Today was a weird day. Election over, people seemed unsure what they should do now.
My liberal friends wanted to gloat. They wanted to shout from the treetops that their hero was still in charge. They wanted to look cool though, so they did things like post patriotic images, praise the states that made them proud, and lecture the other side about being unhappy. Whoa, what? Your side just lost the leadership of the free world and you are supposed to shut up and pretend to like Obama. Free birth control, and abortions for all! Sorry, slip of tongue, funded (by the undeserving rich) birth control and abortions for all. After all anything less would be a "war" on women...
My conservative friends were sad and despondent. A few tried half-hearted analysis on the party line. A few tried the "time to respect the office" speech. Mostly they were just dead silent. Eerie silence. Many of them believe with true hearts that Armageddon is upon us. A few who are less doomsday think that we just sold out our foundations.
Me? I just think we have to wait and see. I hope and I pray that the liberals are right. I hope that Obama has a magic pouch of beans that can make everyone equal. I hope that he can also convince people that they did not work that hard that they should care when the government reassigns their paycheck. It is not my wish to see the country fail. I love America. I love freedom, and I love the fact that we choose our government. (let's please just remember that they work FOR us- we PAY them to govern, make wise choices, and offer organization in a crisis, sound military judgement, and protection FROM tyranny.)
I am a truly independent voter. I voted for Clinton, Gore, McCain and Romney. I believe in choice, women's rights, and giving basic assistance to those who can't get anywhere despite great effort. I do not believe that our government should just give us everything we need. I think this is fundamentally the wrong path. I think that without incentives to work hard, people will just not do it. I fear that this is where we are headed. I see the plan as our federal government having a finger in everything we do. I want an in between party that says I have to be all or nothing. I want to believe in socially liberal, and progressive things that do not cost my family our home.
Once you have lived in different places within the US, you see that the cultures and flavors of a place are unique. People in the southwest are just more laid back. There is not the same uptight time driven society that we enjoy here in the midwest. The values of the people dictate that culture, and they are different than how I grew up. I don't see a need other than to require basic civil and human rights to interfere with the rights of a state to govern itself. (why do we want all the sameness anyway?) Sure, it took some getting used to seeing people with guns strapped to their belt, but that is what people there wanted. While I personally found kids in Texas taking a YEAR of Texas history instead of geography odd, I do not think there should be federal tampering with the curriculum. While these examples I kept purposely kept light and trivial, I do believe the same holds true for bigger issues.
So now what I wish is this: I wish that my liberal friends would stop touting the "get over it" line. It has been 24 hours, allow for a period of mistrust, and anguish, the same one you would feel if your side lost. I can only imagine the sad 47% laments if Romney was packing to move into the oval office. I wish that my conservative friends would not assume the very worst. It is possible that Obama will reach across the aisle and try to accomplish a productive middle ground strategy. As for me? I am going to be willing myself to pray daily for the strength to endure things not being how I want them and future for my 5 kids that does not involve default on a loan to China (The only FB message I did like today reminded us that Jesus is King no matter who is president) I am going to delete a few facebook friends, get back to worrying about which kid did not put the candy wrappers in the can, and try to stockpile cash in case gas goes to $8/gallon before someone creates an efficient alternative to my vehicle for a family of 7,and study up so I can remain one math level ahead of my 4th graders.
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