VA goes D?!?!
Nov. 9th, 2006 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prusikThe AP is calling Jim Webb in the VA race for the Senate. He apparently has about a 7000 vote lead. Given there is no paper backup for the votes, it's highly unlikely that Allen will be able to cut into that lead significantly. I'm finding it ironic that this is a case where unverifiable ballotting hurt a Republican candidate. I guess it's a case of reaping what you sow. Paper backup would have been nice to show, unequivocally, that Webb did, in fact, win by about 7000 votes. However, it would be hypocritical for those who insisted that there's nothing wrong with purely electronic voting to argue anything nefarious. Fortunately, none of them seem to be doing this. (However, I haven't checked what the Allen reaction to the AP story is. I don't think he has conceded yet.)
All in all, it was a much better election that I had hoped for. Deval Patrick glided into victory as I had expected. The only way this might be a problem is that the Republicans, unsurprisingly, are already attempting to raise the bar on his performance as governor. This is like how they lowered expectations when W was elected President. The Democrats wrested control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. I hope this will steer the country in a saner direction. The anti-abortion bill in SD went down by a healthy margin. I believe at least one parental notification law also failed. It was also a good election for raising the minimum wage. AZ became the first state to vote down an anti same-sex marriage amendment.
On the other hand, every other bit of anti same-sex legislation passed. Apparently, the notion that I might get married is so dangerous that it needs to be outlawed. Actually, it's more than that. After years of "oh, we don't mind if they have the rights and responsibilities of a committed relationship, we just don't want them to call it a marriage," the proposed amendments invariably go out of their way to deny any sort of civil commitment as well as marriage. Just what is so dangerous here? The rather strange sub-text of the argument in favor of such amendments has always been "we need this staunch disapproval or else everyone would opt for same-sex marriage, then the species would fail to reproduce."
Ok, to be less facetious about this, I think it boils down to a genuine homophobia. They may not be able to place the source of the fear, and I wouldn't presume, but there is clearly a fear there. Otherwise, it's hard to explain the variety of arguments which are, frankly, irrational. By their own standards, some of the marriages which already exist do more to damage the sanctity of marriage than the theoretical (except in MA) same-sex marriage. Having been on the receiving end of people's first contact with an actual Asian-American, I wouldn't be surprised if, for most who voted for such amendments, it's a simple fear of people they think they don't know. The good news is that this is fixable.
So much for the election. I will probably be making that diatribe so long as gay Americans have fewer rights and responsibilities than straight Americans.
To my surprise, I'm managing to write despite all the hours of rehearsal this week. I'm setting aside my ex-VP reunion story for now because I think it may have hit the point where it's ready for me to abandon it to a publisher. Instead, I'm reworking my "Hats of War" story. Its first draft didn't really cohere. I think I now have a throughline for both the characters and plot which makes sense now. I don't think it's going to resemble the first draft much except in scenario. I find this happens to me a lot. I write a draft that I wouldn't be completely ashamed to show someone, except for some problem which causes me to write the story again. (In the case of "Running and Falling," one character made a not credible choice because the plot told him to. The rewrite is much better.)
I can't help but wonder though if working on all of these other stories is some sort of writing avoidance activity so that I don't get to dive in and do the necessary surgery on the story I submitted to VP. BTW, one more election-related thought. I have to say I'm relieved that, with this election, my VP submission now reads more like fiction rather than dire prophecy. I finished the first draft about a year ago, then watched with horror as the country slowly slid in the direction of my story.
I read "Impossible Dreams" by Tim Pratt on the way to choir rehearsal last night. (Yes, I'm behind on reading Asimov's SF.) What a terrific story! I love the way he keeps you hooked in while he's busy developing the real story. Of course, what keeps you hooked in ultimately ties into the resolution of the real story. This is a story I aspire to.
All in all, it was a much better election that I had hoped for. Deval Patrick glided into victory as I had expected. The only way this might be a problem is that the Republicans, unsurprisingly, are already attempting to raise the bar on his performance as governor. This is like how they lowered expectations when W was elected President. The Democrats wrested control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. I hope this will steer the country in a saner direction. The anti-abortion bill in SD went down by a healthy margin. I believe at least one parental notification law also failed. It was also a good election for raising the minimum wage. AZ became the first state to vote down an anti same-sex marriage amendment.
On the other hand, every other bit of anti same-sex legislation passed. Apparently, the notion that I might get married is so dangerous that it needs to be outlawed. Actually, it's more than that. After years of "oh, we don't mind if they have the rights and responsibilities of a committed relationship, we just don't want them to call it a marriage," the proposed amendments invariably go out of their way to deny any sort of civil commitment as well as marriage. Just what is so dangerous here? The rather strange sub-text of the argument in favor of such amendments has always been "we need this staunch disapproval or else everyone would opt for same-sex marriage, then the species would fail to reproduce."
Ok, to be less facetious about this, I think it boils down to a genuine homophobia. They may not be able to place the source of the fear, and I wouldn't presume, but there is clearly a fear there. Otherwise, it's hard to explain the variety of arguments which are, frankly, irrational. By their own standards, some of the marriages which already exist do more to damage the sanctity of marriage than the theoretical (except in MA) same-sex marriage. Having been on the receiving end of people's first contact with an actual Asian-American, I wouldn't be surprised if, for most who voted for such amendments, it's a simple fear of people they think they don't know. The good news is that this is fixable.
So much for the election. I will probably be making that diatribe so long as gay Americans have fewer rights and responsibilities than straight Americans.
To my surprise, I'm managing to write despite all the hours of rehearsal this week. I'm setting aside my ex-VP reunion story for now because I think it may have hit the point where it's ready for me to abandon it to a publisher. Instead, I'm reworking my "Hats of War" story. Its first draft didn't really cohere. I think I now have a throughline for both the characters and plot which makes sense now. I don't think it's going to resemble the first draft much except in scenario. I find this happens to me a lot. I write a draft that I wouldn't be completely ashamed to show someone, except for some problem which causes me to write the story again. (In the case of "Running and Falling," one character made a not credible choice because the plot told him to. The rewrite is much better.)
I can't help but wonder though if working on all of these other stories is some sort of writing avoidance activity so that I don't get to dive in and do the necessary surgery on the story I submitted to VP. BTW, one more election-related thought. I have to say I'm relieved that, with this election, my VP submission now reads more like fiction rather than dire prophecy. I finished the first draft about a year ago, then watched with horror as the country slowly slid in the direction of my story.
I read "Impossible Dreams" by Tim Pratt on the way to choir rehearsal last night. (Yes, I'm behind on reading Asimov's SF.) What a terrific story! I love the way he keeps you hooked in while he's busy developing the real story. Of course, what keeps you hooked in ultimately ties into the resolution of the real story. This is a story I aspire to.
