The Cheerful Assassins
There won’t be any SWAT, Special Forces or armed guerillas. There won’t be any Russian paratroopers falling from the heavens. We won’t have a Governmental collapse and not a single shot will be fired. They’ll show up at the door with clipboards and broad toothy smiles. I am absolutely convinced that when they come to take away our rights they will show up with suits, ties and Bibles.
When I watched the results pour in during the wee hours of Wednesday morning it became clear that Proposition 8 (a measure to remove the rights of same-sex couples to marry) was headed towards a win. The local news station recognized this too and cut to a Yes on 8 “party” in Irvine. The reporter, surrounded by fine upstanding suit-and-tie wearing, bible-thumping heterosexuals flashing their pearly whites, reported an atmosphere of “cautious optimism”.
Was this hack seeing the same “party” I was? This wasn’t cautious optimism. This was malicious satisfaction. Their faces were not emoting caution – the expressions I saw can only be described as glee. A certain sort of repulsive joy was oozing from every pasty white pore. They had worked hard; some of them had given up their careers to dedicate their life to this campaign. This was the fruits of their labors and their smug satisfaction showed.
You know, I can respect deep and abiding personal beliefs. I can understand people who have profound religious convictions, one of our most valued rights as Americans, even if I don’t agree with them. But this… this was something else completely. This was more about keeping others down rather than “standing up for family” – you could see it written on their faces. These were indeed gleeful idiots, cheerful assassins if you will: here to save society from itself. They were giddy. I was revolted.
Tuesday’s election results were astounding in so many ways. California managed to take a step forward and a step backward at the same time. We wanted change but not too much change apparently. The dichotomy of voting for Barak Obama as well as yes on Proposition 8 is lost on no one – least of all the thousands upon thousands of protesters who have flooded the streets all across our fine state. They clearly felt the revulsion I felt and chose to voice their displeasure in a big way.
So what’s next Orange County? Where will you draw the line? Adoption? Interracial marriage? When will you have had enough of the hatred? Here’s another question: When they show up at your little suburban door to stake their next constitutional claim will you take to the streets or will you invite the smiling foot soldiers in for tea?
I am disappointed. I thought we were better than this. Last week, for the first time ever, I was ashamed to call myself a Californian.
well put jon but sadly we are not better than this. i did my response via photoshop.
this ain’t over you know.
http://guysfromarea51.blogspot.com/2008/11/california-drinking-fountains.html
You and me both sister…….
I felt like I was kicked in the stomach. I managed to feel only a little better when it was brought to my attention that most civil rights cases in history have been won in court. I’m still disgusted by the people around me though. Especially people whom I call friends that tried to joke with me about it. This was more than politics to me. It was personal. I don’t know…….
We shall overcome…
I am not too "political" and I don’t get angry very easily, but this has me nice and mad just under the surface. Unfortunately, I have lost a little trust in the people of California to do the right thing. This should be a time when I am celebrating that very thing… but I just can’t.
I know that many of those around me voted yes against this and many would not have if they were thinking with their whole brain. It really breaks down to this – "What if it were them? How would they feel?"
Give California a break. When you compare the numbers of Prop 8 with Prop 22, you’ll find that the anti-gay marriage side gained about 740,000 votes and the pro-gay marriage side gained 2 million. In eight years! The support for gay marriage in California nearly doubled in eight years. I couldn’t even vote in 2000, neither could most of my friends.
As the younger generation comes up and becomes eligible to vote, the support for gay marriage is going to continue to swell. So while yes, it’s awful that Prop 8 passed- you should be more ashamed of the Mormons that funded the outright malicious lying campaign ads, and a little more proud of the nearly 5 million people in California who came out and said NO to discrimination.