Yes, we did

[pecunium]

And come tomorrow we start doing again, because it's not a place, but a path. We are the prophets of a future not our own, and we get to make tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow.

I am all a jumble. I bounced home last night. Like Silverlock after his draughts at the Spring of Hippocrene, I saw the win, and could stay still no longer; for that shining moment (when the folks in the coffee shop giving me bit of despair a week ago, was all abuzz with the thrill of Obama's incipient victory; which I knew was a done deal at 5 p.m. when I saw a blue Pennsylvania) was so great inside me I was overflowing.

I called my father in Tenn., and stopped, while we talked, to get pastries at a local bakery. I got home, went into the house, and we laughed, and shared stories and watched the initiatives come in. Even that wasn't enough to damp the incredible power of Obama's speech.

Wow... Nixon grated, Ford was sort of blank (I was young), Jimmy Carter wasn't inspiring, Reagan pissed me off, Bush pere was lackluster; even if he didn't piss me off the way Reagan did (I never thought of him as dishonest, in the same way I saw Reagan as dishonest).

Clinton is praised as being able to connect with people; it didn't work for me.

Bush fils.... like nails on a chalkboard, his very elocution was enough to make me want to plug my ears; his diction, lets just say I never managed to listen to him for more than 30 seconds.

Obama... moved me.

Today has been a great happy-sad thing. My state rejected people, told them they are less than equal. I weep. I am ashamed.

My Nation... we elected the better man. Forgetting my absolute loathing for John McCain, and looking merely at how they ran their respective campaigns; at the messages they used to sell their agendas... we elected the better man.

I rejoice. I am proud.

Tomorrow, we go back to work. Today, I am enjoying a triumph, and behind me is my conscience, whispering like a slave in my ear, sic transit gloria mundi.

We are craftsmen of a future not our own, and while we holiday we must recall, the work is never done.

Comments

[mihb.livejournal.com]

That was beautiful.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

My assessment of the presidential list is slightly different than yours, but very close, overall: Nixon appalled; Ford was lackluster; Carter surprised me by being somebody I could respect and admire; Reagan infuriated me; Bush pere, I agree, was lackluster; Clinton disappointed me, deeply; and W has been stunningly ghastly.

The first election I ever participated in was that between Ford and Carter. My entire adult life, and even before then, I've been watching our presidents disappoint, one way or another. I realize that Obama is not perfect, but I am so incredibly happy and impressed that he will be our next president.

ETA: Oops. I meant to comment to the main post. Sorry about that.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Yes, well you have about a decade on me, so your perceptions of the first three are, perforce, more vivid.

My earliest political memories are of Nixon going to China (well, no, my earliest related to the war), and I recall his resignation, but I was all of seven when he resigned.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

My earliest political memory is of JFK's funeral on TV. But then there's a blank, when I knew, in a vague sorta way, who was president (growing up in Texas, it was almost impossible to miss LBJ), but it wasn't really important to me. I found Nixon's trip to China encouraging, but his descent into infamy, otoh, was very, very disheartening, not so much because I thought he was a good president--I'm not sure what I thought, but because it reinforced the cynical view my dad expressed about politics, that all politicians are crooks.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

See this for why you should just celebrate when you celebrate. The idea is that taking the shine off the fun is ultimately an energy drain.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

It's true. And I know that.

Last night, I ignored the crap on 8. Where I could I spread some hope on how losing might not matter.

But today, today is mixed. It's not that there is so much to do, it's that 8 matters to me, personally. It affects my loved ones, which takes a bit of the bloom off the rose.

Last week I said today was for celbrating, and I am, but the emotions are a bit roller coastery.

Thanks, and maybe I should have waited until tomorrow.

[kukla-red.livejournal.com]

I am still proudly wearing my Obama buttons on my jacket and purse. And the sign stays in the window.

I've already decided to take January 20, 2009 off so that I can properly immerse myself in the joy of the day.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

I think that there is some sort of constitutional challenge being mounted against Prop 8, so it isn't over yet.

Not by a long shot.

[midnitewolf.livejournal.com]

Well, the legal challenge being mounted is based on the claim that the amendment could technically be a revision, which would need to be introduced on the ballot by a 2/3's vote in both houses of the legislature, as opposed to being introduced to the electorate by initiative, as Prop 8 was. (See: CA Constitution Article 18, Section 3) If the amendment is not ruled to be revision (and I'm not sure what qualifications it would need to be considered so), then the legal challenge won't go through.

It's absolutely a technicality, and unfortunately I'm not optimistic about its chances to succeed (Although, I'm not a lawyer, and I'm sure the ones arguing this case are smarter than me.) However, based on the electoral trend between 2000 and 2008, there's is a very good chance this amendment will be repealed in a future election if the legal challenge fails. In fact, I think it's guaranteed to happen eventually, and there's already a strong movement to get the repeal on the ballot for the 2010 gubernatorial election (in which I think turnout is likely to be more favorable than in the recent presidential election). The writing is on the wall, it's really just a matter of time.

Wonderful post, Terry.

hope...

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

"Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes,
Into your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning."

c. 1993 Maya Angelou

[tenderberry.livejournal.com]

well said -one can never rest on one's laurels - time enough for that when one is dead

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Yes, but; having done more research... to remove an amendment is a revision, and that needs a lot more poltitical will.

Now the outcome on Prop 11, and the effect if it should pass, becomes more interesting. In theory the redistricting will make for representatives who have to be more respsonsive to the people, and the people, by and large, will want this to be reversed (it took Canada 11 years to do it, and there were setbacks like this on the way).

It sucks, but it will be overturned. I just want it fixed now.

One of the things I've learned following the Supreme Court is that trying to read intent from things like refusal to hear a case, is a fools game; I can (and have, in water cooler sessions, one with Maia this afternoon) argue two, or three, reasons they would refuse to remove the initiative from the ballot, and overturn it once it won.

So I have hope.

[midnitewolf.livejournal.com]

to remove an amendment is a revision

I'm not sure that's necessarily the case, and it may well depend on the extent of the amendment being repealed. If it's determined that Prop 8 constitutes a revision ( A revision having been defined as a change affecting the "underlying principles" of the Constitution), then it should require a revision to remove. However, if that's actually the case, it's approval would have to have been illegal to begin with, since it did NOT pass through the state legistlature prior to being placed on the ballot, as is required of a revision.

If in fact it is "only" an amendment, then it must necessarily be able to be repealed by citizen initiative, the same way it was passed. So either way, the pending legal action plays an important role in the way forward.

I'm curious to read your sources though, since it sound like you have information I'd like to be aware of.

The material I'm specifically referring to comes from:
California Supreme Court Suit Seeks Invalidation of Anti-Marriage Initiative and
Constitutional Revision in California: The Triumph of Amendment Over Revision [Warning, PDF]

Also, if you haven't checked it out already, there's an excellent discussion over at The Volokh Conspiracy that has taken up this exact question.

That said, the way to put this to rest permanently is not through legal wrangling, in my opinion. A judicial overturn would be a temporary respite at best, and we'll wind up fighting this same battle every few years. I feel that we're right, and I feel the legislature and electorate will say as much via constitutional revision, eventually. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow.. but soon, and for the rest of our lives. ;)