Last night my wife and I made a decision to avoid all of the election
coverage, and spend the night at the theaters (a decision I don't regret
in the slightest and will be an election day tradition moving forward). Around 10:30 we walked out of the theater, I turned on my phone, looked at the results of the election and got on with my evening. For those of you who know me, or those of you that have been following my blog, you are already well aware that I wasn't exactly pleased with the result of the election last night. I knew my candidate wasn't likely to find a seat in the Oval Office, so I wasn't exactly shocked by the results. At the end of the day I have confidence in this country. I choose to believe that it won't self destruct, Americans are better than that. I believe that at some point cooler heads will prevail and that our nation will forge its way into the future, as we always have.
After reading a multitude of reactionary tweets, mini-blogs, and Facebook posts of those that have a world view similar to mine I find that what worries me most isn't the future of the country, it is how many on the right will handle themselves. I fear that too many will fall victim to the divisiveness of an election such as this. Something that will stick with me for the rest of my life is the vile and disgusting manner in which many on the left treated President George W. Bush. Rampant and vulgar insults were the norm. People stopped seeing a person, and saw only a punching bag. Terms like Nazi, moron, idiot, incompetent, devil, and stupid were used openly, and with far too much acceptance. He was often personally blamed for the horrors of the 911 attack, and Katrina. We are better than that. Not only as conservatives, but more importantly, as Americans.
Don't misunderstand me here, I don't maintain that you shouldn't criticize the President. If you disagree with his policy, please don't hold back. However, I ask that you attack the policies, not the man and carry yourself with integrity and decorum. Use reasoned arguments, not emotional knee jerk reactions to state your positions clearly. Barack Obama is the President of The United States of America, an office and title that deserves respect. Don't disgrace yourself, your party, and your country with intolerance and hate. Before you declare that "you are moving to another country", or fire any number of personal attacks and insults at the commander and chief, remember that this country was built on unity and diversity, not divisiveness. The purpose of a republic is to find the middle ground for the greater good, not discard all other philosophies and ideas in favor of your personal beliefs. Truly look at the issues. Base your opinions on the merit of the idea,
not the author.
There is nothing to be gained by dwelling on the results
of the election. Now is the time to look forward. We will just have to see where the policies of this administration take us. Take an honest look at what works, and what doesn't and vote again. We are imperfect beings, working with an imperfect system. As proven time and time again, as a nation we can accomplish great things, and solve any problem. True progress can only be made through collaboration, not as two dogs fighting over the same bone.
Oh, and one other thing. Cloud Atlas, and Seven Psychopaths are fantastic movies, I highly recommend you see them both. Perhaps you will join for a night at the movie theater for our next elections.
