And somehow in one day it’s gone from having a very linear path of prioritization – write this one, then that one, and then in March tackle that OTHER one, while working on music stuff at night – to suddenly having many more balls in the air, and working on three writing projects simultaneously.

Well, if I was ever concerned that Oportunity wouldn’t find me if I took steps out on my own… I needn’t have worried.

On another note, did anybody see our President’s interview for Al-Arabiya? Yes, I know that eventually Obama will disappoint me in some way (I’m sure a lot of hardline Progressives are feeling disappointed this morning regarding Obama’s request to Waxman that the family planning element get pulled from the stimulus package, for example), but for me personally thus far, the Obama presidency has been a dream I keep expecting to wake up from. Doing more than I’d ever expected, and doing it faster and with more ruthless efficiency than I ever would have dared to dream.

If one is looking for a role model on how to get many things done quickly, one needn’t look further than President Obama.

“In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to Liberty.”
-Thomas Jefferson

Equality will ultimately win out. Last night’s passing of Prop 8, against the backdrop of Barack Obama’s resounding win, is bittersweet. Let’s face it; California voted to take away people’s rights last night. It’s one of the most horrible things I can imagine. In my mind, being against equality is not only anti-American, it’s treasonous. It is the exact opposite of why our country was founded on the first place.

In retrospect, it seems the No On 8 campaign lost the battle when they weren’t able to get out in front early and define the message. You say “Proposition 8 changes our constitution to make hateful discrimination legal”, and nobody votes for it. Nobody wants to vote for something that makes them feel they are a bigot, a racist, a hater or discriminator.

It’s a lot like Proposition 2, which cruised to victory last night (yes!). Even if you’re a rib-loving, porterhouse-addicted carnivore who drinks ground beef, nobody wants to be the person voting to hurt animals. No fear-mongering regarding imported chickens from Mexico — or whatever the hell those No On 2 ads were about — is going to change that.

Yes On 8, sadly, framed the issue first with their message: Not voting for Prop 8 would result in marriage being redefined.

It didn’t matter that Prop 8 losing, in truth, would have redined nothing. It didn’t matter that Prop 8 passing is the situation that will now in fact result in a redefinition being put forth. And it doesn’t matter that the logical and clear-eyed among us see nothing wrong at all with marriage being between both man and woman, man and man, and woman and woman.

Nor, apparently, does it matter, that the group behind the Yes On 8 campaign was the Mormon Church, with most of their money coming from Utah. Yes, California, you got played by a bunch of people that don’t even live here.

Court cases will soon follow, no doubt, and it will be curious to see the path the Quest For Common Equality takes.

But to everyone that is torn by what happened last night, remember what our new President-elect said. The work does not stop here. All of the community organizing, the hard work, the donations, and the countless hours by countless individuals investing themselves in their own futures for the first time, allow us an opportunity.

We now know how to be involved. How to be informed. How to take action — through conversation, through sharing art, media, fiscal resources, time; all of it.

The great lesson of Barack Obama’s win is not that one man was better than the rest of us, and he’s now going to change the world. It is that each and every one of us as individuals, acting in unison with one another, can shape our own common destiny. Together, we can achieve what conventional wisdom says is impossible.

It’s not that different from the entrepreneurial mentality, to be honest. A cause is a small business, and you help it grow with hope, faith, time, love, and energy. The Great Empowerment of both the Left and the Right are not that far apart, truth be told.

So today begins a new task, a new journey. A new challenge, for each of us to remain involved. Focused. Cognisant of the world around us, and to never let ourselves fall into that passive slumber so many of us had previously embraced.

The fight for the future of our country — and for Equality — begins anew today.

Update: It’s already beginning. No On 8 Protest Rallies tonight in California.

Now… it’s time to really get to work.

I don’t care what side of the aisle you are on.  The best kinds of policy proposal transcend party, race, gender, and ideology, and set their sights on a more unified America.  One we can all get behind, and be proud of.

Clearly, Barack Obama understands this:

“I think it is about time that we had playoffs in college football. I’m fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other. Get eight teams — the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a National Champion,” Obama said.

Seriously, America. What more do you need?

Wake up at 4:45?

Check.

Spend an hour calling Virginia voters at the Obama phonebank in Century City?

Check.

Voting?

In progress.

Update: Done and Done.

Oh, and in case any California voters were still wavering…