Important Events and Important Ideas

I've spent a week mulling this post over.. And by now, nothing I have to say will be new or novel or really stunning. But I still feel the need to comment. The past two weeks- the week leading up to the election and the week after- have been an incredible roller coaster.

Last Tuesday night, for the first time in my life I felt pride in my country. Surrounded by old and new friends, watching the results filter in as polls closed across the nation, cheering with each small victory.. It was unlike anything else I've experienced, and it was a far, far cry from a cold November night in 2004, where I nearly got in a bar fight (yep, I admit it) involving a Bush supporter and the still-fresh wound of my cousin's death in Afghanistan.

Last Tuesday was hopeful, epic, stunning and truly something of a unique experience. Watching Obama's landslide victory, in a room full of people who can finally stand up and say that they have president that they can believe in was uplifting. After a week of working extra-hard to spread the word about California's Proposition 8, watching it's narrow victory in the polls was nothing short of heartbreaking. In the week since the election, my dear California has been awash in vigils, rallies and protest marches against the legalization of discrimination, and the hate that has been written into our constitution. The Prop 8 campaign was full of nothing but lies and hypocrisy, but I can take a little comfort in the fact that it will surely be overturned, in time.

But in the end, I am nothing short of hopeful for what is to come.

I'll leave you now with some choice words from Keith Olbermann, about Proposition 8.