Gotta take the highs with the lows

I still find that I am elated at the election of Barack Obama as our new President. I see pictures of his acceptance speech in Chicago, and it just brings tears to my eyes. I read an article on Huffington Post and it validated exactly what I was thinking that night. . . he seemed grateful, tired, humble and sad all while maintaining his steadfastness in his belief that we, the American people, are what makes this country great. And he will lead us as a nation to set high standards for ourselves and for the global community. As Oprah said, "Hope won!" And I am VERY hopeful now.

I am also elated that right here in Colorado and in South Dakota voters did not pass amendments which would strip away women's rights, and doctors' rights to take care of them. The implications of how far reaching the law would have been taken had they passed was frightening, indeed. So, good for you Colorado and South Dakota!

And yet, I am holding all of this in the same space of feeling very disappointed at the outcome of the elections in other states. Specifically, I am talking about Florida, Arkansas and California, of all places. Once again, people are being scared into believing that if "the gays" were to be treated like equals (i.e. humans) and given the same constitutional rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that somehow society will fall apart and before you know it, we might as well let people marry their dogs! Try to follow that logic! 

I like the line of thinking that the Boss said in her blog, that (and I'm rephrasing a bit) in Arkansas, these children who are basically being tossed away like garbage and being thrown into an already overwhelmed Foster Care system are too precious to let unmarried couples adopt. WTF?! Hello?! The F-ing President-elect was raised by a SINGLE MOTHER!!! He went to Harvard F-ing University, no less! Tell me, all you intellectual pro-lifers out there. . . if you had your way and abortions were illegal, who would take care of THOSE unwanted children? Hmmm???

OK (stepping off of my soap box now) Basically, what I wanted to say is that we have had a few setbacks in this election, but overall we are headed in the right direction. Obama won by a landslide, both the House and the Senate are majority Democrat and I think the American people know there is a long road ahead for recovery. Let's not lose sight of the Hope of this campaign. I'm going to link you to Tammy Etheridge's blog. . . she is an amazing writer, and has summarized her feelings better than I can. 

Here's looking to the future.

I just love Obama-RALLY I do!!

What a glorious day it was! It was a brisk fall morning that quickly warmed into a beautiful fall day here in Denver. And to top it all off. . . Barack Obama was in town speaking at a rally in Denver. I got myself up, rode the light rail into downtown Denver and joined over 100,000 of my closest friends to cheer on Barack Obama, as well as other Democratic candidates. I didn't have my camera with me, but I was able to get a couple of good shots from my cell phone. 

I couldn't see the podium where he spoke, but if you look in the first picture, it was located just beyond the American flag. That flag, by the way, was GIGANTIC. The picture really doesn't do it justice.

The news station estimated the crowd to be at about 100,000. It was really amazing to be in the middle of this huge crowd. The crowd was very mellow and very excited to be there. Amazingly I ran into a few friends, too. 

We listened to Representative Diana DeGette, Senator Ken Salazar, Mayor John Hickenlooper, and Congressman Mark Udall, among others. They all spoke of change, getting out the vote, working together and electing Barack Obama for President! Woo-hoo!

When Obama spoke, I felt even more hopeful and excited. He didn't say anything "new," really, from any of his other speeches or debates I've seen. It was just "cool" to be at this huge event, listening to him speak, unedited, interjecting humor, and just being himself. (OK, himself at a big rally on the campaign trail!) :)  Anyway, it felt reassuring listening to someone (who is much smarter than I) who has some good, solid ideas for how to move forward on some important issues. . . big and small. 

O-BA-MA!! O-BA-MA!! O-BA-MA!!