money to try to strip away marriage rights without being able to come onto livejournal and see a bunch of people protesting it in great, creative ways, I'd go a little mad. (Madder, possibly

[akedhi]

I'd just like to say? Sarah Palin reminds me frighteningly of my mother. This creeps me all the fuck out.

[nonsenseprocess]

Many, many things about Palin creep me out, not least of which is that she's this close to the presidency. Agh.