For the most part, I stopped writing about politics four years ago.  I voted for Al Gore in 2000 and watched Bush get elected by the Supreme Court, and didn’t lose hope that it would get better.  A botched election wasn’t enough to kill my optimism.  But the 2004 election, when people ACTUALLY ELECTED Bush, was enough.  I decided that this country deserved what it was going to get and that I didn’t give a damn. 

I pulled away from the political scene, largely kept my views to myself, and started leaning more and more libertarian with every passing day.  My justification was that the goverment’s primary responsibilities are (or should be) paving the roads and running the school system, and that since the goverment fucks those two things up so badly, it shouldn’t be assigned many other tasks.  I hoped for and wanted change, but it didn’t sink in until Monday that this could actually happen.  I expected dirty tricks, to say the least.

I know that Barack Obama is not a cure-all for what ills the nation, but above all else, his campaign has restored hope… Not just within the black community, but in all those who lost hope.  And there have been more than a few of us.

I had this conversation with a parade-raining friend last night:

Friend: I can’t believe you supported Obama.  Or that he won.  This country is going straight to hell.
Me: Isn’t it kind of ALREADY THERE?
Friend: Huh?
Me: Look, you people got what you wanted for eight years.  An uber-conservative has been running this country for, no kidding, EIGHT YEARS.  And this is where we have ended up.
Friend: Surely you’re not trying to blame the economy on Bush.
Me: Nah, he’s not smart enough to have engineered something like this anyway.  My point is that you got what you wanted, it ended badly, and it’s time for something new.

So really, there was never much chance of me being a Republican in the first place.  I was against the war from the outset.  Fearmongering doesn’t work on me. Emotional appeals at saving “the children” don’t work on me.  The whole God thing doesn’t work on me either.

I’d like to clarify one thing, though.  I’m not against “the children.”  In fact, I am in favor of them.  I am in favor of an economic climate that allows families to thrive.  I’m in favor of 50-50 custody arrangements.  I’m in favor of strong legislation and funding for the foster care program.  I’m in favor of free health care for children.  I support funding for pre-school programs.  I believe that our schools should be at the top of our list of priorities.

And yes, I *am* in favor of allowing gays to adopt.  This is primarily because I don’t see them as some other section of society.  I probably run with a somewhat racier crowd than the Christian conservatives, but nonetheless, some of my best friends are bisexual.  My neighbors are gay.  There was a damned Top 40 song entitled “I Kissed A Girl,” for crying out loud.  Studies show, time and time again, that being gay does not mean one has a proclivity for molesting children.  Studies also show that children raised in gay families are NOT more likely to “become” gay.  I would posit that this is because, generally speaking, one does not BECOME gay.  Besides which, it has nothing to do with one’s ability to raise children.  I would much rather see children raised by willing, loving gay parents than in foster care.

And so, for the first time in history, I end one of these rants with a smile… Because I finally believe we have taken a step closer to something positive, both politically and socially.