The Political Post.

So.  I've been avoiding blogging because I've been avoiding posting about politics.  And that's all anyone's been thinking about for the last week.  But I've decided, screw it.  I get one political post every 4 years.  Warning... it gets a little ranty and I cuss alot.  Let's do it.

First of all let me say that I went into this election more open minded than any other one before.  It's been a rough 5 or 6 years for this country.  If someone else had better solutions I was more than willing to listen.  And with no residual hatred for the awful that was Bush tainting this election I'd even go as far as to say I was leaning right.  And then the second debate happened and.... well..

FLAMES.  ON THE SIDE OF MY FACE...

So I ended up voting for Obama.  Again.  It wasn't a perfect vote and I don't think he has all of the answers.  But I also don't think it was the most important thing that happened last night.  Here's who I think the real winners were:

6.)  Women.  There are more women elected to the Senate than ever before.  The ENTIRE delegation from New Hampshire is women - both Republican and Democrat - including all senators, congressmen, and even the governor.  That has never happened before.  The first openly gay senator (also a women) was elected in Wisconsin and the first Asian American senator was elected in Hawaii.  Bottom line:  Women kicked ass and took names last night. 

5.)  The City of Cleveland.  We cannot expect to have a great city without great schools.  PERIOD.  End of conversation.  Because without great schools people like me - who love this city, who love living here, who love their neighborhood and their home and who have no reason to move away - will leave the second their first child hits Kindergarten.

Pictured.  The very tough decision we have to make before the 2014 school year begins feasting at the West Side Market.

To say I am happy that Issue 107 passed would be an understatement.

4.)  Women's Health.  First of all.  FUCK YOU TODD - LEGITIMATE RAPE -AKIN.  Ok now that I got that one out of my system...  Also I really don't think that his resounding defeat last night was because that many more people are pro-life.  I think it's because PEOPLE UNDERSTAND SCIENCE YOU RIDICULOUS DOUCHEBAG. 

Anyways!

I also want to say that by Women's health I very much do not just mean abortion.  Bottom line here is that I'm a Catholic.  I am pro-life.  However I also believe that the path to making abortion unnecessary is through education paired with easy and affordable access to birth control.  We live in a country where 49% of pregnancies are unintended  (49% WTF HOW? OMFG.)  We need to decrease that number for a whole host of reasons.  And the way to do that is not through forcing religious views on people who do not want them (again I'm not just talking about abortion.)  I also believe that it's not just the babies that may or may not have been aborted that deserve our care and protection.  So any organization that provides prenatal care for children that would not otherwise have had access to it is not all bad.

I know that one is an issue people feel very passionately about and I'm really putting myself out there by expressing my opinion on it.  Please be respectful if you respond.

3.)  Equal Civil Rights.  On Tuesday for the first time it was put to voters Marriage Equality won.  I'm not going to go into this too much other than to say that the tide is turning.  It IS happening.  And there WILL be a wrong side to history on this one.  What I mean is this... Do you really think any of these peoples' grandchildren are proud to have relatives in this picture?

People protesting changing laws against Interracial Marriage.  It wasn't until 1967 that The Supreme Court ruled that laws against it were unconstitutional.

2.)  FACTS.  So I case you don't know who he is Nate Silver is the geek behind the political polling blog Five Thirty Eight.  On his site he has some sortof complicated mathematical formula for assessing all of the polls to come up with his predictions on the election.  And for months he has been predicting that Obama would win.  Which means that Romney supporters were LIVID.  They called him some awful names.  And claimed over and over that he was biased.  Let's see how that played out:

He got every single prediction right.  Every. Single. State.  you know why?

BECAUSE FACTS ARE NOT BIASED.

That's the most disturbing thing this election cycle.  If facts don't support your argument then the facts are biased.  Um, no.  Facts are FACTS.  Period.  And if they don't support your argument than maybe you need to find a new position.  Because the bottom line is this - we all get to have our own opinions.  We do NOT get to have our own facts.  Just ask Unskewed Polls.  So I'm really hoping between Nate Silver and Sandy that we stop arguing about facts and start arguing about how to actually fix this country. 

1.)  Women.  Last night I voted as a woman along that line.  Very clearly.  And I know a ton of other people who did, too.  And that was the difference in this election:

How women voted in the 2012 election vs how men voted.  Chart from BBC News.

Bottom line:  You can't tell 53% of the electorate that it's cool if they don't make equal wages as long as they are home for dinner and win.  HEAR THAT BOYS????

Maybe next presidential election instead of talking about how women decided the election we'll be talking about how a woman WON the election.  A girl can dream, right?

Whew.  Ok.  I'm spent now.  That will be the last political post for a while.   Please if you respond be respectful.  We're all in this together.