watching the inauguration and all of the celebrations today was pretty exciting. it’s rare that you watch something that you know will be a historic moment, something that will be in history books and talked about forever. and i’m excited about this new president and the changes he might bring to this country.

i also like the idea that my child will be born when there’s a black president in office. what was something i never thought i would see in my lifetime, will be something that they take completely for granted. for their world it will be the way it was. in my life i haven’t really seen too much racism, although my mom’s generation definitely did and it just gets exponential the further you go back. failing economy and everyone (including me) worrying about their jobs aside, i’m excited about the future.

saw this in long beach today… anyone have any idea?

edit: yeh, per ben’s guess and mike’s translation, it’s just a hebrew version. case solved!
http://store.barackobama.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BS26748&CartID=1

this past election i voted no on proposition 8, per my little election guide. i didn’t really look into the proposition, other than what i heard both sides arguing in their advertisements, and i figured yeh, why should i vote to deny anyone rights.

i was surprised that it passed here in such a liberal state, but since the election i’ve started to think more about it, what it is they want and what they are being denied. and in listening to gay activists like ellen and in playing devil’s advocate arguing with some of my politically savvy friends, i’ve kinda flip flopped on the issue again.

in all of these protests and on every picket sign, the argument is about “rights.” they argue how in the past we’ve denied women the right the to vote, we’ve denied blacks and other minorities numerous rights, and we’re on the same path again, denying gays the right to marry. but in califorina we have civil unions for same-sex couples, which affords them all of the rights that opposite-sex couples have in marriage.

from wikipedia:

In California where domestic partnership has been available to same-sex couples since 2000, a wholesale revision of the law in 2005 has made it, like the New Jersey civil union law, equivalent to marriage in every respect at the state level, though neither is recognized by the federal government.

so this isn’t as much a rights issue as it is an argument over the word “marriage.” same-sex couples have all the rights as opposite-sex couples do, they can have their civil union blessed by a church, no one’s going to stop them from calling themselves “married” if they want to, they can refer to themselves as each other’s husbands or wives. it’s just on one document somewhere in the county courthouse it’s checked “civil union” instead of “marriage.”

and here’s the thing, marriage really is defined as a union between a man and a woman, so it’s not like they’re being denied a right, it’s that people aren’t willing to change the definition of the word for them. it’s like if i was adopted by a mexican family when i was a newborn, grew up with mexican culture, speaking spanish and it being the only thing i ever identified with, yet when i fill out some government form, i can’t check “latino”.

anyway, i know that this is the unpopular stance (well, i guess it’s the popular stance, but not among my friends) on the subject. but comparing women who were being denied a right to vote, or blacks who were kept as slave’s for God’s sake, to same-sex couples being denied the right to have a word changed to accomodate them seems like a stretch. i don’t regret voting no on 8, if it didn’t pass and they redefined marriage, i really wouldn’t care. i just think that they’re being misleading about this being a rights issue.

i stole this from digg. the last picture looks like the camera man staged it, but it’s a great set of pics either way:

it had seemed so imminent in the closing days that he would win the election that it was no big surprise when he finally did, but it still seems so surreal. i’ve openly supported obama throughout most of his campaign, and his inspiration really opened my eyes to a lot of america’s problems and their solutions. this inspiration, along with a growing disdain for the republicans and their fuckups led me to change my party affiliation for the primary and of course i voted for obama yesterday.

it’s always fun to look back in time and realize how right or wrong you were about certain things. while i usually hate being wrong, i’m really glad that not only was i wrong about obama being able to win the presidency, but that i was wrong about race relations being so bad in the united states that it would prevent him from winning. check out this entry from a narrow minded post of mine almost 2 years ago.

a black guy. i know it seems to work in 24 but in the real america there are a lot of racists and people that would be uncomfortable with it. i would like to think he could win, but why run with an idealistic candidate?

i’m really glad that this country has people that think bigger and dream bigger than i do. while obama has made a lot of promises, and is bound to falter here and there especially in the first year of his term, i think he will be good for this country, not only domestically, but internationally his election will give the united states back the credibility it used to have.

national election

president & vice president: obama/biden

obama has his sights set on strengthening the middle class, which is exactly what our country needs and has been losing. the republican ideal of supporting the wealthy who will in turn trickle down the wealth doesn’t work — the rich want to get richer and keep the money for themselves, even if that means cutting costs by hiring foreign suppliers and labor. all of the world’s successful nations have a very strong middle class. countries that have primarily the very wealthy and the very poor? disasters.

california propositions

1a: safe, reliable high-speed passenger train bond act: yes

a high speed, clean energy train connecting southern and northern california would reduce flights and be a starting point for creating a culture of public transportation which we’re going to eventually have to move to. the train would be able to take me from la to sf in about 2 and half hours which if you consider airport security is about the same amount of time as flying.

2: standards for confining farm animals: yes

i’m an animal lover, and while i’m also an animal eater, i think that these animals shouldn’t suffer while they are alive. being allowed to walk around and move their wings and lay down doesn’t sound like too much to ask, and if a chicken breast increases by ten cents to allow them this decency, that’s fine with me.

4: waiting period and parental notification before termination of minor’s pregnancy: yes

i’m definitely pro-choice. but i’m also young enough to remember how stupid and emotional children are and how they make rash and unreasonable decisions, i mean hell, they were dumb enough to get pregnant in the first place, let’s put a bit of a restraining order on their decision making rights after that. in some cases, maybe in most cases an abortion is in everyone’s best interest, but if they are a minor, giving the parents 48 hours to discuss this with their child and the doctor is completely reasonable.

7: renewable energy generation: yes

like proposition 1a, we need to be investing in the future, and a large part of that is reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. requiring our government owned utilities to increase their use of renewable energy 50% by 2025 sounds like a reasonable goal and a responsible step forward in both protecting the environment and producing a majority of the energy we use here in the united states. i also just have a similar argument for prop 10.

8: eliminates right of same-sex couples to marry: no

i know this is a bit of an about-face for me and what i’ve said in the past. i think before i was married i had a more ideal view of marriage, that it was more than just the sum of its elements. and while there is definitely something very special about being married and not just in a committed relationship, as far as the law is concerned i think same sex couples should be afforded the same benefits. it’s almost like the hangup with most people (and to be honest a little bit for me still) is just the word “marriage” and that the sanctity of marriage in general will be tarnished if same sex couples can marry. i kinda feel like if same sex marriage was just called narriage or something everyone would be cool with it (although even in just typing that, that sounds pretty discriminatory), everyone would get their rights and life would go on :shrug:

i don’t really have much of an opinion on props 3/5/6/9/11 & 12, so if anyone wants to chime in, please do. i mean 3 sounds like yes, who doesn’t want more hospitals for kids? 5 sounds like yes, expand treatment for drug programs, and limit the amount of time you can be jailed for drug related, non violent crimes. 6 sounds like yes, give the police more money to fight bad guys. 9 sounds like yes, let victims of crimes know about the offender’s bail and whether they might be coming to get you. 11 i don’t really understand and 12 sounds like a yes, providing home aid to california veterans is the least we can do.

but yeh, happy to hear anyone’s input on any of these propositions. and whether you agree with me, or think i’m wrong on every single issue, vote.

it’s scary watching some of these mccain/palin rallies and so much of the republican base is a scary set of folks. all the time people yell out “kill him” and call him a terrorist. thankfully the secret service actually looks into people that scream out threats, but its appalling how ignorant some of these people are.

here’s a few clips of a mccain rally yesterday, where he has some decent remarks to keep his insane audience at bay. while i’m voting for obama, it’s refreshing to see this side of mccain.

With all of the blogging I do on this site and others, I occasionally fancy myself a writer. I then read an article like this one from the New Yorker and get put the F back in my place.

It was no big surprise that the New Yorker endorsed Obama for President, being a publication that usually leans to the left, but the writeup of why they are endorsing Obama over McCain is an excellent analysis of the important issues of this election. It’s a pretty long read, but very well written and I recommend it to everyone who plans on voting for the next US President, 29 days from today.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/10/13/081013taco_talk_editors

i’m not exactly sure why i’m conservative on many of the issues that i am, seeing that my parents were hippies and most of my friends are liberals. i think a lot of it was just to argue with them, to stand out by having a different view than most of my peers, i always thought alex p. keaton was cool. i voted for george bush in 2000 and 2004. for the most part, i thought invading iraq looking for wmds was a good idea. i listened to and believed the rhetoric of the republicans and even though my own values differed with many of their core values, for some reason i went along with them, for too long.

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hillary clinton finally “suspended” her bid for the presidency this morning, in a rather eloquent speech where she unambiguously threw her full support behind the democratic nominee, barack obama. i was surprised at how her concession speech made me dislike her quite a bit less, and not out of pity but more from respect for what she accomplished, particularly in “cracking” the glass ceiling for women politicians. this democratic primary was going to be historical either way and while i am pleased with obama having becoming the democratic nominee, my hat’s off to her for a hard-run race, and now trying to bring unity to the democratic party.

i’m somewhat indifferent on whether or not she becomes obama’s running mate. i think it could bring over lots of hillary supporters, but i think it could also make the democrats seem hypocritical since the race was so heated at times, i imagine that many would find it unbelievable that they could work well together. obama/? ‘08!