Huh. Will you look at that.

I’m actually pretty surprised about the election outcome. I didn’t think we were getting another four years of Bush. I just wasn’t convinced a majority of the American people would be that – well – dynastic. Lots of people told me they were sure Bush was going to win, but I rather chalked that up to pessimism (the people assuring me of this outcome were mostly anti-Bush). It’s got to mean that, for the people who want Bush to run the country, he can do no wrong. I don’t understand it, but there you have it.

It’s also pretty disturbing to me that all the states who ran anti-gay laws and amendments to their constitutions uniformly passed them. I’ve written here before that I’m not sure why gay people would want to sell themselves into the deeply flawed institution of marriage (discounting the obvious legal advantages). However, I can’t really imagine trying to stop them, either. What does that accomplish, exactly? Why would you want to meddle with people’s desire to form families? It boggles my mind that enough people think it’s important to tell other people not to get married that aren’t minors or first cousins to actually legislate it successfully. It seems so arrogant and, well, bossy. The other aspect of this that chills me a little is the sort of panicky pre-emptiveness of the rhetoric leading up to the vote on these issues. All that “life as we know it will come to an abrupt halt if gay people get married” business is total nonsense but someone must be buying it, right? It seems a corollary of our foreign policy position as a nation, that pre-emptive strikes are the way to go. Hit them first, hit them hard, make sure they don’t see it coming. I don’t believe that, as I’ve said on this blog before. That’s the way of the bully and the thug, as far as I’m concerned. As the most powerful nation on earth, we should exercise restraint. I think, though, that I’m in the minority of people who believe that. I’m pretty sure that my country is going to continue to carry on with activities I find ethically repugnant and morally broken. I suppose that the fact that most people who put us on this path did so because of morals and values shows just how out of line I am. I can hope that I can continue to hold and speak my position and be valued as an American for it. That would make me proud, and I need a little something to be proud of.