That girl who wrote that fic.

YAY OBAMA! 

I've been nauseated for weeks, terrified for this day. I was so, so afraid that Romney would win and my country would be set back 40 years. My relief and elation tonight -- it's hard to describe. I burst into tears, I really did. Women's reproductive rights are likely to be upheld. Marriage equality is going to keep moving forward. Conservative Christians have yet again been thwarted from imposing their agenda on everyone else.

Anyone remember this graphic from four years ago?



In other news, I really like the new style of the friends page. I know, unpopular opinion. But seriously, my perfect fandom social network would be a blend of LJ and Tumblr, so this works for me. :-)

I don't know how many of you have already done this, but the website Change.org has been holding a "Ideas for Change in America" competition since election day, and the final round of voting just started today. The top ten vote-getting ideas will be presented to the Obama administration a few days before the inauguration, and the top idea at the moment is to pass a Marriage Equality Rights Act to ensure that all people have the right to marry, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, etc.

You have to register with the site to vote, but please go do so! There are lots of other interesting ideas there, and you can vote for ten in all. I'm pretty sure you don't have to be an American to participate. We can help make this idea something that will be put on the President's desk!

It's a powerful image, right? Especially for Americans of a certain generation. But is it a fair one? Are these two movements, the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s which fundamentally changed US society, and the current gay marriage/rights movement really analogous? I've heard compelling arguments both ways, and I'm not sure what to think.

[Poll #1294352]

Yes, I'm making you pick a side, but remember that you can change your vote if your position is swayed later on. Please comment with your reasons!

Anon comments are screened, but I will unscreen them if they contribute positively to the discussion.

I was relieved to wake up this morning, turn on the news, and see that not only did I not dream the results of last night's election, but that unlike in 2000, they hadn't changed overnight. It's funny how I didn't think a lot about the meaning of electing a black president until just the last day or so. I didn't think much about Obama being black. He was a Democrat, and the candidate whose views were closest to my own, and so I supported him. But stepping back and thinking about it, I can't help but be overwhelmed with emotion.

I grew up in North Carolina, a place where schools and other public places were legally desegregated just a few years before I was born. My father played football on his high school's first integrated football team, and my mom was a cheerleader on the school's first integrated cheerleading squad. My parents raised me to look past skin color, despite the fact that my grandparents were (and still are) openly racist.

I don't yet know how my father voted. He is an evangelical Christian, and so I suspect he may have voted for McCain. My mother is a committed Republican, but was leaning toward Obama until Palin joined McCain's ticket. (She adores Palin, for reasons that baffle me.) My aunt updated her FB status last night with a statement about what a "horrible mistake" America had just made.

But my sister, a registered Republican, voted for Obama. My cousin, who was very active in his College Republicans group and is now a grad student, voted for Obama. And though it's still very close, it looks like North Carolina just might turn blue. Jesse Helms' senate seat went to a Democrat last night! This is in a state where racist campaign commercials were aired as recently as 1990.

If even North Carolina can change, I have hope for my country. So much hope!

Travis County, the county in Texas I live in, is going 66% to 33% for Obama, with a little over 55% of the votes counted (those are all the early votes). At the moment, the state overall is 51% to 48% for McCain (again those are the early votes), which isn't bad considering that it's Texas.

The state will go to McCain in the end, but the greater Austin area is blue, baby, BLUE!!! XD

( Check it out! )

Edit: DH and I are watching the results come in, and we're laughing, grinning, and generally having a great time. It hasn't felt like this since 1996. Doooodz...

OMG, Ohio! Holy shit! Okay, srsly: this is a hell of a lot more fun than the last time we did this.

Edit at 9:20: Texas called for McCain, which was not a surprise.

Edit at 9:30: Aw, remember this? :-D

Edit at 10:00: CNN calls Virginia for Obama. This is really happening, isn't it?

In case you haven't seen this, please check it out. And PLEASE pass it on to everyone you know.

We are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce — on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate — that has a real possibility of becoming fact.

Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present and future daughters. To date, she is against a woman's right to choose, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech (as mayor she repeatedly brought up the question of banning books), gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears.

We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and all together devastating choice for Vice President. Ms. Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and that we've so demonstrably benefited from.

First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. We want to disagree, publicly.

Therefore, we invite you to reply here with a short, succinct message about why you, as a woman living in this country, do not support this candidate as second-in-command for our nation.

Please include your name (last initial is fine), age, and place of residence.

We will post your responses on a blog called "Women Against Sarah Palin," which we intend to publicize as widely as possible. Please send us your reply at your earliest convenience-the greater the volume of responses we receive, the stronger our message will be.

Thank you for your time and action.

VIVA!

Sincerely,

Quinn L. and Lyra K.
New York, NY
womensaynopalin@gmail.com

Women Against Sarah Palin

In a little over a week, they got a huge response:

On Wednesday, September 3, we sent out an email to 40 friends and colleagues asking them to respond to Sarah Palin's candidacy as Vice President of the United States. They forwarded the letter to their friends across America. To date, we have received more than 100,000 responses from women of all ages and backgrounds. Below are their voices.

Go add yours, if you're so inclined.

This is too ridiculous to be true, but it happened in Oklahoma -- so all bets are off.

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart is taking heat for an anti-gay comic book.

It's so stupid that it's sort of funny. And not only does he misspell "pedophile", he doesn't care that he can't spell it. Which explains a lot.

So, as promised and expected, Bush today vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have provided health care for 10 million poor and currently uninsured American children. A USA Today poll cited in that article found that 72% of Americans were in favor of the measure.

Jon Stewart, as usual, offers some insight into why Bush thinks providing health care for kids is a bad thing:



In short, Bush thinks it's too expensive and a step toward socialism, which is apparently as Bad as Terrorism. This from the man who spends $200 million a day¹ to fund the war in Iraq, which the vast majority of Americans oppose². The bill would have cost $35 billion over 5 years, which is currently what is spent in Iraq in 3 months. It's clear where Mr. Bush's priorities are.

Shame on you, Mr. President. Shame.

So now what? Well, the Democrats seethed in response (video on CNN's page). It looks like there may be enough votes in both houses for an override, as long as the Republicans don't chicken out. Rallies are already being planned across the country. And I can't wait to hear what the presidential candidates have to say. Oh, and I am TiVoing Jon Stewart and Colbert tonight, dude.

Hey you Americans, Planned Parenthood is running a campaign to test pharmacies to see if they'll let women buy emergency contraception (EC), which is available over-the-counter. As you probably know, some pharmacies refuse to carry EC because they think it's a form of abortion -- which it isn't (proving how little these asshats know about human reproduction and when embryos implant in the uterus), but even if it were, abortion is still legal.

If you volunteer to help out, they'll give you specific instructions to follow and you will pick a pharmacy (or several, if you want) in your area to test. You'll basically go to the pharmacy and try to buy emergency contraception (EC), then report how it went back to PP. If you have any trouble, PP is going to take action to pressure that pharmacy to make EC available. They're targeting stores like Wal-Mart that have been problematic in the past. (Note that you don't actually have to purchase EC, which is kind of expensive -- the goal is to see if you could buy it.)

To sign up, go HERE. I'm signed up to test four pharmacies at Wal-Marts and Targets close to my house. Come join the fun!

[9:00 pm] WTF Arizona? You passed an amendment making English the official language? *shakes old home state by the shoulders* So far, no incumbent Democrats in the House have lost, and the Dems have picked up a few seats. Three Dem Senate seats picked up so far, out of at least six needed. Ack, Orin Hatch is re-elected. But mwahaha, Rick Santorum is out!!!

[9:40 pm] Lieberman's victory as an independent says a lot, I think. He couldn't have won without Republicans defecting, and he won without the liberal end of the Democratic party, which implies that voters are shifting back to the center, IMO. CNN says the Dems need 3 more seats to control the Senate and 11 9 more seats to control the House. I want a female Speaker! Lots of Democratic governors, wow. Come on Webb in VA!

[9:55] Shuler wins a house seat in NC for the Dems -- but he's incredibly conservative for a Democrat. When it comes to the 3Gs, he's practically a Republican. It disturbs me that the Democrats have had to shift so much to the center to be electable. It's been coming, I know, and it's how the Republicans have been winning in the last decade. I know I'm way to the left of 99% of Americans, and that someone who agrees with me is pretty much unelectable. Still, it's nice to have the party I consider most reasonable doing so well tonight. And w00t, Foley's seat goes to the Dems!

[10:07 pm] Apparently MSNBC is calling the House for the Democrats. CNN still says there's one seat to go. And CNN has just said the House has gone to the Democrats!! And wow, we have our first female Speaker ever! OMG!!! And wow, my old district in Arizona went Democratic! That seat used to be Jim Kolbe's, one of the only openly gay Republicans in the House. And apparently he refused to endorse the Republican candidate, LOL. He was one of the only Republicans I ever voted for. Well, him and John McCain. :-)

[12:15 am] House is firmly Democratic. Senate is currently 49 R to 48 D, with 3 hotly contested seats to go. We may not know how those will go for quite a while. Most of the races in Texas went to the Republicans, but my Democratic state representative won by a huge margin, which is so awesome! And wow, Arizona defeated the gay marriage ban! Good for you!!!

So I realize these results aren't so much a vote for the Democrats as it was a vote against Bush and the Republicans. And now it will be time for the Democrats to step up and get something done. And I have to admit I'm looking forward to hearing what Bush has to say. Anyone else remember Dana Carvey's skit on SNL back in 1990, as Bush Sr after the midterms, where this same thing basically happened? "Message received: you're pissed!"