Thursday, October 30, 2008


I went today to early-vote. I just couldn't stand it. Couldn't wait for next Tuesday because what if something happened? What if I got really sick and couldn't go? What if the Baptist church where my precinct votes got struck by lightening? What if the comet hit the earth and I hadn't cast my vote for Barack Obama and my vote against Proposition Two which states:

"This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

Living here in Florida, I don't have a lot of faith that that one is going to get voted down. We're in the damn buckle of the Bible Belt here with crazy ass Christians who can't understand that Jesus never said one word about homosexuality and who are so repelled at the thought of two people of the same sex having sex that they want to amend our Constitution to make sure that even if two people ARE having sex when they're not the right sexes, they can't get married because then somehow that sex would be okay.

Or something.

Makes my blood boil. I wrote about gay marriage almost a year ago and you can read that if you want to right here.

So when I marked that circle next to the NO on that particular part of the ballot, I felt angry and at the same time, defeated, because like I said, unless the people of Florida are more advanced and open-minded than I think they are, this one is going down.

On the other hand, when I marked the circle for Obama/Biden, I had a different kind of feeling. It was one of those this-is-history-this-is-really-important feelings. Like for a second, time stood still and I realized I would remember that second forever.

Where were you when you voted for Obama?

I was in a little brick building in Monticello, Florida and the lady who gave me my ballot said, "Just fill this out and put it in the machine and we'll have you out of here in no time." But in a friendly way, like she figured I had somewhere important to be.

I wanted to say, "No, lady, I am going to take my time with this. I am going to savor the moment. I am doing the most important thing I could possibly be doing at this moment in time."

And I did. I took my time. I don't remember feeling that way about voting ever before in my life. I remember voting for Jimmy Carter when he was running against Ronald Reagan, and I remember hoping with all my heart that the California actor who obviously did not know reality from the made-up myths of Hollywood did not win this one and that the painfully honest and sometimes awkward man from Georgia would, but I had a sinking feeling (like the one I have about Prop 2) that it was all going to go to hell and the old smooth-talker would win.

I remember but it wasn't like the way I felt today, marking my ballot for Obama.

I had hope today. It wasn't marking a ballot for the candidate I hated the least. It was marking a ballot for a man whom I would joyfully see be our president. A smart man. A calm man. A man who has come up the hard way and offered to take on a responsibility that he owed no one.

And oh dear God, how I would love to see those beautiful children of his playing in the Rose Garden. And his gorgeous, strong, smart wife standing at his side, welcoming world leaders and representing our country all over the world. A woman whose elegance and beauty do not come from plastic surgery or make-up or designer clothes but from intelligence and humor and dedication.

It's time. It's such a cliche, but it's time for change. Not just a change, but for many, many changes. The kind that can help heal the earth, make peace possible and make things like Proposition Two relics of a long-gone past.

And I pray, in the way that I know and can pray, that my moment in the little brick building in Monticello today was part of that.

I hope millions of us do.

I would be so much prouder to be an American if Barack Obama gets elected. Can we make it happen? Can we elect this so-obviously more qualified man to be president, even though tens of thousands of "real" Americans are hiding behind bullshit reasons not to elect him ranging from he's the Anti-Christ to his middle name is Hussein when really, they are merely racist?

Can we?

Are we smart enough, are we evolved enough, are we decent and thoughtful and open enough?

I almost believe we are.

Five more days to find out for sure.

It feels like time is standing still and at the same time, it feels like we are rushing to a new part of our history. A part I can actually believe in.

I'm scared. I'm joyful.

I voted.




18 comments:

  1. "I would be so much prouder to be an American if Barack Obama gets elected. Can we make it happen?"

    I can't imagine it going the other way. I loved what you said about Obama, his wife and his kids. And, he is a calm man, isn't he?

    Again, I just don't think it will go the other way. It's just time for him. I am looking forward to voting Tuesday, for Obama, of course.

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  2. Click your heels together three times, think happy thoughts, and let's make that old bastard John McPalin and his little bitch bulldog Sarah and their oaf son Jojo the Plumdumber go poof! Obama, yo mama! Every last anti-American reactionary Republican rat ass can kiss my grits! Ms. Moon, I approve your message.

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  3. I'm holding off for the official morning. I'm looking forward to getting up and dressed a half hour early, and you know that is never true of me. I'm looking forward to walking into the Georgia Belle apartments, getting my sheet from the old ladies, and casting my vote with hope. And that night my friends and I are going out to the bar, because if he wins we'll celebrate and if he loses we're really going to need to drown our sorrows.

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  4. I'll drink to that!

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  5. I was at home in my kitchen, when I voted for Obama by absentee ballot, a few weeks ago. I used a Number 2 pencil, as per the directions, and I knew I was a part of history when I filled in the little circle next to his name. That's what I'll tell my grandchildren, when they ask me. I've been telling everyone I can to get to the polls early on Tuesday and expect long lines, like there were at the polls in 1992 when Clinton ran against Bush the Elder and the last time there was even the hope of change in this country.

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  6. yes!

    i feel the same ways.

    the time-standing still slash rushing into something amazing.. yes. im there.

    and im proud to be your blogger friend.

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  7. Great post. I am in California, so my vote for Obama is worthless since he has this state in the bag. BUT...after I fill in the Obama circle I will then get to vote on prop 8, the bill proposing to ban gay marriage here. THIS prop is really close, and my vote will matter. Man, if you were here to see the slander on TV...they keep saying if we allow gays to marry, kids will be taught gay marriage in school...there even is an ad where a little girl comes home from school with a book call "Prince and Prince" and when asked by her mom what she learned that day she says, "That boys can marry boys!" The mom looks horrified and then the announcer says something like "Unless you want this to happen vote to restore traditional marriage." Sickening.

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  8. Mike in CA, we are with you in spirit even though we can't vote on that one! (We have our own version in Florida, though.) And thank you, dear Ms. Moon, for your beautiful post expressing exactly how I feel!! Exactly!!! :) OK, I'm a wreck waiting, but I do think we CAN make it happen this time! If not, well, I'm sharpening my kitchen knife because I just might have to kill myself....
    Did I mention that this really means A LOT to me for all the reasons you expressed so well? May I send links to your blog around the country?

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  9. Of course, Lois. I would be honored.

    I really feel like this can happen, y'all. I really do. And I am not a very optimistic person, as you may know by now.

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  10. Great post Ms. Moon. I am going to cherish and savor my vote as well. I can't wait until I get to vote for Barack.

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  11. There are not enough trails in this town to keep me distracted till Tuesday.
    You nailed it in this post, you summed up how I feel perfectly. I am nervous and hopeful. I worry about the division, but I recon we need it.

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  12. Nicol- it FEELS like it's time, doesn't it?

    BBoy- I'm glad you approve.

    DTG- it'll be a celebration. Or else... (can't even go there).

    Magnum- inside AND outside drinking.

    MOB- Clinton's election WAS joyful. I remember. There was hope.

    AJ- and I'm proud to be yours.

    Mike- can you BELIEVE this is going on in 2008? It's beyond belief. James Dobson can kiss my ass.

    Lo- I miss you. Are you still in Florida?

    AB- Thanks! Nice picture.

    Brother B- keep riding. We're all doing what we can to contain ourselves. Let's hope the division isn't so great that we find ourselves without hope at all. Nope, not going to happen. Forget I said that.

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  13. Mrs Moon, I salute you!!!! I am the black sheep (aka Democrat) in a family of racist, sexist, homophobic, repressed Republicans, and even though Wisconsin typically goes Democrat, my idiotic family is doing its best to get McCain, that ancient windbag, elected. They are even working on my children, which really pisses me off!

    My evil mother even tried to play the 'I thought you were a feminist' card, saying that she would have assumed I'd be all abotu putting a woman in the whitehouse. I informed her that yes, I AM a feminist, and that is precisely the reason I cannot vote for Pipeline Barbie. I find it amusing that the newspaper in her own hometown doesn't even endorse her.

    And I'll be damned if I want to pay income tax on my health insurance....pretty soon I'll be paying my agency for the privelege of working.

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  14. Doesn't it just make you wonder, Rachel? WHAT are these people thinking? They are taking in McCain's lies as if it were manna.

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  15. I think some of the racist/ignorant people are so frustrated and broke that they'll believe anything this guy spews out. They'd rather vote for a semi-comatose white idiot than an articulate, intelligent black man. So sad.

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  16. Two days ago, my once-Republican husband and I cast our early vote for Obama at our county courthouse in Charles Town, W.Va. The same courthouse in which John Brown's mock trial was held before he was marched down the street and hanged. And, oh, did my heart sing when I cast my vote! Just before it was my turn, one of the poll workers asked if an older woman could go before me, as she was having difficulty standing. But of course! And there she was, an elderly black woman who must have waited a lifetime to do what she was about to do. Imagine, if we want this man to be president, just how proud she must be. I admit it: I cried for joy.

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  17. Well, Rachel, it is sad. But it's still mystifying to me.

    Nannygoat- yep! I love the fact that I have an Obama sign in front of my house which black slaves probably built. If I were black, I don't think I would be able to contain my joy at this election. And if he wins- my God but there is going to be some celebration!
    And good for your husband!

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