The real winner of the election, of course, was the aide who whispered "Just chill, and relax" into Obama's ear as the president walked up to the podium in the first debate. Will someone please give them a hug and tell them it's alright?
Speaking of hugs...
About three years ago, my son and I were leaving a convenience store when I saw two people hugging in the parking lot. I was struck by it, not because they both happened to be women, but by how their warmth and compassion radiated outward, as if it was tangible, and how it lovingly touched everyone in proximity to it.
As much as I respected these women, I knew that there were people who, if they had witnessed that hug, may have mocked them or have done something far worse, for the path from mindless hatred to mindless violence is all too easy and quick and there are those who travel it freely.
I've never understood the visceral anger some people have toward gay people. I wonder if those who are angry even understand it themselves. When I hear anti-gay activists speak, all I discover is that someone told them how to feel (preacher, church, etc...). This then absolves them of all responsibility for hurting others. I assume this self-inflicted masking of reason must be a comfort as well, for they then never have to think about what they are saying and doing and of the severe consequences that emerge from telling an entire group of people that there is something wrong with them because of who they are.
None of the arguments against gay marriage make any sense and most were probably made up in a panic. They just have that slapped-together Mr.-Potato-Head-feel, with appendages stuck in all the wrong holes. The one argument they had which was factually correct, however, was that whenever gay marriage had come up for a vote, the people always voted it down. I've never seen such delight taken in civil rights being stripped away by a majority vote, an act that should appall us all.
Thankfully, after the wonderful and heartening news that the people of not one, but two states voted against hatred and for equal rights, we will never have to see it again.