wtf?

wow. so I guess the first thing to say is that I'm really depressed. although I guess I would say I'm not surprised or shocked by the outcome of the presidential election today, I really didn't think it would happen. I suppose that I overestimated the intelligence of the american people, but it's still not good whatever the reason. last night I was up until about 12:30, glued to cnn, hoping against hope that things would turn towards kerry. but of course, it got close, but just didn't make it. what surprised me, though, was how much bush won the popular vote by. actually, I guess I should scare, that's what scared me. because this means that his presidency and the last four years and all his mistakes and blunders and bad judgement have been validated. the world can no longer assume that it was just a fluke and we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into four years ago. but now we know and there's no excuse. if the world hated us before, I can only see it getting worse.

and not only did we re-elect the moron, but 11 states passed initiatives to ban same-sex marriage, many denying same-sex couples even a civil union. this depresses me too. some of them were passed with a huge majority. how is it possible that so many people are prejudiced and arrogant and homophobic? it just makes me sad. everyone should be allowed to have the same rights, no matter who they happen to spend their life with.

here's an interesting editorial that a friend sent to me: http://66.161.86.126/notes_from_editor.asp?id=8049

the other thing that I am really pissed about is what happened to me when I went to vote yesterday. I had to wait about an hour or so to vote, which wasn't so bad. I was expecting a wait, so that wasn't a big deal. however, when I got up to the table, my name was not on their list of registered voters. I registered to vote here in arizona well before the deadline. I have my receipt and everything, which I showed them. but, regardless, my name wasn't on the list, so I had to fill out a provisional ballot (which isn't such a huge deal or whatever because my vote doesn't really matter in arizona too much anyway). anyway, I was upset. and here's why: I registered on campus from some guy that had a table set up and had been registering people for a couple weeks or so. two of my friends also registered at the same time. neither of them put down a party preference when they registered. I did (as a democrat). both of them received their voter registration cards and sample ballots last week, about when we were expecting them. when they looked at them, they had been registered as republicans. I never received mine at all. although there is no conclusive evidence, it is extremely strange and suspicious. I'm sure I'm not the only one that this happened to, either.

our nation is definitely polarized. it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. and I don't know how to repair the damage. but I do know that there is no way that bush will be able to do it.

but yay for obama. I have a sliver of hope left.