Hope That We Can Change

Between the Ravens being in the playoffs and Rock of Love Bus finally debuting, I almost forgot that Inauguration Day is next week. Is it me or has the bumper sticker Obama-mania faded already? It seemed like everyone was all amped about hope and change two months ago, but I haven’t heard much lately. Even Facebook is all cricket-cricket and no one’s middle name is Hussein anymore. Why is that? Is it because change looks a lot like the Clinton Administration 2.0? Actually, since New Mexico’s Bill Richardson backed out, I guess we’re at Clinton Administration 2.1. 

For more reasons than there are words in the English language, I did not vote for Obama. That being said, Barry O. will be our new president in about a minute and, like a bad haircut, I can learn to live with it. After all, presidents, like bad hair cuts, are only temporary. I’d really like to see the Obama supporters put those platitudes into action, but I’m already seeing the ‘Yes We Can’ turn into ‘We May or May Not Be Able to Because It’s All Bush’s Fault’. So much for hope and change. I really hope that the next four years don’t turn into an extended dance remix of blame and excuses.

I know The Gays are mad because of the Rick Warren inauguration invocation thing and he does seem like a bad choice in light of the Prop 8 meltdown in California. The first time I was old enough to vote in a presidential election was during the ‘92 election. Back then, I was a non-thinking Democrat. I watched a lot of MTV and I believed what they (and Eddie Vedder) told me. I also believed that I looked good in work boots and flannel. And I distinctly remember that during eight years of Clinton and Gore, The Gays didn’t seem too interested in marriage. Then we had eight years of Bush and Cheney and suddenly The Gays wanted marriage. Why? What changed? Was it because grunge died and MTV turned into a hip-hop format?

Now “The One” will soon be our president and everything will be magickal. In the spirit of hope and change and unicorns and rainbows, I’d like to see The Gays really embrace diversity among their own kind and maybe make friend with lesbians who eat meat or with gay men who don’t like musicals. If we can’t accept each other, and the differences within our own community, we can’t expect The Straights to either. I’ve heard that some homosexuals aren’t even Democrats. We should reach out to those Gays. It’s rumored that not all of them live outside of the beltway or in the deep south. I guess the change that I hope for is that The Gays step out of their Gayhetto™ mindset over the next four years. It’s been said that 1 in 10 people are gay, so I guess that means 9 in 10 people, give or take (because of those wacky bisexuals), are straight. It’s not a conspiracy, my gay brothers and Sapphic sisters, it’s reality. Stop blaming the Mormons for c-blocking gay marriage. They only make up 2% of the U.S. population, which means there are more of you than them. Let’s remember where the blame really lies, which is on Catholics, rappers, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.