P R IN T : Opinion
•Wednesday, Nov. 14,2012 »>» 3
Nation moves forward with Obama
Felicia Skriver
News Editor
The 57th quadrennial presi
dential election is finally over,
and to most o f Americans it
comes as a relief.
It was a close call, but in the
end President Barack Obama
won with the popular vote o f
50.5 percent, M itt Romney on
the other hand only had 48 per
cent. The president now faces
a partisan divide in houses.
Congress has a house major
ity o f Republicans while the
Democrats keep control o f the
Senate.
O bam a
thanked
the
American people at his victory
party in Chicago for ensuring
that this nation will continue to
move forward even if it proves
to be a hard struggle.
“Tonight, in this election,
you, the A m erican people
reminded us that, while our
road has been hard, while our
journey has been long, we have
picked ourselves up, we have,
fought our way back,” Obama
said in his victory speech. “We
know in our hearts that for the
United States o f America, the
best is yet to come.”
The dem ographics o f the
election were very apparent;
while older generations such
as the baby-boomer generation
born from the forties to the
sixties were very pro-Romney
but it was Obama who gained
the trust o f the younger gen
eration and the minorities o f
the states.
Romney was the richest man
in history to run for president;
however that didn’t help in
the end. His ideals o f bringing
religion into schools, oppos
ing same-sex marriage and his
belief to add 100,000 troops
didn’t win over majority o f the
American people.
“M itt Romney quite sim
ply doesn’t get it,” said
Julian Castro, the Mayor o f
San Antonio, in his keynote
address. “We know that in our
free-m arket economy, some
w ill prosper more than oth
ers. What we don’t accept is
the idea that some folks w on’t
even get a chance.”
Obama has prom ised the
people to keep looking for
ward; he wants to . invest in
renewable energy to reduce
greenhouse em issions, bring
equality to same-sex couples,
is pro-choice and wants to
reduce the spending in defense
so that it might help the coun
try climb out o f a recession.
“This election is not simply
a choice between two can
didates or two political par
ties,” the D em ocratic p lat
form said, “but between two
fundamentally different paths
for our country and our fami
lies.” Measures such as the
legalization o f marijuana for
those who are over 21 were
passed in W ashington and
Colorado. Initiatives legaliz
ing it for medical purposes in
M assachusetts and A rkansas
also passed. In Oregon, the
m easure to legalize private
casinos failed, ensuring the
continuation o f cash flow in
the community.
Same-sex marriage is now
legal in Washington, M aine
and M aryland. Obama will
also see that subsidies to farm
ing w ill continue to pour in,
helping communities such as
Clackamas ensure economic
stability. Organizations such as
the Department o f Agriculture,
the
F ederal
E m ergency
M anagem ent Agency, the
Departm ent o f H ousing and
Urban Development and the
D epartm ent o f E ducation
will continue to stand in for
the aid o f the American peo
ple; w hereas Rom ney said
he would have cut them if
elected.
In O bam a’s first hundred
days speech Obama stated
that in the next couple months
to follow the American peo
ple can expect more medical
research into the H1N1 virus.
The Congress and the Senate
have passed a budget solution
and now we can move this
economy from recession to
recovery and then ultimately to
prosperity. Investments will be
made in education, and making
sure that credit card companies
don’t hike up their rates and
have harsh penalties.
“So I think w e’re off to a
good start, but it’s ju st a start,”
said Obama in his first hun
dred days speech. “I’m proud
o f what w e’ve achieved, but
I ’m not content. I ’m pleased
with our progress, but I ’m not
satisfied.”
M oving
forw ard
was
O bam a’s slogan this tim e
around; the next four years
will tell if he stays true.
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1
figa
so
President Obama was elected fo r his second term in office after a very
competitive campaign against Gov. Mitt Romney.
M a rria g e d e b a te h e a ts up a fte r e le c tio n
Chris Morrow
The Clackamas Print
Maine, Maryland and our
neighbor to the north, Washington,
have legalized same-sex mar
riages and Oregon may be next.
President Obama, who spoke
candidly of his support of mar
riage equality in an interview
with ABC News, has just won
his second term in office. I am
not so naive as to think that
any victories pertaining to this
matter will go unchallenged, as
American abolitionist and former
slave, Frederick Douglass once
said, “Without a struggle, there
can be no progress.”
The opponents of marriage
equality say that gays want “spe
cial” rights, treatment, and protec
tion. Is it a ‘ special ’ protection
for a non-Caucasian to be
able to file hate crime
charges after walking
down a street in a pre
dominantly Caucasian
neighborhood and get
ting assaulted by the
resident skinheads? Is
it a “special” protection
for any follower of a
religion or non-believer
to be able to file the
same charges should
they be the victim of
violence motivated by
their assailant’s issue
with their particular
brand of faith or lack
thereof?
As for the right
of marriage, I find it
ironic, not to men
tion hypocriti
cal
that,
so long as
they’re het
erosexual,
atheists and
the procreation impaired are
Members of the right also
spared from the right wing’s rod, make the claim that legalizing
despite repeated insistence that gay marriage is going to open
marriage is a purely religious
a proverbial “Pandora’s Box.”-
function meant only for produc Alright then, let’s take this back
ing offspring.
to 1967. Mildred Delores Jeter
I see no efforts being
and Richard Perry Loving, an
made to deny their claims to
interracial couple who married in
the benefits and rights afford Washington, D.C. were arrested
ed to them by* marriage.
upon moving back to their home
Based on a misbelief that state o f Virginia, for violating the
Civil Union is just “marriage Racial Integrity Act of 1924, a
under another name” the right statute on the state’s law books
accuses gays of being greedy that criminalized marriages
and “demanding something they between whites and non-whites.
already have” without even put
Suppose that, instead of
ting forth the modicum of effort declaring the statute unconstitu
it takes to research the disparities tional, the Supreme Court decid
between the two arrangements.
ed that it was best not to allow
Civil unions and even same- interracial marriages because
sex marriages face disadvantages later on down the road, the gays
that their opposite-sex counter might try to follow in their foot
parts do not, not the least of steps. Or, suppose that instead of
which is that “marriage” pro legalizing interracial marriages, it
vides 1,049 federal and was decided that it’d be a matter
state level benefits, best left up to the states. Some
whereas civil union states decided to legally recog-
only provides 300 . nize interracial marriages, some
state level benefits.
states decided that since popular
If a married het opinion was against them, it’d be
erosexual couple best not to.
travels or moves
Some states offered interra
to another state,
cial couples an option similar to
all their rights marriage, but called it something
and benefits go else and only gave those unions a
with them.
third of the same rights and ben
Civil unions
efits that were given to marriages
and
same-sex
in which both partners were of
marriages
are the same ethnicity.
usually
only
History didn’t play out like
acknowledged in that: the Lovings’ case resulted in
the state in which the Racial Integrity Act of 1924
they were recorded,
being ruled unconstitutional, but
so partners travel for the sake of argument, imag
ing or moving ine that it hadn’t. Would it be
from a state that wrong for two people in com
legally allows mitted interracial relationships to
such partnerships
feel likethey were being treated
to a state that unfairly? Would it be wrong for
doesn’t ,are them to want the same rights
likely to find they saw being given freely to
themselves
same-race couples? Members of
in a bind.
the right scoff at any comparison
between the two struggles, but
the parallels are there for any to
see if they choose to look.
Thankfully, popular opinion
isn’t static, it evolves. Minds and
hearts change and young takes the
place of old. Those who refuse to
examine and adapt their attitudes
might find themselves juxtaposed
with the bigotries of the past,
their likenesses displayed on
History Channel documentaries
as their children and grandchil
dren ask “Did people really used
to think and act that way?”
To those of you reading, I ask
that you reflect upon this; if we
treat basic human rights as win
nings in a race in which the victor
is determined by who endured
more injustice historically, there
are always going to be losers.
“I believe all Americans, no
matter their race, no matter their
sex, no matter their sexual ori
entation, should have that same
freedom to marry. Government
has no business imposing some
people’s religious beliefs over
others. Especially if it denies
people’s civil rights...”- Mildred
Loving.
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