Congratulations President Elect Obama...but

Congratulations to President-Elect Obama. As everyone said, last night was truly historic. We've elected the first black president. Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and North Carolina went blue together for the first time since 1964. America repudiated the party of Bush.

But before we all congratulate ourselves and talk about how racism and discrimination is dead in America, let's take a look at the downright shameful results of several ballot initiatives.

Arizona voted to ban gay marriage 56% to 44%

Arkansas voted to ban gay (and unwed straight) couples from adopting children 57% to 43%

With 92% reporting, it looks likely that California voted to ban gay marriage 52% to 48%

Florida voted to ban gay marriage 62% to 38%

Really? On the same night that old barriers were torn down, new ones were put up. Millions and millions of Americans went to the polls and voted to strip their fellow Americans of a basic, personal freedom. How is this even allowed? Could there be a ballot initiate to prevent Catholics from getting married? To prevent Asians from adopting children? It's disgusting.

There were some bright spots, however. The anti-abortion propositions were all defeated and Michigan voted to allow stem cell research and medical marijuana.

And in miscellaneous election news:

As of the time of this post, Al Franken lost his Senate race by 571 votes, but surely with that kind of margin I'd expect a recount. Hopefully he can find another 572 votes somewhere.

Somehow Ted Stevens won re-election. I'm shocked. Not only was he polling way behind Mark Begich, but Stevens is a convicted felon! I suppose to the state that elected Sarah Palin, felons are ok as long as they're felons that bring home the pork.

The races in Indiana, North Carolina, and Missouri were ridiculously close. I wonder how long it's going to take before we get final numbers there.

As of right now, CNN is showing that 118,183,508 people voted in this election. CNN also shows that in 2004, 121,480,019 people cast ballots. That seems bizarre. I know that the final tallies aren't in yet, but is it possible that less people voted in 2008 than 2004? I doubt it.

And lastly...

For some reason, CNN felt the need to use a hologram in their broadcast. (to beam in the emperor) Earlier in their coverage, they also used augmented reality to put the capitol building onto a table top. I'm not sure why...

update: I left one ballot initiative off my list accidentally. It looks like California Prop 1A to fund a high speed rail system passed. That's good news! This country needs high speed rail.