I got an e-mail last Sunday from Trent Reznor.  In this e-mail he asked me to make sure I got out there and voted on election day.

That was all.

Jerry Brown had a commercial on the tube that was essentially the same.

"Be informed.  Go vote."

No pushing beliefs.  No telling me what they think I should do.  It made me think back to the day when R.E.M. was still considered cool.  (Not by me, of course.  Even now that bandwagon rides on without me.)  Back when Michael Stipes was receiving awards for the band and he kept changing his shirt to say different things:  Free Mandela; Don't eat meat; Treat me like the bitch I am...  Things of that nature.  Annoying and such.

It was just nice to have someone plainly say, "Figure your shit out and go vote on it."

Which brings me to Prop 8.  Vote "Yes" and same-sex marriages are banned (again.)  Vote "No" and things stay as they are.

Californians apparently could not figure their shit out.  Yes California, the most liberal state in the union.  Prop. 8 passed and now same-sex marriage is again "illegal."

This is the kind of shit we learn about in school.  When your children come home and ask why they have to learn about history this is the reason.  Ignorance and fear.  Homosexuals need to be treated differently because they are different? WTF!?!?  Did any of us pay attention in school?  Does the word "prejudice" carry the same weight it used to?

What next?  Do the homosexuals have to ride in the back of the bus?  Straight folks get one water faucet and gay folks get another?  Does any of this sound familiar?  Japanese concentration camps during WWII?  Different schools for blacks and whites?  Women not being able to vote?

And the kicker for me was the people behind the whole Prop. 8 thing were doing it to "preserve the sanctity of marriage."  HUH!?  With a divorce rate reported to be between 40 and 50 percent what exactly are they trying to preserve?  The right to get divorced?

I've known quite a few gay folks in my day.  And while some of them are flaming to no end and funnier than hell about it I couldn't imagine denying them their humanity just because they're gay.

I'm sure this is turning into a ramble but this whole thing just pisses me off.  When closed-minded motherfuckers get their way....AAAARRRGH!!!!

I'll try to make my next blog something cheery and uplifting.