#election 2008

Michigan is not exactly a bellwether in the strictest sense of the word. However it is still one of the best places to observe trends in American politics.

I clicked the video above expecting to watch just the first few seconds but ended up watching the entire 18 minutes.

It focuses on Michigan because the double peninsula state offers a useful reflection of various directions in politics nationwide. And the vid is nicely done.

One thing we should particularly note about Michigan is that after Democrats won a trifecta there in 2022, they quickly set about making the state more progressive. They repealed anti-union and anti-abortion laws, strengthened LGBTQ+ protections, and abolished the state's peculiar retirement tax. And even before the trifecta, the party helped pass an anti-gerrymandering amendment which later turned out to be key.

Something to learn from Michigan: Pay a lot more attention to your own state government. The first step is to find out who your legislators are.

Find Your Legislators Look your legislators up by address or use your current location.

Interesting angle to your jib there, especially considering that I specifically said I didn't care about people who kept their underwear on. And again with the whole making a racially based argument on anon instead of putting in the minimal effort to make a sockpuppet of color 🙄

In case anyone wants to know why Tegan loved Sarah Palin... this happened 12 years ago and it was HILARIOUS. 🤣🤣🤣 Also, Tegan, if you were worried 12 years ago that Americans wouldn't "Do the right thing" in the election...now I don't know what to tell you.

Tegan: "What if she likes my band?? Oh my god, can you imagine if she liked our band??? ...No, she hates our band."

Augusten: "Why?"

Video:  2/2 Crowds Storm the White House the Night Before Obama's Inauguration! 1/19/09

A bright spot.  Exactly eight years ago, I went down to the White House to soak in the atmosphere of the crowds coming from ALL OVER THE WORLD to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama (honestly, what reason would anyone from anywhere else have to come to THIS one? Unless they voted for Brexit...)  That night, I wrote:

“The excitement in the air is ridiculous. The out-of-towners, the in-towners, the swarms of people walking around the White House and Pennsylvania Avenue just buzzing about Barack Obama's impending inauguration, and Bush's last day in office - forever!”

The first election I voted in -- 2000 -- at 19 years old, we lost, and thus began eight miserable years with an idiot for a president.  I felt hopeless and helpless.  I went to protests against him.  I wrote papers in college and law school about the stupidity -- and unconstitutionality -- of his decisions and policies.  I wore a shirt every time I left the country that said, “I’m sorry my president’s an idiot; I didn’t vote for him” in six languages.  I campaigned against him in 2004, and my girlfriend cried when he won, again.  I had never been political before 2000, but having a president that sought to ban same-sex marriage by AMENDING THE US CONSTITUTION TO BAN IT and the factions of the country that supported him played a role in my decision to go to law school to focus in civil rights work and GLBT advocacy.

In 2008, when I had graduated and moved to DC to do that work, I got to SEE THAT ERA (ERROR) END.  I got to be there to witness the excitement of the world of him leaving, to be part of the crowd that was booing him during Obama’s inauguration when the helicopter came to take him away (somehow, that made me feel a tiny bit bad for him.  But just a tiny bit).

And so that’s my bright spot.  That dark, hopeless time ended.  And this one will too.  And this video reminds me of what it looks (and feels, and sounds) like when it happens.  Many people believed that if we had not had someone as awful as Bush, we would not have had someone as magnificent as Obama.  Just imagine: We don’t even know who might come next.  And all of us now?  We’re going to make that happen.