It was only earlier this year that the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was legal, and all the happy couples flocked to be wed.  They just wanted to show that them being gay by no means lessens their relationship or love for each other, and wanted to have that same level of committment and bond that everyone else gets to enjoy.  The supporters of proposition 8 said that they’re trying to “protect marriage” and make sure it doesn’t lose it’s value.  What the hell is wrong with these people?  How are they protecting it?  By getting divorces?  By constantly having extra-marital affairs?  By often not getting married and just being sexually promiscuous all their lives?  Show me how they’re backing up their own words.

The main argument is that the Bible defines marriage as between a man and a woman.  That’s fine.  I am by no means discounting this and saying it isn’t true.  Nor am I saying I interpret the Bible differently.  I’m merely stating that the United States of America is not supposed to be ruled by any one religion, nor should it’s laws be based off said religion.  Stating that the Bible is against gay marriage doesn’t amount to anything when it comes time to pass a law about the same subject.  We have a (supposed) separation of church and state for a reason, but when it’s convenient the religious leaders and followers will just so happen to forget about it.

Those that oppose Proposition 8 are still holding onto hope that absentee ballots still being tallied will tip the scales in their favor, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.  It broke my heart to see pictures of the supporters of Proposition 8 dancing and smiling and hugging each other when it passed.  I didn’t see joy in those pictures – I saw hate.  Plain and simple.  They actively campaigned against granting equal rights and they see nothing wrong with it.  These people who so adamently defend their position on how the Bible states marriage is between a man and a woman seem to forget that it also says not to judge and to love your neighbor; that any judgment to be done will only be done by God.  Yet these people yelled and were spiteful to those against Proposition 8, and celebrated their victory as if they’d just bought their salvation.

I weep for America.

I voted in the 2004 election, and I’m sad to say it was for Bush instead of Kerry.  At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do.  We were in the middle of the war with Iraq and I didn’t think Kerry was suited to take on that situation and handle it in the best way for our soldiers and our country.  However, I stupidly believed Bush would be able to get his head out of his ass and fix it himself, but that was horribly dumb of me.  He’d just keep throwing soldiers and dollars at it, all the while pretending things were going to be resolved soon.  It’s 4 years since the last election and I won’t pretend things haven’t improved in Iraq, but I also won’t delude myself into thinking that we’re going to be pulling out anytime soon.  It’s idiocy.

The campaigning for this election has gone on for a record 21 months and I am so glad it will be over by tonight.  I’m tired of Obama this and McCain that.  I’m worn down.  Exhausted.  They’ve campaigned America to death and now I just don’t care.  Over time I’ve watched as it became more and more apparent that while this election will most likely have the greatest voter turnout in history, it will mainly be because all the uninformed Americans are going to come out to vote on the trendy candidate.

Each presidential candidates are supporters of things I support, and in opposition of things I oppose.  I wonder if they truly support and oppose all the things they campaign for.  Does Obama really care about Universal Healthcare?  Does McCain truly feel that certain types of guns should be banned from public purchase?  Do they both really oppose a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage?  How many of their standpoints have been decided for them based on the party they’re running for?

That’s why frustrates me about our government system.  If you’re for gay marriage, you can’t possibly be a Republican.  If you’re against abortion, you can’t possibly be a Democrat.  There’s no in between.  You’re one or the other, or you’re laughably considered an “independent” or “liberal”.  What’s even worse is that the big competition isn’t limited to just Republicans versus Democrats – it’s in-house as well!  For quite a while everyone was convinced Senator Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee, but then Obama campaigned as well and it was Democrat vs. Democrat until Clinton realized she wasn’t going to win the battle and gracefully stepped down.  Would I have voted for Clinton?  I don’t know.  But it irked me that it got to the point that even if I wanted to I wouldn’t be able to.  Why?  Because the electoral colleges threw their support behind Obama and Clinton was left in the dust.

It’s trendy voting.  If you gathered up 100 people who intend to vote for Obama and 100 who intend to vote for McCain and gave them a pop-quiz on the issues each candidate supports, I can almost guarantee you that half the people would fail the quiz.  Which of the candidates supports ANWR drilling?  Neither.  Which is in support of the Patriot Act?  Both.  Which one thinks minimum wage should be increased?  Obama.  Which one thinks same-sex unions aren’t a good idea, but wants to leave the decision up to the states (so he can avoid taking the backlash for the decision)?  McCain.  And who thinks it’s a bad idea to erect a border fence to prevent illegal immigration?  Neither.

Both candidates have ideals I support.  Both candidates have ideals I oppose.  That’s the difficult decision every American must wrestle with before choosing who he or she wants to place into a position of power.  But many Americans this year will be making the trendy decision.  Obama because he says he likes change.  McCain because he’s patriotic and wants to continue the war until we’ve “won”.  Obama because he’s African American.  McCain because his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, is just oh-so-cute and a real American like us.  Blah blah blah blah blah.  Uninformed trendy voting everywhere!

I think it’s ridiculous that there has to be such a clear division between the two parties.  One party always blames the other for anything wrong.  The democrats all blame the republicans for the war because the president is republican.  The republicans all blame the democrats for the economic crisis because they’re the house majority right now.  Neither side accepting blame or truly working to make things better, just pointing fingers and dodging bullets.  I said it once and I’ll say it again – they’re all a bunch of little monkeys flinging poo.  Not doing anything of real value, just trying not to get hit themselves.

Were I to vote in this election, I wouldn’t be voting for the candidate I like more, I’d be voting the candidate I dislike least.  At this point, I couldn’t be any more frustrated with either one winning, so good luck America.  Either way, the next 4 years are going to be very interesting.

When I first sat down to watch the debate I was actually looking forward to it.  I honestly had no clue it was going to be on tonight because – quite frankly – I didn’t care and had no interest in keeping up with the daily happenings of the presidential campaign.  However, once I realized I’d have to change the channel to avoid it, I decided that it might be worth watching.  How wrong I was.

It was not so much a professional debate as it was watching two grown adults squabble like children.  ”No, what I said was…”  ”Well, 8 years ago you said this…”  ”Well last week you insinuated this…”  ”Well a couple minutes ago you misrepresented that…”  I got so tired of it, and so did the moderator from what I could gleam of her few words.  She would address a question to the two candidates, and they’d sidestep and address a comment the other candidate had made during the previous round of questions.  During their tirade of defending themselves and tearing down the other, neither got around to answering quite a few of the new questions posed to them.  The moderator tried to reign them in, but they’d have none of it.  They would’ve been better suited in a child’s bouncy house with big cushioned boxing gloves on than in formal attire in front of the nation.

Biden would defend Obama and tear down McCain while Palin provided glowing praise of McCain and criticized Obama.  They went back and forth in this patter until I couldn’t remember the actual question that was even being discussed because they were referencing passed bills and proposed tax reforms that happened so many years ago, constantly trying to guide the conversation to a topic that made their presidential candidate look better.  Granted, I’m not so dumb as to not realize this is the whole point of the debate, but it was gone about utterly wrong and was a supreme disappointment to watch.

I’m embarrassed that these are the two choices I have to vote for.  Luckily, neither is the presidential candidate, but I’m afraid to tune in and watch an Obama vs. McCain debate for fear that it will be the same circus if not worse.  I dread the next two months leading up to the election.  The campaigning is only to get more intense.  If they were monkeys, they’d be flinging poo at this point.  If I were you, I’d duck and cover.