Two years is a lifetime to wait for change. But finally the day is upon us. From eighteen. To two. To ONE.

Many of us have been waiting longer than 2 years. Much longer. Sometimes patiently, and sometimes with tremendous urgency, we waited for a sign, some moment in time that would begin to ease the weight of the past years transgressions, and begin to move us to a better place. I remember that moment for me back in 2004 where there was a whiff of hope, a suggestion that things could truly be different, and better.

“.. alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga, a belief that we are all connected as one people.

If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child.

If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for their prescription and having to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandparent.

If there’s an Arab-American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.

It is that fundamental belief — it is that fundamental belief — I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper — that makes this country work.

It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family: “E pluribus unum,” out of many, one.

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes.

Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America.

There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.

The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue States: red states for Republicans, blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states.

We coach little league in the blue states and, yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the red states.

There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq.

We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?”

So here we are on this final day. And the world is holding its breath, watching us, waiting to see what will happen next.

Do they wonder if we will elect our first African-American president?

No.

Do they wonder if our next president will finally bring the war in Iraq to a close?

No.

Do they wonder if our next president will lead the way on the issues that matter most in this new century, like terrorism, poverty and climate change?

No.

They wonder if we will choose hope.

Vote.

Proposition 8 and the election in general has brought out the worst side of us, as evidenced by overt racism at the McCain/Palin rallies and the growing tensions in California over marriage equality. Hate is finally out of the closet and on display for the whole world to see. In California, some Proposition 8 supporters compare gays and lesbians to Hitler, while others see us bringing about the end times. There seems to be no limit to what they will say or do.

I’ve put together a list of eight reasons why voting No on Prop 8 might not be such a terrible idea, particularly if you don’t want to be associated with the lot below. Here they are, in no particular order

1. People who want marriage equality are well, like, Hitler

Brad Dacus (pji@pacificjustice.org, (916) 857-6900) a spokesman for Proposition 8, spoke passionately in Sacramento equating their struggle against gay marriage and saving the soul of America, to the people of faith in Germany who left the soul of their country to Hitler.  Really?

2. The Mormons

By far the largest financial contributors to Proposition 8, Mormons have a long history of veiled hate and intolerance. Their church mobilized against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 70s. Blacks were not allowed into the temple until 1978, frowned on interracial marriage, and expelled gays and lesbians from their church who are unable to go straight. Sounds like an inclusive group to me.

3. 2012 Letter from Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family, one of Prop 8’s largest contributors, have released a fictional letter written by a Christian circa 2012, telling the story of what’s gone wrong with America in the first 4 years of an Obama presidency. Notable highlights include gay scoutmasters will be able to sleep in tents with young boys, schools can teach homosexuality as a personal choice, counselors and social workers can nolonger discriminate against homosexuals, and gays will target Christian book publishers, through defacement and censorship,  including cyber attacks against those booksellers carrrying their books. Are you kidding me?

4. The Call

Organized by religious leaders across the country, the Call brings together people to pray for the passage of Proposition 8 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego this weekend. James Dobson of Focus on the Family has decided at the last minute to join event, at the urging of Rev. Jim Garlow, who later goes on to say that he fears the end of western civilization if Prop 8 doesn’t pass.

Don’t these folks have something better to pray for? Like world peace? Or food for the millions starving across the globe. Or cures for the sick? This is how they choose to spend there time?

5. Yes on Proposition 8 Sends out Blackmail Letters

Last week the fine folks behind Proposition 8 sent out blackmail letters to many businesses that had made No on 8 donations, threatening to “out” them if they didn’t make a matching donation to Yes on 8. Truly tasteless.

6. Cyber attack of No on Prop 8 Website

After sending out an urgent call for donations to match Yes on 8’s recent funding surge, the No on Prop 8 site was attacked by hackers, denying contributors from making donations for several hours. Hackers can be bigots too I guess.

7. Tom McClintock

Tom McClintock who is running for Congress in Southern California is quoted as saying:

“Lincoln asked, ‘If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? The answer is four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one,'” McClintock said in a statement. “And calling a homosexual partnership a marriage doesn’t make it one.”

McClintock is no friend of the gay community.
 
8. Orange County, California

Yes,  the whole county. There’s nothing orange about it, it’s red, through and through. A bastion of support for Proposition 8, Yes on 8 signs are everywhere, from neighborhood lawns to billboards. Some of Proposition 8’s biggest contributors are from Orange County. Donors skew heavily conservative, religious, and Mormon. I suspect gays and lesbians are, well, unwelcome.

So, if you are planning to vote Yes on Prop 8, then you are associating yourself with the fine class of people mentioned in the examples above.  Is that what you really want?

Second to the presidency, Proposition 8 is arguably the most important vote in the nation this November. Authored by religious groups, Proposition 8 overturns the California Supreme Court’s decision granting same-sex couples marriage equality, and amends the state constitution so that marriage can only be defined as union between a man and a woman.

Recently married, my partner and I have donated time and money to the No On Prop 8 campaign. We’ve called upon our family and friends to do as much as they can. We’ve distributed fliers and signs around our neighborhood, and have tried to make an impact in our workplace. But we wanted to do something more.

I’ve made a No On Prop 8 video and have posted it on online. I’m not so naive as to think it will make a huge difference, or even a small one, but if I can get one more person to donate time or money, or get down off of that fence, then it will have been worth it.

I think many California voters don’t really know who Proposition 8’s biggest supporters are, or their core values. In the video I try to draw attention to that, in the hopes that making the decision to vote No on Prop 8 is an easier one.
Please help me spread the word by sharing this video.

Some of Proposition 8’s biggest supporters include
(I will not link to them as not to send them traffic):

• Concerned Women for America
• Focus on the Family
• American Family Association
• The Knights of Columbus
• Members of the Mormon Church
  (urged by their leaders, they have donated over $18 million)

For a complete list visit Californians Against Hate or the LA Times.

Please donate time or donate money if you have not already done so. Or volunteer for No On Prop 8’s Election Visibility program on Election Day November 4th.

And finally, I’d like to send my deepest thanks to Chuck Smith, who was so gracious with his time to provide the voiceover in this video. Please contact me if you have some work to send Chuck’s way.

I usually hate painting with broad swathes of color. But this contemptible, steaming pile of excrement leaves me little choice. Listen to this audio clip of John Gibson on his Fox radio show which aired yesterday.

[audio:https://inlookout.com/wp-content/media/audio/GibsonMocksLedger.mp3]

While not typically an advocate of violence, there’s nothing I’d like to do more than throw this SOB under the bus. And while we’re at it, let’s throw Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity, and Anne Coulter, and Chris Wallace, and Bill Kristol under the bus too… Sure… I could go on… there’s an endless parade of hypocrites that deserve to be wedged between the tire treads, but frankly… we’d need a bigger bus.

And while not much of a fan of censorship.. I’d love to muzzle Fox News. Ban them from the airwaves. And throw Rupert Murdoch in jail (I might have to manufacture a charge, but Bill O’Reilly does that all the time. Perhaps I can ask him for help, no wait a minute… he’s still under the bus). And gleefully I will watch the hypocrisy dissipate from the airwaves as Fox News fades into a distant memory.

Perhaps then, and only then… will those who call themselves viewers begin to think for themselves, and perhaps.. maybe.. stop voting against their best interests. And finally, awaken from that long dream where Ronald Reagan saved the world and made America great again. (Well I can wish.. can I?)

But perhaps it is me living in a dream. So please… let me wake up.

Good bye Heath. We’ll miss ya. Godspeed.