AND ONE MORE FUCKING THING, and I promise I’ll shut the hell up.

As Kate put it: ‘It doesn’t matter why the kids were at the movies in CO. Stop. Blaming. Victims.’

So fucking what if some parents took their kids to a midnight movie? Somehow it makes it /their/ fault that a lunatic gunman went berserk and shot at them? I reckon a movie theatre ranks pretty high up there in the list of Reasonably Safe Places to Take Your Children No Matter What Time It Is. Stop blaming victims.

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People of the Someone Should Have Shot Back mindset, are you saying that in a darkened theatre filled with smoke and an unidentifiable gas, hundreds of screaming, scrambling, panicking people, and gunfire, under the duress of unimaginable terror, adrenaline, and fight or flight, you would have had the presence of mind to pull out a gun, release the safety, take aim, and headshot a kevlar-armored moving target without injuring or (heaven forbid) killing a fair number of bystanders in the process? Are you confident that other law-abiding gun-toters in the theatre would be possessed of this same mystical composure?

It’s good to know that there are so many SWAT and Navy Seal-trained laymen out there ready to protect us at the drop of a hat.

What happened at the Batman premiere is horrible beyond comprehension. My heart goes out to everyone that is suffering because of that madman.

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President Elect Barack Obama. That’s… wonderful. Indescribably wonderful. When his victory was announced, I looked over at my daughter, and I couldn’t help but cry. The relief, the joy… it was overwhelming. I no longer have to live with a horrible black cloud of fear hanging over my head, terrified of what the future may hold for her under a McCain or (GOD FORBID) Palin administration.

We, as a country, have come so far. But we still fall short profoundly.

Proposition 8 passed. That didn’t just take the wind out of my sails; it was like getting punched in the stomach.

I’m too emotional over all of this to write, actually. My emotions are too tumultuous, and my anger over Prop 8 is too acute. I’ll tell ya… this threw me. I was so so SO sure that my state wouldn’t pass a law like this, one that /removed/ civil rights. I was certain that my neighbors couldn’t be duped by lies or swayed by propaganda.

I’m broken-hearted that I was wrong.

There are some glimmers of hope. Obama and Biden had both openly stated that if they were California residents they would have voted against Prop 8, so this ugliness doesn’t go all the way to the top, so to speak.

There are protest rallies going on all over the state. The protest rally in Los Angeles is still swelling in numbers five hours after it began.

Civil rights advocates, including the ACLU, are taking this back to the courts. And while attempts to overturn anti gay marriage measures have failed in the past (Alaska, Oregon), there’s always hope.

61% of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 voted against Prop 8. If worse comes to worse, it may be just a matter of patience and perseverance.

I’m still angry. The voices of hate and intolerance diminish us all. The passing of Proposition 8 cast a horrible pall on this election, and stained the glorious victory for civil rights that Obama’s election represents. I’m still angry, but I’m going to do my best to use that anger to fortify and strengthen my resolve, and I’m going to do what I can to help see that this cruel, unfair law is overturned.

My paternal grandparents emigrated to this country from Russia through Ellis Island. One of the first things they saw when they came to the United States was Libertas, standing in glory on the Atlantic Coast, a gigantic symbol of freedom from oppression, vindicavit in libertatem, and enlightenment.

My maternal grandparents emigrated to this country from the Philippines through Hawaii and settled in Manhattan. Ted’s paternal grandfather came to this country from Spain, his grandmother from Guatemala. They, too, came through Ellis Island. Ted’s maternal forefathers came from Ireland and Scotland, and spread through the South, intermarrying with the Native Americans. All of them came here because of what this country stands for, and because they wanted to build better lives for themselves and for their children.

And here’s Lilith. A RussianFilipinoSpanishIrishScottishGuatemalanNativeAmerican. We live in California, Lilith, her father, and I.

My family did not inhabit small towns in the US. My family lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn, Ted’s in Los Angeles. We’re middle class, with Catholic, Jewish, and Baptist roots. Ted’s father was an entrepreneur, and owned a bar and a taxi company. My parents were teachers. Both of our fathers served in the military, my father during World War II, and Ted’s dad in Korea. All of our parents worked hard, busting their asses, and did their best to instill in us the altruistic virtues of diligence, thrift, respect, justice, and kindness. We’re going to do our best to pass this on to our daughter.

We run a small business, contribute to the flow of the US economy, and pay our taxes.

In Sarah Palin’s world, we’re un-American. Unpatriotic.

By proxy, in John McCain’s world, we’re un-American. Unpatriotic.

Us, and everyone like us.

I’m sick of hearing that strong, positive values are the exclusive province of small towns in red states. I’m sick of my value system, my history, my ethnicity, and my ethics being labeled as un-American. I’m disgusted by the line that the Republican party is drawing in the sand. I’m sick of hearing that I’m not a “real” American, and that everything I am and everything I stand for is contrary to “real” American values. I’m sick of seeing the GOP take a big fucking magic marker to the US map, further dividing us all, making slashmarks through “anti-American” blue states.

You know who’s un-American? Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Nancy Pfotenhauer, Robin Hayes, and all of the other divisive hatemongers, with their warped ideas of patriotism. Being American doesn’t equal being a white Protestant conservative religious nut, and it certainly doesn’t involve a six-pack prerequisite, the desecration of the Constitution, or the villainizing of big cities, blue states, homosexuals, brown and black Americans, or Muslims.

Fuck you, Sarah Palin. You’re unpatriotic and un-American. You’re a blight on this country and a disgrace to everything it represents. Fuck you, John McCain, for selling yourself out, and your country, too, in the process. Shame on you both.

Even before Joe the Plumber’s story was debunked, I knew this whole thing was a Republican Shaggy Dog Tale. Why? Because I’m a small business owner, for real, and unlike Joe the Plumber… my life ain’t fiction.

Allow me to explain.

Black Phoenix does well. We produce a good product, try our best to provide strong customer service, and we have managed to stay afloat because of these things. I’m not rich, no one at Black Phoenix is, and because of what our wages are, we will benefit from Obama’s tax plan.

But let’s say, for the sake of my point, that prior to the current economic shitstorm, I came up with some show-stopping ad campaign… Snake Oil Gets You Laid, for example… and people started coming in droves… nay, hordes… to buy BPAL. Black Phoenix: the Cadillac of Perfumes. Let’s say that this surge of sales starts netting BPAL meeeeeeeeeeeeelions of dollars, and Brian, Ted, and I are suddenly Elmer J. Fudds, millionaires, each with a mansion and a yacht. And, let’s say that, God forbid, McCain is elected. With our newfound wealth, we get a little bit of a tax break. However, the scores of Black Phoenix customers who are not also Fudds do not. Do you think that the non-Fudds are going to have any money for discretionary items like perfume and room sprays when they can’t afford to keep their homes or buy fucking gas? Give the tax breaks to those who NEED it, for God’s sake. If all the middle class people out there can’t make ends meet, they’re not going to buy our products. If they can’t afford to buy our products, that McCain tax break we’d be getting doesn’t mean shit, because without sales, we’re going to lose that mansion and yacht right quick. And what fucking good will that McCain tax break have done us?

So, my point is that even if you disregard all the other sensible reasons for voting for Obama and you only think with your wallet, even the wealthiest of Fudds should realize that a vote for McCain is foolish. Who gives a shit about a tax break if your business may tank because YOU CAN’T STAY AFLOAT BECAUSE NO ONE CAN AFFORD TO BUY YOUR PRODUCT OR PAY FOR YOUR SERVICE?

The Republican spank-off of trickle-down wealth is complete and utter bullshit. It trickles *up*, you damn fools.

Don’t even get me started on McCain’s crock health plan. Again, as a small business owner, I call bullshit.

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No matter how much I loathed the new McCain and feared his possible presidency, part of me pitied him. Before the primary, I did like him to a certain extent. I bought into the maverick tripe, hook, line, and sinker, and I respected the man I thought he was. During this election, he did very much seem to me to be a political Faust, selling whatever integrity he had for a shot at being better than his dad / grandpa / legacy by becoming president. I thought he was, at least in part, being railroaded by the Republican party into spouting words that were not his and becoming a person he wasn’t. I pitied him. Now I don’t. Now, whenever I think of him, I see him making those GODDAMN FINGERQUOTES, my brain hears him calling his wife a trollop and a cunt, and I see red.

I don’t know why the fingerquotes got me the way they did, but it set off alarm bells in my head like nobody’s business. No more pity for you, you misogynistic fuck.