It’s Sunday, which means that millions of Americans across the country are going to church, at church, or coming from church. Church is big here, even if the region of the country where I live seems to be crowded with athiests or people of indifferent religious faith who never actually attend church.

One of the interesting things about churches in this country is that they are exempt from taxation. Automatically, too, they don’t even need to apply to the IRS. If you’re a church, you don’t pay taxes. The exception to this rule is that if you become involved in political activities, you lose that tax-exempt status. That seems pretty reasonable to me, because churches are a lot like nonprofit organizations, providing a valuable service to their communities.

But I think it’s time for the tax-exempt status of every single church in the United States to be reviewed. It is clear that churches have become heavily involved in politics, from openly preaching about politics in the pulpit to encouraging members of the church to donate to political causes to…refusing communion on the basis of your vote. I think that as soon as a church is used for a political purpose, it’s time to lift that tax-exempt status.

And I’m surprised that the IRS hasn’t done it already. The IRS clearly has no problem with taking money from citizens, and it will aggressively pursue you for every last dime you owe, so why isn’t it tackling the churches? Is the IRS afraid? Because it shouldn’t be. The fact is that churches are abusing their power, blurring the lines between church and state, and manipulating American politics.

And hey, if you want to express yourself politically, that is totally fine. I understand that many religions have firm stances on issues which come up in politics, and they want to make those stances clear to their congregations. But in so doing, they cross a line, and that means that they get to start paying taxes.

Given the current economic, ah, troubles, you’d think the IRS would be jumping at a chance to get its hands on the bloated coffers of American churches. Come on, IRS. Bring it.

I think many of us concur that the President-Elect made a pretty excellent speech last week. Here’s the text, in case you want to read it over and roll it around in your brain a little, which I definitely did. (Here’s McCain’s, by the way, which I thought was pretty classy.) But there’s a section of the speech which stuck out, which was his confirmation that he would make good on the promise of getting a dog for his daughters. (Hopefully the first of many campaign promises he will fulfill.)

Now, I didn’t think this was that big a deal, but I underestimated the American obsession with fiddling in each other’s lives. Apparently, numerous polls have been carried out to determine what kind of pet the Obamas should get, and comment threads across the Internet erupted last week with discussions about the Presidential Dog.

I was pleased to see a lot of calls for the Obamas to adopt a shelter dog, which is what I personally hope that they do. I’m all about them adopting a shelter dog for a number of reasons.

First of all, I think it sets a powerful example for the rest of America. I think that dog breeding is despicable, and that anything which reduces demand from breeders is a good thing. By adopting a shelter dog, the Obamas will show Americans that, hey, if you want to be like the President, you go to the pound for a new pet. Furthermore, if the Obamas adopt a mixed-breed shelter dog, they will forestall the inevitable rush to the breeders for a “dog just like the Obamas have.”

My exception to the shelter dog rule would be, of course, if the leader of another country made the gift of a dog to the Obamas. (I know that Queen Elizabeth II, for example, breeds corgis.) You don’t refuse a gift from a foreign leader, and even though the gift of a purebred animal would probably increase demand for that animal in the States…you don’t refuse a gift from a foreign leader.

I would really love it if they would consider a special needs animal, such as an older dog, or a dog which requires special medical care, but I can understand, when you’re adopting a dog which will ostensibly belong to two young ladies, that you might want a younger, healthy dog. You can’t win ‘em all. And just choosing a shelter mutt is a huge positive step.

If we’re going to be subjecting every aspect of the Obamas’ lives to careful scrutiny, it means that The Dog is going to become a Big Deal. And I think that presents a great opportunity to remind Americans of the millions of homeless cats and dogs who are euthanized every year because no one wants them. I know that animal rights wasn’t really part of the Obama Platform, but no more homeless pets is an important goal, and I hope that he considers integrating animal welfare into his policies as President.

It’s been said that you can judge a lot about a person by the way that person treats animals, and the same holds true for nations. (Here in California, we value the welfare of certain farm animals more than equal rights for gays!) Improving conditions for pets would be awesome, as would improving conditions for animals raised for food. Making changes in the food production system in this country is critical anyway for national security, but reforming it to have a tougher stance on animal welfare would also improve our position internationally. In the European Union, conditions for farm animals are much better, for example.

We’ve made huge strides in the last 20 years when it comes to animal welfare, thanks in no small part to the dedicated efforts of people in the animal rights movement. People can actually be severely punished for animal cruelty, for example, which is terrific. But there’s a lot more work to be done. And now is always a good time to do something for animals.

In his speech, Mr. Obama said this: “I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.” It would be nice if he could hear the cries for help from those who cannot speak, and be their President as well.

Every morning, I wake up and my RSS feed is filled with posts screaming at me for blaming the black community for what happened with Proposition 8, and I want to respond to every single one of them, except that I am afraid of being viewed as a troll. So, here’s the response I want to put in the comment threads of every single post shrilling denouncing the white LGBQT community:

“Hey, great idea. Let’s continue fanning the flames instead of having a constructive dialogue about the issue. And, while you’re at it, please make sure to do exactly what you are screaming at us for doing, which is to say lumping the entire white LGBQT community together as a “monolithic groupmind.” That’s very productive. I really enjoy being lumped in together with the assholes making racisct comments who are apparently incapable of understanding the lunacy, irony, and shamefulness in making such comments. You say that you’re turning your back on the LGBQT civil rights movement, even though that screws over your LGBQT brothers and sisters. I could turn that back on you and say that I’m going to turn my back on black civil rights, except that I’m not, because that would be stupid. So please, pull your head out of your ass, and start bringing something constructive to this discussion instead of shrieking continuously. I think that there’s a big segment of the white LGBQT community that wants to talk about this, but we are afraid. (Just like you say you’re afraid to show up in protests in opposition to Prop 8 and other anti-gay measures.) See this? Yeah, that is productive. That is a clear discussion about some of the issues involved, and that is what I call outreach and a genuine attempt to address the issue. Look, I know you’re pissed that some wackjobs looked at some exit polls and drew erroneous conclusions, and I think that the issue of racism among white activists does need to be addressed, but we can’t address it until you stop berating us as a collective. So please, stop.”

Have I mentioned that I really hate the term “intersectionality”? Because I do. And I try very hard to make sure that it doesn’t appear on this website, because it’s one of those things that strikes me as an obnoxious buzzword. However, this is a case in which the word is really appropriate, because it allows me to say what I want to say without having to go into a bunch of meandering circumlocutions.

Basically, intersectionality is the idea that social and cultural constructions act in multiple ways to contribute to inequality and oppression. Prejudice against people on the basis of gender, race, creed, sexual orientation, or what have you, in other words, does not occur in a vacuum. A black lesbian isn’t separately oppressed as a woman, a black person, and a lesbian, she has a unique experience which combines all of these factors. I think that the basic concept of intersectionality is familiar to most of us, although we might resist using the word because, well, because it sounds like a catchy woo-woo buzzword. And it kinda is, but it is appropriate here, so please forgive me for using it and bear with me.

In the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 8 by a narrow margin in California, I have been reading a lot of commentary. And I mean a lot, coming from a wide variety of perspectives. And I’ve noticed some very interesting use of language going on, and I wanted to address that.

For example, I see people saying things like “fuck Californians,” and “people in California are bigots.” Well, as a Californian, let me tell you that is simply not true. And people who say those kinds of things really ought to know better. Obviously, not all of California is filled with bigoted hate mongers, because almost half of us voted against Proposition 8. Are there bigoted people in California? You betcha, and those people need to be addressed, but I’d rather not be tarred with the same brush simply because I live in the same state that they do. I am ashamed of being a Californian right now because of the example my state just set, but statements like “shame on California” really do not benefit this discussion at all.

I’ve also been hearing a lot of “Mormons are evil people,” and “we should tear down the Mormon church.” Now, the Mormon Church did sink a ton of money into Proposition 8, and I think that we can safely say that they definitely contributed to its passage, and that they may have even been the tipping point. And, yeah, I think that if a church gets involved in political activity, it should be losing its tax-exempt status, and I hope the IRS looks into that. But, you know what, that’s the Church, not individual Mormons. I happen to know many Mormons, all of whom support same sex marriage, and many of whom actively campaigned against Proposition 8 or asked people in their church to refrain from donating to 8 supporters. Please, people, let’s abstract the people and the church. Yes, there are bigoted, hateful Mormons who were indeed celebrating when 8 passed. But there were other Mormons who were not, and I would rather not be seeing blanket attacks on the basis of religion in this discussion. The Mormons have a rough enough time already from people who have a total lack of understanding for their faith. If anything, we should be reaching out to them and finding common ground, not denigrating them and their faith.

I’ve also seen a lot of attacks on the black community, and I don’t think that those attacks are productive. 70% of blacks in California voted for Proposition 8, in a mind-boggling move to take civil rights away from people. Coming from people who have fought long and hard for civil rights, that’s a bit dismaying. However, again it’s important to recognize that the black community is pretty big, and pretty diverse. One of the people I talked to on election night was a young black queer woman who has fought long and hard against 8, and was in fact working with the No on 8 campaign on election day. So don’t tell me that the black community is bigoted and full of hatred, because that’s not true.

There are obviously a lot of people in the black community who I think haven’t made the connection to gay marriage and civil rights. And that’s really sad, since a lot of gays and lesbians fought side by side with the black community for civil rights, and I think that many of us relied on them for support when we started our own civil rights battle. And yes, blacks do tend to attend church in higher numbers, and that did play a role in their vote. But for us to start calling out the black community as a whole for homophobia? That’s a bad move. We want the black community as our ally, not our enemy. To do that, we need to educate people, not scream at them. Yes, the black vote played a role in what happened with Proposition 8. Yes, that needs to be acknowledged. But, to use the word again, there is a lot of intersectionality in the black community, and our black LGBQT brothers and sisters fought against 8, voted against it, and continue to support us in this battle. Race baiting does not accomplish anything, people.

This is as much a generation gap as an age gap. You know who voted, across the board, for Prop 8? Old people. I don’t see any attacks on old people going on. I don’t see anyone mentioning the fact that young blacks voted consistently against Prop 8, as did young Californians in general. You want to blame anyone for what happened, why not blame old people with antiquated values?

The civil rights movement worked because people worked together. Because the black community mobilized and stood up for itself, and because people supported the black community. The LGBQT civil rights movement, although it has been going on just as long, is still in its infancy, and I’m not quite sure why that is. But we are definitely not going to be accomplishing anything if we bite the hands that feed us. We can’t go this alone. We need to make people understand why LGBQT civil rights are important, and how they can help us achieve them.

We’re already making progress. Proposition 22 passed by a much broader margin in 2000 than Prop 8. Same sex marriage is still legal in several states. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that blacks were treated like they weren’t people. 60 years ago, blacks couldn’t marry whites, and California was the first state to strike down anti-miscegenation laws as unconstitutional. In 2008, we made history again when we struck down gay marriage bans as unconstitutional, and unfortunately the result of that was an attempt to alter the Constitution to make it say what bigots wanted it to say.

In order to win a civil rights victory, we need help from people who have fought and won civil rights battles already. Women got the right to vote after decades of sustained hard work. Blacks made a number of gains in the 1960s and 1970s after the same amount of work. Neither of those groups would have achieved their goals if they had abused their supporters. If you care about civil rights, you don’t treat all members of a particular group the same way, because that’s the behaviour which leads to inequality in the first place. That’s what they do, my friends, and that is what we cannot do.

Go ahead, be angry at the Mormons, blacks, and Californians who voted for Proposition 8. But remember that lots of Mormons, blacks, and Californians also voted against Prop 8. Don’t cheapen what they did by trashing them, not matter how angry you are. And remember something else: some members of the LGBQT community voted for Prop 8, too. So why not just be angry at bigots instead?

We must fight for civil rights, not waste time in spurious attacks against people who could be helping us.

Yay us, we elected a black President! No, racism is not over.

Seriously. If I read one more self-congratulatory essay about “post-racism” and how modern black leaders have been “rendered obsolete,” I am going to scream. Tell the brown kids who woke up on Wednesday morning in the same shitty tenement buildings they went to sleep in that racism is over. Tell the black kids who went to the same underfunded urban schools on Wednesday that they went to on Tuesday that racism is over. Be sure to tell all of the people of color who were denied jobs this week that racism is over. Tell Ali Kamara that racism is over. Tell the shy Mexican who got berated for “not speaking English” because he’s too nervous to talk to English-only speakers that racism is over.

Racism is never over.

I spent yesterday in a state of bleak fury. The weather reflected my mood, with cold hostile grey clouds and occasional spats of rain. Every now and then, a moment of elation would bubble up, as I remembered that 63,916,185 other Americans voted for hope with me. And then I remembered that 52% of California voters, 57% of Arkansians, 56% of Arizonans, and 62% of Floridians voted for hatred and bigotry, and I got sad and angry again.

I went to Headlands early on Wednesday to pick up the major newspapers. Not because I thought that they would have anything new and different, but because I thought I might like to have them. Even in my bitterness, I knew that this was a historic moment, and that I might like to haul those papers out some day in the future. The coffeehouse was packed to the gills, but totally silent, and it was extremely eerie.

America did a great thing on Tuesday. I don’t think that I really need to belabor that point. I talked to lots of people on Tuesday who were incredibly enthused and excited, including a young friend who became eligible to vote just in time for the election. He was in awe and delight, but at that point, all I could feel was sadness. I am so proud to be an American right now, so amazed with what we just did, and I am so ashamed of being a Californian.

Millions of us learned on Tuesday night that you really can grow up to be anything. And a lot of us learned that we can’t marry the men and women we love. That we can’t adopt children with our partners. That Americans think that we don’t deserve equal protection under the law. That America could simultaneously take a huge leap in the realm of civil rights, and a giant step backwards. That other Americans hate us so much that they will pour millions of dollars into a campaign to take rights away from us. That we are second class citizens, and that a shocking percentage of the population is ok with this, including the people who claim to “support” us.

And I can’t get over that. I’m sorry, I just can’t. I know that I am supposed to be excited, but it’s hard when people dismiss me with “oh, it will get better.” Well, you know what, they didn’t tell Martin Luther King that it would get better. They didn’t tell Elizabeth Cady Stanton that it would get better. They fought, and they won, and we fought, and we won, and someone else voted to take it all away. We were on the front of the bus in California, proudly clutching each other’s hands, and 52% of the people who live in this state voted to throw us off. And the rest of the country watched them do it and took note.

I think that the people I talked to about this issue couldn’t quite wrap their heads around it, for the most part, because they were heterosexual. Oh, sure, they supported freedom to marry, and they cared about it, and they were sad too, but they couldn’t comprehend how much this crushed me and all of the other LGBQT Americans who just got shat upon on Tuesday. They could understand in an abstract way that this was a sad thing, but for the most part, they couldn’t connect with it on a personal level, and they were too excited to try.

Yesterday morning, I understood privilege on a visceral level, because I was finally on the other side of the divide. As a white person in a liberal community who presents female, I really haven’t been the victim of that much discrimination. Sure. I’ve had to deal with things because I am a woman, and some of those things have been pretty crappy, but I’ve never walked down the street feeling like the entire world hates me. Until yesterday.

I found this quote on Jezebel: “If I was gay in America today I would walk out of the door feeling like the whole country was at war with me (and as an African I have had my moments where I know how that feels) and it just breaks my heart that TODAY, TODAY OF ALL DAYS, someone else somewhere has to feel like that.” And I have to say, it made me a little misty around the eyes. Blacks in this country have fought so hard just to be treated like human beings, and they still deal with discrimination on a daily basis, and now I know what that feels like, not in an abstract “wow, the way we have treated blacks is really shitty way,” but in a “I am completely crushed and my heart is broken” kind of way.

We made great steps in the realm of reproductive rights, as a nation, on Tuesday night. Stem cell research got approved, an abortion ban got voted down, a fetal personhood law got soundly spanked, those same Californians who thumbed their noses at us voted down a parental notification law, barely.

I want to be happy for my fellow women, to know that people in red states and blue states both voted “yes” to reproductive rights. I want to be happy for black Americans, because they are living in a historic moment, and it is awesome, it really is, but I’m drinking a bitter cup over here. And other people might not know it yet, but they are too. The decision to deny civil rights to people, to amend the California constitution to take civil rights away, that was a dangerous and terrible thing, and it set a dangerous and terrible precedent. I think it’s something that those people who cheerfully voted “yes” to hate might come to regret later.

This wasn’t about marriage. It was about disenfranchisement, and the willing choice to revoke rights. This was about creating a second class of people. Yes, all things take time, and yes, gay rights take time, and I can’t say that I think that the movement has been perfect, but in this point, I am horrified by this unprecedented event. Never before in history have people voted to take civil rights away. This, people, is why civil rights issues should not be on the ballot. The majority should not be making decisions for the minority.

To put it more simply, in 2000, California passed a ban on gay marriage. In the summer of 2008, that ban was challenged in the court, and the court ruled that under the equal protection clause, that ban was unconstitutional. A majority of Californians just voted to change the Constitution to make it say what they wanted, thereby raising questions about the validity of the equal protection clause, if you can write in exceptions so simply.

Last night, I watched V for Vendetta, which I do every 5 November, to remember what I am fighting for. And when I got to the scene with Valerie Page, I cried. I cried for what we lost, and for what everybody lost without realizing it. I cried because 52% of California voters hate me and people like me so much that they want to tell us how to live.

California, Arkansas, Arizona, and Florida, what you did was wrong. And I hope that you come to see that someday. Barack Obama and Joe Biden, your failure to stand up for civil rights in this historic election was wrong. And don’t think you’re off the hook either, Democratic Party. You sank a lot of money into this election and you gained a lot, but you trampled all over a lot of people in the process.

I saw the faces of 8 supporters at victory rallies, and they were twisted with hatred. It reminded me of those oft-distributed images of parties in the Middle East after 11 September. And it reminded me that we have a long way to go, as a country, if we think it’s acceptable to put morality issues on the ballot, and we think it’s acceptable to rejoice when those ballot measures pass, instead of being ashamed. The only bright spot for LGBQT Americans on Tuesday was in Colorado, where Jared Polis became the first openly gay Congressional Representative from Colorado.

I walked downtown yesterday in the rain and I watched people pass, and I thought “did you vote against me? Did you? How about you?” And I wanted to ask “why? Why would you do something like that? Why would you twist the words of Christ to support hatred and bigotry, why would you rejoice when you crush your neighbors’ souls? How is that Christian? How is that Godly? What is wrong with you?” 37.8% of Mendocino County voted yes on 8. I’ll bet that I know some of those people. They might be my neighbors, my supermarket checkers, the people who drive by while I wait at the light on Laurel in the rain. And they apparently think that I am not a person. Not deserving of the same rights they have.

If you are one of those people who voted yes on anti-gay legislation, and you read this in its entirety instead of clicking away, I have two words for you: fuck you.

One evening not so very long ago, I was walking down the street in downtown San Francisco, thinking about nothing in particular, when I encountered a huge crowd of people milling about on the sidewalk, and spilling over into the street. Indulging my natural curiosity, I walked over and learned that it was a political rally, and that the crowd was so big that it didn’t fit inside the building, so people were gathering outside and listening on loudspeakers.

I somehow ended up being pushed right up against the crowd barriers, and, unable to escape, I watched as a small cluster of people exited the building and started walking toward us. The crowd started to hum, quietly, and I looked around to try and figure out what was going on, and then suddenly a kind-looking middle-aged black man was standing in front of me.

“Hello,” he said, reaching out his hand, and I reached out mine and shook his.

“Thank you so much for coming,” he said, looking into my face for a moment. He said something else, but I forget what it was. “I’m so glad to see so many young people here,” and he moved on down the line, shaking hands and chatting. Pinned against the barrier, I watched him drift away and then back, going back into the building.

I swear to god, he winked at me on the way back in.

I turned to the person next to me and said “who was that,” and he looked at me, plainly flabbergasted.

“You really don’t know?”

“No, who was it?”

“That was Barack Obama,” he said, looking askance at me in my woeful ignorance. (Apparently everyone knows all of the junior Senators in the United States by sight, except for me.)

“Oh,” I said, and the crowd dispersed, and I went home and thought nothing more of it until I had moved back home and I read a news story about Barack Obama announcing his intention to run for President, and I thought “hey, I know that guy!”

I’ve been waiting to tell this story since February 2007. At first I didn’t tell it because he seemed like a long shot. Then I didn’t tell it because I felt sort of silly doing it, and I almost felt like I was jinxing the momentum, like if I told it, he would somehow lose it. I’m a highly superstitious person when it comes to things like that. Every time I wrote about him, my spell-checker flagged his name, and I didn’t add it to the dictionary, because I’m superstitious. “If I add it,” I thought, “it’s like saying that I expect to use it a lot in the future, and that would be jinxing things.”

Last night, I saw up listening to election results and refreshing the news manically. Waiting for that magic moment. And I thought about that kind-looking man and my hand in his, his cool velvety fingers and total attention to me, the complete and dedicated focus he gave me, even if it was only for 30 seconds. He was so delighted that his rally overflowed that he came out afterwards to meet people who couldn’t fit inside, and he was so cool and collected and friendly that he was sort of hard not to like. He looked, in a word, Presidential.

As the moment got closer and closer, I admit that I almost felt a little teary. Living in this historic moment, I thought about other watersheds in American history, and I thought about the fact that this event is totally redefining America in the eyes of the world. I listened to his acceptance speech and I was blown away, reduced to a state of total and complete inarticulateness. I touched history. I voted in what was probably the most important election of my life, and I can tell people “oh yes, I remember the 2008 election. I was there. Did I ever tell you about the time I met Barack Obama?”

I’m going to walk down the street with my head held high later today, because Barack Obama is the President-Elect, and I just added his name to my spell-checker.

Seriously, WHAT is taking so long? 30% of precincts are reporting, two and a half hours after polls close? Get your scene together already!

And are you seriously telling me that 58% of you can vote for a historic candidate, can vote a black man into the White House and break the color barrier in a totally amazing and awesome way, and 53.1% of you are bigoted fucks? Seriously?!?!?! How can you cast a historic civil rights vote while voting to take civil rights away from other people? If Proposition 8 passes, it cheapens everything for me. Everything.

California is supposed to be a model for the rest of the nation. This country looks to  us for groundbreaking legislation. Banning gay marriage would be a slap in the face of the huge step we took today, as a nation. I am hoping that these polls shape up but quick, because I am pissed, and I am tired, and I want to go to bed and know that when I wake up, the freedom to marry is available to all Californians.

While I am glad to note that 2 appears to be passing by a healthy margin, I am deeply saddened to learn that Californians apparently care more about farm animals than people. And that huge sums of money from out of state were allowed to fund the coffers of 8 supporters. Much of that vote was bought by a church, and that horrifies me on a deep level too.

I went from being totally elated and stoked tonight to feeling completely disheartened. California, please, do not do this.

Time for a new liveblogging post. I’ll put new entries up at the top like I usually do so it’s a little easier to follow. I’m listening to NPR talk about the “end of an era,” with Republicans losing seats all over the place and the Democrats turning red states blue. Republicans of all stripes are being pushed out by Dems, and I think we’re seeing a clear message: vile campaign tactics don’t work. Voters are smart enough to know that the last eight years have been due in no small part to the Republicans and their dynastic power. And tonight, they came out in force to say “time for a change.” My notorious age demographic is coming out in force. I kind of can’t believe that I am seeing with election results.

You know what? Right here, at this moment, I’m kind of proud to be an American.

9:17: That was a really fucking good speech. So good that it has rendered me inarticulate. President-Elect Obama is an amazing orator and speechwriter. How nice to know that the era of awesome speeches in the White House is coming back.

9:12: This is a really good speech.

9:05: If he fulfills the promise of a new puppy, does that mean he’s going to fulfill his promise to America?

9:03:  Very classy nod to McCain. Silence from the crowd, rather than booing, so +1 for Obama supporters.

8:58: Obama going live.

8:41: Obama speech about to start, by the sound of things. President Bush has called Obama to congratulate him.

8:30: The gay marriage ban in Arizona is passing now. Damnit. 4 and 8 are still passing in California with 4% reporting. Doubledogdamnit.

8:25: Come on, California. Bring those San Francisco values out! Please, please, please, please let 4 and 8 switch back to the fail column on the Times results page!

8:20: Crowd at McCain’s concession speech boos Obama. Classy, guys.

8:11: Senator McCain has conceded.

8:05: Washington, Oregon, California just called. (No precincts reporting, but, I mean, come on. It’s obvious, people.) President-Elect Obama is up to 324 electoral votes. We’re talking landslide, people.

8:04: Florida hath been called.

8:02: NPR and CNN just called it, and there is a prolonged whooping and hollering going on outside. Wahoo!

8:00: Our polls just closed. Only Alaska and Hawaii left, and hopefully we will start seeing some results on local stuff soon!

7:57: Michigan’s stem cell research bill appears to be passing. Yay science!

7:56: Virginia goes Obama. Awesome possum.

7:31: Pretty much everyone is calling it, so I am just going to go ahead and say it, even though I am deeply superstitious: get used to President-Elect Barack Obama, my friends. WE JUST VOTED A BLACK MAN TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY! HOW FUCKING AMAZING IS THAT! I am a little bit in love with America right now.

7:28: Massachusetts and Michigan both passed marijuana decriminalization laws.

7:22: Checking in some ballot measures. 2 in Florida appears to be passing, while 102 in Arizona, another anti-gay measure, has a pretty strong no margin, but not many precincts are reporting yet, so it’s tough to call. In Massachusetts, voters banned dog racing, a big step for animal welfare. The fetal personhood measure in Colorado looks like it is going to fail (hooray), and the abortion ban in South Dakota is also failing, though again not many precincts have reported yet.

And not just because I am roasting things in the oven. Polls on the East Coast are closed/closing soon, and I think we’re going to start seeing some action soon. The FiveThirtyEight home page is covered in all kinds of groovy charts and graphs, and I suspect that’s where I will be hanging out tonight.

I’d like to remind everybody to ignore exit polls, because they are crazy unreliable.

4:18 PM: NPR just called Kentucky (McCain) and Vermont (Obama). Looks like CNN agrees, despite the fact that 0% of precincts in Vermont are reporting. I guess they’re just that confident.

4:49: CBS calls West Virginia for McCain.

4:52: For some reason CBS and MSNBC are calling South Carolina for McCain, despite the fact that Obama is leading in the polls. I’m not sure what that means.

5:00: Polls closing in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Missouri, North Dakota (half, anyway), Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and DC. Now this party’s really getting started.

5:01: Oklahoma, Tennessee called for McCain, Maine, Massachussetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, DC, Illinois, New Hampshire, and…Pennsylvania called for Obama (NPR).

5:04: Put that another way, NPR is giving Obama 97 electoral votes, McCain 34.

5:12: Delaware called for Obama (CNN, CBS, NPR)

5:35: A voter in Santa Monica apparently went to vote while in active labor! That’s pretty awesome.

5:44: “Youthquake”? Seriously, NPR? I mean I’m glad that the youth vote is up, but…youthquake?

6:00: Only us chickens left now. (California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska, Iowa, Idaho, Utah, Montana)

6:01: Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island just called for Obama. North Dakota, Wyoming for McCain.

6:02: That’s 175 Obama/40 McCain.

6:07: Georgia for McCain, which I was expecting, but, still. Sad. Also, Alabama. Not as sad.

6:13: Awesome slideshow of scenes from all over the US. I love the shot of the Muslimahs gathered around the ballot box/electronic scanner, all smiling.

6:20: Arkansas goes McCain.

6:21: Fox just called Ohio for Obama, but no one else seems to want to commit.

6:23: Two more squares and I’m out of RitterSport Marzipan. This is not good.

6:26: NPR calls Ohio. “Hold the presses!”

6:37: New Mexico called for Obama. That puts him at 200 (76 McCain).

6:44: You want to see dedication? This is dedication. Jerry Roby, you are a rockstar.

6:46: Lousiana, West Virginia called for McCain.

6:49: Jeanne Shaheen just went from being the first female governor of New Hampshire to being the first female Senator from New Hampshire. Yay!

7:00: We’re down to California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii. Our polls close in an hour, and hopefully we’ll be seeing some local results soon. (Like, say, Proposition 8 failing miserably. Please. Please. Please.)

7:09: Texas called for McCain (NPR).