First, the good news. Barack Obama will be the next president. Aside from his victory's historic importance and its potential implications for race relations in America, Obama was just clearly the superior candidate, especially on foreign policy. So good news there.
But as encouraging as Obama's victory is, the passage of Proposition 8 in California is almost equally discouraging. Voters in California voted to amend that state's constitution to take away a previously constitutionally-protected right from a minority of its citizens. This is classic tyranny of the majority, and it's a reminder that liberty is never 100% guaranteed and requires eternal vigilance to maintain.
The one ideal that Obama has associated himself with more than any other ideal is "hope." It is with hope that supporters of liberty and equality can move forward from the disappointment of Proposition 8's passage, encouraged at the prospect that a message of hope can indeed succeed, even in the face of ignorance and intolerance.
Image from here.
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