Adapt or die
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| Tammy Baldwin |
President Obama might not have won a mandate, but this country is moving beyond the intolerant, the fundamentalists and the bigots. The incredible gains last night by women, minorities and the LGBT community are proof positive of that. Misogynist GOP candidates who liked to spout off about "legitimate rape" were shown the door, Wisconsin elected America's first openly lesbian senator, Tammy Baldwin, and voters in two states – Maryland and Maine – approved marriage equality, while in Minnesota voters rejected a measure that would have banned same sex unions. At this writing, we're still waiting to hear officially that Washington state has approved marriage equality. Basic human and civil rights should not be up for popular vote, but the outcomes in these states are a clear marker of the changing attitudes of the American people. Hell, Colorado and Washington state even legalized marijuana.
The younger generation does not buy into divisive, theocratic, hypocrisy. And good on them. There's a ton of sore losers today, but many in the GOP are saying last night was a big wake up call. If they don't want to be the marginalized party of old white men, they are going to have to leave the fearmongering, religious extremists behind and wise up to changing demographics. Republicans who try to force their beliefs, morals and "values" on the nation – or scare the populace with the old socialism/communism trope – are going to find themselves outside the mainstream.
P.S. We also desperately need voter reform in America. Waiting in line to vote for seven or eight hours, malfunctioning machines, elected officials attempting to suppress voting for partisan advantage and harassment at the polls were just some of the issues. Election Day needs to be on a weekend and/or a national holiday to give everyone the chance to vote. There needs to be more opportunities for advanced voting and the move to online voting needs to happen sooner than later. Obama said in his acceptance speech last night that changes would be made. I hope he keeps that promise.
Comments
Adapt or die...Darwin knew what he was talking about!
It feels sooo good to focus on how much has changed so quickly. Women have had the vote for less than 100 years! 10 years ago, gay rights were anathema for politicians; now we just re-elected someone who brought equality to the military and who voiced his support for same-sex marriage.
It would be great if Obama called off the Federal attacks on states that have decriminalized pot. The way things are moving, we will probably see legal pot nationwide in our lifetimes.