Post Election Thoughts 2012

More thankful than ever for never ending reruns of Friends on Nick At Night.  I don't usually partake in political rants.  I don't consider myself a political person.  I vote, and I have strong opinions about things.  However, I have never deemed it necessary to yell and scream my political agenda to others.  I know many people may not agree with me, but that is just me.

Today I was listening to 89.7, and they were talking about marriage and arguments.  The station was saying that normally when we argue it is about winning.  You win, the other person loses.  However, when you argue with your spouse you can't think of it that way.  You are a team.  You have to work together.  You can't think of it being you against them.

I feel that is analogous to the Presidential election situation.  The polarization of sides is never the answer.  As Americans we are a family.  We fight with each other.  We "hate" each other.  We complain about what the others are going that get on our nerves.  However, just like with family, when someone else threatens us, we are ready to protect our family.  We CANNOT make this Republic vs. Democrat, Black vs. White, Red vs. Blue.  Being at opposite ends of the spectrum never does anyone any good.

At this point it doesn't matter who you voted for.  It doesn't matter what your stance.  The people have spoken.  Our voice has been heard, and the man, who as defined by our Constitution, won the election.  Some of you may agree with the electoral college, some of you may not, but like it or not, it is there.  It is there to protect us from ourselves.  We are the people.  We do get a vote.  The electoral college is not to "fix" the election as I saw on here today.  The electoral college was set in place to protect us from the greatest threat to democracy, the uninformed voter.  Now, I by no means would ever claim to be an informed voter, but I have the clarity, courage, and conviction to admit that.  The electoral college is there to protect the country from the people who vote more for what is good for them than is good for the majority of the people (and how many of us does that include.)  It protects us from the people who voted for candidates because the last name sounded like a type of liquor.  It protects us from the people who voted for candidates because of the letter beside their name.  It protects us from the people who voted for candidates because of the color of their skin, their religious affiliation, their checking accounts, their promises; whatever.

See, the thing is each of us vote on what WE think is right; what WE want; what makes US happy.  Very very few people vote on what is best for ALL the people of this country.  There is no way that all of us will every be happy.  There is a great quote that says, "Too many people expect miracles from democracy, when democracy itself is the miracle."

It is a miracle and an anomaly that we, as average citizens, get to vote simply because we turn 18 and register.  The job of a democracy is not to make all the people happy.  The job of a democracy is to represent the voice of the majority of the people.  Sometimes you are going to be on the winning side and that will be great.  Other times you're going to lose, and it is going to SUCK, but just as we have a responsibility to go vote, we also have a responsibility to each other, our family.

We have a responsibility to respect each other, even if our opinions are different.  We have a responsibility to show grace to each other whether our side wins or loses.  We have a responsibility to respect our elected leaders because they are our leaders.  No matter if you are red or blue, our leader has been chosen, and from this moment on, it is our responsibility to pray for him to make the best choices to guide our country in a manner that will help us grow and prosper.  We have a responsibility to not call each other names (If you heard your children call each other names like I have witnessed my friends call each other names on here, you would punish them.)  We have a responsibility to raise ourselves above the simple mindedness of others.  If we hear people on the "other" side saying racist, ignorant, offensive comments, we do nothing but belittle ourselves and "our" side by stooping to that level and retaliating by doing the same thing.  That does nothing but speak poorly for the quality of our character when we can't actively decide when the best thing to do is to shut our mouths.  Haven't you ever heard of, "It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth (or unleash your fingers) and prove it."

There is a great thing called grace.  Grace is something that seems so simple, but at the same time is so illusive to so many people.  Grace is about kindness, even to those who do the hokey pokey on your very last nerve.  Grace is about knowing when to speak and knowing when to be quiet.  Grace is about displaying humility in both victory and defeat.  Grace can't be bought; it can't be won; it can't be passed down from generation to generation.

People, we have to show each other grace.  We have to show people respect.  We have to show people love, even if they don't have the same political views as our own; even if they don't share our religious views; even if they seem to be the biggest idiots on the planet.  We always teach our kids about being good losers, but we also have to teach the importance of being good winners.

Without grace and respect for our elected leaders and each other, it doesn't matter who is in the White House; who controls Congress; what amendments pass and fail.  Too easily we have become a county that is no longer free.  We are prisoners to pride and vanity and pettiness .  It will not be, until we can get back to treated others like we would want to be treated and better, "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (Abraham Lincoln)

Because from what I have seen on facebook that past months, it is not our leaders who are going to cause our nation to perish, it is those of us who can't see past our own agendas; our own desires; and get greater joy from the degradation of others than from lifting others up.  As Gandhi said, "We must be the change we want to see in the world," and the only way to change things for the better is to suck it up when we lose and show kindness to our victor and/or remember to be kind to those we defeat not rub salt in their wounds.