*Shrug*

Well, we tried.

You know, for the first time in my life, it felt like I was fighting a good fight. As a recovering republican (one day at a time), with my parents' guidance and encouragement, I spent the better part of my high school years worshipping at the altar of Rush Limbaugh and supporting the GOP. I look at those days with the same disgusted bemusement that I have when I watch reruns of Knight Rider or Masters of the Universe - these were things I once found of value, now merely a footnote in my life, a part of me that is no longer relevant to who I am. Once I entered college, I started struggling with my beliefs, and actually started listening to what these commentators who I held in such high esteem had to say - and it made me realize that all my life, I had spoken in support of things that simply were not who I was. So, steadily, I began to gravitate away from what my parents were (and are) and tried to carve out my own identity. I'm not there yet, but I'm closer than I've ever been, and I feel more solid in who I am as a person than I have felt in a long time.

In the 90's, still as a supporter of the right, I supported the republican candidates and cast my first vote in 1996 was for Dole. Both lost. In 2000, my political revelations were still in their developmental phase, but I had changed enough to vote for Gore. This I did simply because I did not trust Bush. (And little that has happened in the ensuing years has done anything to change that. ) He "lost." And now, in 2004, I stood in line at 6:30 a.m., and for the first time, felt proud as I cast my vote - for John Kerry.

And so, the trend continues.

Silly me, thinking that common sense could win out over fear and blind loyalty disguised as "patriotism."

You know what, though? Bush's win isn't even the part that p!sses me off the most. What really gets me is that Issue 1 passed with flying colors. Congratulations, Ohio, we have officially passed the single most prejudiced piece of legislation in nearly 50 years.

I don't think I've ever been so ashamed of the people of my state.