Family Values

I am fried. Headachey and tired. I stayed up until one last night, got up at seven and had to honor the very subdued vibe at my school--not sure why a building full of people whose salaries are paid by student loans is so Republican, but it is. Most of the students as well. I'm baffled.

That's okay . . .

Last night was a celebration. Grownup Girl and Grownup Guy made dinner--they also bought the groceries and some good beer. It was delish. We ate on the couch and watched TV and checked our electronic devices--Facebook feeds and Twitter--and shared the good stuff. We shouted profanities at Fox News (this was quite a new experience for Grownup Guy--his family is not political) and got a smidge optimistic and then a little giddy as it started to go down just like Nate Silver predicted.

It was soooo fun to see how sad the "Fair and Balanced" Fox "journalists" got as the returns came in. 

I know people can get too into their phones, but they sure a wonder to me. In my family, our iPhones and Droids and Blackberries keep us connected. 

My day was made long before the media announced for Barack Obama. I was sitting at my desk when I exchanged these texts with Social Butterfly's prom date. 

 First I got this picture:

with this message:

Later, triumphantly, there was this:

Republicans, I am telling you you'd better get your sh*t together, cause you are losing young women. They're not going to be treated by second-class citizens and that's what you're doing. And it's your loss, cause this particular young woman is very smart and talented--she has what it takes to be President if that's what she wants and she's not going to run with an R after her name if you don't even think she's capable of making decisions about her own body.

It pained Social Butterfly not to be able to cast her first vote for Barack Obama, but such is life. She did her part to get out the vote.

MVP and I were chatting when they called it:

 

And Danger Boy? He called to say he changed his major to political science a couple of days ago. 

Right-wing Conservative Republicans seem to think they are the party of family values. This is what this liberal, atheist, Democrat feels about her famiy's' values: I built that--out of love, inclusion and respect rather than fear and intimidation.

 

 

 

Comments

[Becky]

Love you guys! Political Science? Really? That just warms my heart as a PoliSci major myself. ;-)
P.s. I' m tired and headachy too but (most) everyone I talked to today at work is thrilled- ha!

[Jocelyn]

Sounds like you earned today's headache with good, old-fashioned fun and family/friends joining together in the amazing modern community that is social media (+ face-to-face).

I'm so glad that young woman realized that her body and rights to it take precedence over any previous allegiances. Her thoughtful vote casting is exactly why the Republicans need to be very, very afraid.

[suburbancorrespondent]

I'm really tired of the Far Right thinking that they own religion and patriotism and family values. We need to take that back.

[Smalltown Me]

A liberal atheist pro-choice feminist democrat signing in here. Also married almost 30 years, with strong family values, and living the golden rule.

[marty]

Election 2012 made my whole YEAR! And this liberal, agnostic, pro-choice democrat is proud to have raised 2 wonderful sons with my husband of 43 years, both of whom cherish their families and are generous, loving and caring members of society.
Oh, and I love, love, love the pictures from election night of the two crowds--the beautiful diversity of the people for Pres Obama and the universally white crowd attending Gov Romney's fete. That should be a wake-up call to the GOP to re-think their place in the 21st century.

[Brightside-Susan]

I am with you and Suburban Correspondent said it perfectly.

[Karen (formerly kcinnova)]

There is no doubt the Republican party needs to wake up or become obsolete. Marginalizing people is no way to treat others or lead our country.
This politically moderate (no party affiliation) Christian votes her conscience.

[Green Girl in Wisconsin]

My husband was surrounded by angry people yesterday, too. Which was weird, since all my people were really happy.
The writing is on the wall for the GOP, but their main players seem in DEEP denial, which won't help them in the long haul.
It runs deeper than reproductive rights here, it's also about the environment, foreign policy, fair tax burdens and access to health care.

[Abby]

Who says all the "seniors" vote Republican? There were lots of high-fives here at my retirement building. Methinks the Republicans need to come into the twentieth century--the twenty-first would be better, but the twentieth will do. Women no longer vote the way their husbands tell us to!

Hear us roar!!

[Maggie]

As the apparent token Republican reading this blog I will say yesterday was a day of great sorrow for me. As a woman I too am greatly troubled by the Republican's alienation of women and wish for change on these issues. However I am more troubled by the redistribution of wealth,the highest sales tax in the country, new higher property taxes and a truly frighting mayor.

Most of all I hope those of you celebrating will accept that this was by no means a mandate,there isn't a massive change in thinking going on. Literally half the country voted the other way. We need to govern with this reality in mind and not go forward pushing one agenda when the country is clearly so divided.

[lanes]

Love it! I am also still exhausted, because I am on the East Coast and stayed up for the whole speech.

[magpie]

Love.

[dissertation help]

if you don't even think she's capable of making decisions about her own body.

[Claudia from Idiot's Kitchen]

Can we also please talk about all the women, Republican and Democratic, who were elected to office on Tuesday? We are 50%+ of the country and wholly under represented in Congress. It's a good start but we have a long way to go.

[Aunt Snow]

My 85 year old mother, who's been a Republican all her life, confided in me that she voted a straight Democratic ticket this year.

It IS about the women's issues. And it's not as many Republicans think, we want to get "free" contraception. It's that we understand that our preventive reproductive health care should be just as valued and important to health care policy as male reproductive health care. It's also that we want to be the ones who decide what happens to our bodies - some of us may indeed feel that a child of rape is a gift from God, but that's OUR call to make. I may choose not to use contraception if I believe it's wrong. But I'll fight for my co-workers's right to decide to use it herself, instead of letting the Boss decide.

And the fact that the Republicans held women in such contempt, called us sluts when we wanted to have our own agency over our bodies and felt that we were not to be trusted with our own decisions, when Mitt Romney promised us his employment policy for us would make it easier for us to provide the services he thought we should be providing - THAT's what turned women away from Republicans.

[Korinthia]

The pendulum will swing again so I'm enjoying this moment while it lasts! Nice post.

[Navhelowife]

It was interesting to me to read the numbers about it. I don't live in a swing state...I live in a state described as "too small to be a republic, too big to be an insane asylum" so I'm surrounded by people who hold opposite views on many things form me...but the numbers are interesting. A democratic candidate has won the popular vote in the last few elections - even when Bush won that one time, he actually lost the popular vote.
And statistically, it was a larger margin than when Bush actually won the popular vote. So, really, a good many people thought that keeping the current President was a good idea. Now, it is up to ALL of our elected officials, dem, rep, ind, and otherwise, to (paraphrasing the President) worry more about OUR well being and jobs than their own.
If the Republicans want to win, they have got to stop listening to the far right, and acknowledge that America is a nation that includes all kinds of people - and if you are elected, you are to serve ALL of them. Not saying Dems are perfect...but they don't seem so intent on alienating so many other groups. Oh, and they need to remember that whole church state thing - when you don't have that separation, it's bad for the gov't and bad for the church. For people who advocate smaller gov't, they sure want that gov't to be all up in my business an awful lot.
And the Jon Stewart show after the election? HYSTERICAL.