Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Our foreign relations have improved already

Kenya has declared a national holiday. The world is celebrating.

7 comments:

Lynnis said...

While I am pleased with Obama's win I can't help but be disapointed with last night's huge setback on the gay rights referendums. It is really tragic that discrimination is being peddled as a "family value". Hopefully the plan is to have Obama and our democratic congress confirm some equality minded supreme court justices and the challenge gay marriage and adoption bans under Article IV, Section I of the constitution. Full faith and credit means that the "public acts, records, and judicial rulings" of one state must be recognized by all states. This has always applied to marriage hence people don't need to get re-married or re-divorced when they move from the state that created/dissolved the union. Once one state allows gays to marry and adopt all other states are required to honor it and should the supreme court enforce that with a ruling all the bigoted laws will be overthrown. I think it has not been challenged under this article thus far because proponents of equality are waiting for a couple of the more right wing justices to retire.

Emily said...

I was sad to see California 8 not passing, too. I expected Arizona to not do the right thing, but I felt like at least California might protect the law that they had on the books! On the other hand, the crazy Amendment 48 in Colorado (the only yard sign I felt like we really had to have in Boulder) was swept out.

Gordon said...

I was also disappointed in the Calif. referendum. It is not so easy to overturn however since the constitution says that the powers not given to the federal government are relegated to the states and to the people.

The question then becomes for the state and the people to fight it out and the referendum is a major battle won by the anti-gay rights people.

Let's hope for the best. Gays have legal and emotional needs like anyone else.

Corinne said...

I hate to sound sentimental, but I genuinely feel that it has been a long dark era in American politics, and while this time is by no means over, I now feel a genuine sense of hope. My former home states of Virginia, and possibly North Carolina (!) went for Obama, and my brand new home state (with a terrible history of racism) went more than 60% for him. This was my most effective election so far. Everything I voted for passed, including ending greyhound racing in Mass., decriminalizinng marijuana, and keeping income tax. Of course, there was only one race that even had a republican contender in my district, with the rest of them being uncontested. So I feel pretty good about being a voter (in a state that already allows for gay marriage) and I invite you all to move here too! It isn't even that cold!

Piri said...

I was disappointed that the slots amendment passed in Maryland. I am disturbed that Gay's don't have rights. Our economy is in serious trouble. We have a long way to go, but policies have to be better under Obama then they are under Bush. I do feel a sense of relief.

Also, I remember in early elementary school, learning that every president had always been white and male, and I was shocked! How can they teach us that our country is the best in the world and that anyone can become president with that kind of track record? Just having a non-white president has to do a lot for racial relations domestically and abroad.

Hallie Jo said...

completely random, but i think its funny/interesting that obama was born in the year JFK was inaugurated.

Corinne said...

This morning I gave Pete and I gave the students a writing prompt: If I were president I would... I found it disturbing that the first grade girls I was working with kept referring to themselves as he whenever they were talking about being president. I think electing a black president does a lot to shift that paradigm, and I hope in the future to see a woman president as well.