Post Election Thoughts....

President Elect Barack Obama -wow!

I was at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco when the race was called for Senator Obama. As of this moment my voice is still hoarse from having cheered so loud for so long. Last night's landslide victory has finally closed the door on the sad saga of arrogance and incompetence that has been the last eight years of Republican insanity.

Senator McCain's, incredibly gracious and moving concession speech was sadly marred by his own crowd there in Arizona. Who rather than cheer the accomplishment of their candidate, instead felt the need to jeer at the mention of Barack Obama's name. Disappointing, but given the nature of the crowds we saw at McCain/Palin rallies in the last month, sadly not surprising.

The fact is the entire free world celebrated the Obama victory last night. It marks the beginning of the process to restore America to once again being that shining city on a hill.

Hope defeated fear.

Ideas defeated ideology.

Solutions defeated cynicism.

I stood there in a crowded hotel ballroom watching men and women weep, cheer, dance and all say how proud we all were to be Americans at this incredible moment in our nation's history. Our democracy works. Our country's founders would be proud of us all.

For a few brief hours anyway...

I awoke this morning to see in plain news print exactly what English philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) meant when we wrote about the "Tyranny of the Majority."

CA State Proposition 08 -
Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry

YES: 5,235,486 - 52.2%

NO: 4,800,656 - 47.8%

Last night saw another less laudable "First" in California politics. The first time our state Constitution was changed to eliminate existing civil rights for one group of our citizens. It wrote bigotry and discrimination into our civil law, and tells hundreds of thousands of Californians that they are second class citizens, separate AND unequal.

All done in the name of religious bigotry and racial homophobia. The Mormon Church and the Catholic Knights of Columbus both gave millions of Dollars to promote Prop 8. So the polygamists and the pedophile apologists joined forces to attack the Gays. Nice.

The one silver lining in this cloud of stupidity and politically expedient hate, is the fact that like or not, President Barack Obama will the one making the appointment of the next one or maybe even two Associate Justices on the United States Supreme Court.

A court that will one day overturn the likes of Prop 8and reaffirm the concept of Liberty and Justice for All