I Can’t Live Here Anymore.
I’m moving to Canada.

Well, the fascists won, as I suspected they would. I don’t understand how this country got so conservative. It didn’t used to be like this. It’s not just politicians -- the whole population has shifted to the right. Why did 51% of the people vote for Bush? Why did a large majority vote to ban gay marriage?

This isn’t a place I want to live. I don’t like this place. I’m moving to Canada. I decided some time ago that I just couldn’t live in the US anymore. What clinched it was the way the Iraqi prisoners were treated in Abu Graib. And then Bush praised Rumsfeld. He should have fired him. But no. He praised him. I decided then and there, I was ashamed to be an American. These people would not represent me. They would not do these acts in my name. No. I’ve been learning as much as I can about the immigration process and I’ve sold quite a few of my belongings already. I still have a lot to do, which is partly why there hasn’t been much new content on the website. I haven’t had time to write. But the election results are compelling me to take a bit of time.

My own Washtenaw County is a liberal haven in Michigan. Here we voted 60-40 against the proposal to ban gay marriage. Unfortunately, the rest of the state voted nearly the exact opposite. Eleven states, including Michigan, passed amendments constitutionally limiting marriage to one man and one woman. According to the Ann Arbor News, Patrick Gillen, a lawyer for the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, which specializes in religious liberty cases, said gays are entitled to civil rights, “but they have no right to define marriage.” As if the right to marry the person you love were not a civil right.

What I find troubling is that large numbers of Democrats purportedly voted for Bush because “moral values are important to them.” That seems like a good reason NOT to vote for Bush! To me, war and peace are moral issues. The fact that 45 million Americans have no health insurance is a moral issue. The fact that environmental laws are intentionally being weakened is a moral issue. And people should have the right to marry whoever they want -- that is a moral issue.

I just can’t live in the US anymore. I think I was meant to be a Canadian.