I Voted.

We only waited an hour and a half, not too bad.  My mom called me and told me that she and my stepfather had both voted for Obama, which was the most uplifting thing I’d heard since Obama became the official Democratic candidate.  While I’m pretty damn sure that if it were marginally possible for the GOP to rig another election they would, that phone call from the most unlikely Obama supporters I know made me more confident in my country.  Hopefully Palin will be able to follow more suitable career choices and John McCain will go down in American history as an also ran.

Always be prepared, though.  That’s my motto.  No, it isn’t.  Well, except for when it applies to crafting, which anyone who has asked me why I have googly eyes and a hot gluegun in my bookbag already knows.

My grandfather, who is in his late eighties, was also very excited about voting.  He called my mom to tell her he was still wearing his sticker.  He voted for Obama, but he’s one of those diehard Southern Democrats, his eyes water when he talks about FDR and I’ve just learned not to bring the topic of NAFTA up during get-togethers.

This election has gone by without the overwhelming amount of gay-bashing to which I’m accostomed, which makes me hope that, just like that Patriot Act bullshit was slipped in while everyone was focused on 9/11, maybe, just maybe, some civil union rights will be slipped in while everyone’s freaking out about their 401k.  Maybe these are the four years when some of that No Child Left Behind crap gets rolled back.  Maybe things really will get better, so good that people become complacent again.

Several years back, Rachal and I marched in an anti-war demonstration and it actually felt a little isolating to be part of such a small group of people, wondering, “what the hell is everyone else doing?”, and then things kept getting shittier and shittier in this country, and it wasn’t just a matter of dead foreigners and a handful of lost soldiers, it was everything else.  While it is extremely uplifting to see this current level of involvement from all Americans, I also feel like this election is a vindication for everyone who was glued to their seats for the past two elections, the people who found alternative media sources when they realized that FOX isn’t the only piece of shit venue for information in this country.

And that’s my first reaction, which is kind of “us versus them”, but I have to remind myself that everyone has a different trigger for what makes them interested in the world around them and, while most people will just go back to their normal lives, there’s a good chance that the past six months have changed a lot of people permanently and that the next four years will be a good time for citizenship.

Alright, to commence obsessive poll watching…