Affirmative action, may it rest in peace, died Tuesday night. Minimum wage workers got a raise and medical Marijuana uses can smoke out. We won a few, but lost the gold ring this election.
Let's just hope the California Civil Rights Initiative gets tied up in court for a long, long time. At least, we gave the working poor better wages, right?
As usual, the election was the epitome of irony. Voters seemed to play hopscotch with their ballots. Punch "Yes" for this one, "No" for that one, and hope it's the right answer. The results showed we probably didn't do our homework.
We said no on 211; we don't want to be able to sue businesses if they misrepresent themselves in their quarterly reports. And we said yes on 213; uninsured motorists can't sue for pain and suffering if someone crashes into them. We'll give veterans more money, but won't reinstate higher taxes for the rich.
One good thing; since there'll be less suits in court, the lawyers should have plenty of time to prepare a defense against the CCRI.
For those of you wondering who's to blame for making Proposition 209 pass, don't go slashing your neighbor's tires right away. San Francisco shot down 209 by a count of 177,063 to 73,336. It looks like the southern counties are mostly to blame affirmative action's defeat. Maybe the smog has clogged their brains or something.
Oh California, the Golden State, that passed Proposition 187 four years ago. We seem to have a real knack for saying yes to racist legislation. Maybe we should change the state's motto to, "White-gold state."
So while you're mourning the loss of upward mobility, say a quick prayer for the women's centers, ethnic studies programs, minority scholarships, and recruiting programs for minority students threatened by 209.
Nationally, the scene wasn't much better.
It was another white, male-dominated show, with all the backdrops, canned speeches and all the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood production.
President Bill Clinton made his victory speech under a veil of white lights, from his political home of Little Rock, Ark. before West Coast ballots could be counted. Dole conceded from a Washington, D.C. hotel before the California polls even closed.
And that funny little man Ross Perot, who was such an interesting side show last time, flopped with 8 percent of the vote.
Exit polls indicated that Clinton's biggest supporters were women, minorities and young people, but that nobody really trusts him. Thus he'll head back to the White House under the shadow of yet another Republican-dominated Congress. I guess we figured Republicans are good for keeping him on his toes, and out of FBI files. So much for getting legislation through, we'll try that next time when Al Gore runs.
Nationally, we elected a male-dominated Congress -- of course. One painful example; out of seven possible, the country elected only two female senators.
For the House of Representatives (the key word is "representative"), California is sending only three out of the 27 female candidates to Washington, D.C., although not all of the results are in.
Congratulations people, we elected another dysfunctional government.
[ Golden Gater - November 7, 1996 ]
All Rights Reserved © 1996 HTML by Steve Thoemke (sthoemke@nermal.santarosa.edu)