ClobberBlog | Mormonism, Evangelical Christianity

I’m sorry Glenn. One of the first things I considered writing in response to Obama’s victory was, “Well, now my life double-sucks. My mom is dead and Obama is going to be President.” But I felt better about being positive.

This will fade in time and I sincerely hope the GOP leadership learns from their mistakes. Just say “no” to moderate/liberal Republicans for President. There’s a reason we said “no thanks” to John McCain for President back in 2000, and last night was a painful reminder of that.

Being a democrat, this election went pretty well in my opinion. However, if John McCain had won, I wouldn’t be freaking out. I’m not sure who that fellow was on the last posting, but the separatist idea where you ham-handedly reject a candidate because they weren’t the one you wanted is like crying over a glass of spilled milk.

Regardless of what anyone may think, John McCain and Barack Obama are both good men. Both of them would make good presidents, though each of them had a different vision for what would make America prosper. I made little secret of my dislike of Sarah Palin, whom I perceived as downright unprofessional in her attitudes, behaviors, and speeches. That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t have made a good vice president, even if it meant she had to grow into the role. If I could have accepted that even someone I disliked and even disrespected as much as Palin being vice president, the idea that McCain could have been president was not such a discomforting notion at any point that I felt the need to go up in arms. The only thing I ask is the same kind of chance that you’re giving now Jack, the same one I would have given to the opposing ticket had things not turned out in my favor.

America is a representative democracy, and its numbers have made themselves clear. The popular vote was far less a landslide, and we are still a nation divided. When Bush said he would reach across the political boundaries to reach out to Democrats, it still felt bitter and derisive and I saw little actual evidence of this happening. But it was during John McCain’s concession speech, most ironically of all, that I thought he was at his absolute best. He was honest, gentle, genuine, and straight-forward. When his supporters booed he calmed them down. He spoke from the heart with loyalty and truth, and I felt more than ever I was seeing the kind of man that he truly is. Truly, the magnanimous grace he showed in his defeat shows that not only was the man assuredly presidential material, but even when he is not he seems willing to make the effort necessary to close the terrible, divisive rift that seems to be forming between the parties.

This is the point where we should now be expecting the very most out of both parties. The election is over, and sulking isn’t going to do anyone any good. What I trust of Obama is that he will be honest as well and make the effort to bring EVERYONE into the process. This is also the point where the Democrats need to not kick sand into the eyes of the Republicans in this great American sandbox and laugh at their loss. Republicans equally must not be that lame kid that gets angry and pees in the sandbox to get back at someone.

I’d like it if we could prove to the world that the two-party system isn’t a fence lined with electric barbed wire (which also should not be peed on), but simply two ways of thinking of the world which are BOTH needed in order to form one union. Just because someone doesn’t agree with another party’s world view doesn’t make either of them necessarily wrong or right. In fact, America has always been at its best when the responsibilities and ideas are exchanged and a compromise can be found, or one side can tell the other the problems in a plan and they can work to fix them or find another idea. For eight years there’s been so much bickering, and I’m sure all of us want it to end.

I’m proud of both candidates. I’m proud of the victory, and I’m proud of the defeat in its grace and honesty. I’m proud too that someone I know to be such a conservative as Jack is (oh, yes. I’m looking at you!) would rather be positive. I hope we can find the true spirit of America by dropping the animosity and working together like reasonable adults living in the same nation facing the same problems that need to be solved with everyone’s help. McCain taught me this spirit best with his concession speech, and I want to honor the sacrifices he made with the spirit of cooperation.

Rather than waste effort dissecting wrongheaded and most eminently fiskable Luara, I’l just apologize for crapping on the table during your love-in and go away. Her kind of hate is more acceptable than my kind of fear. Bye.

Well Glenn, just know that I wasn’t trying to start a love fest. I just think that the fact is, Obama won. He may have won with the help of illegal money, but he probably would have won even if he’d done all of his fund raising legally. There was almost certainly some ACORN voter fraud, but ACORN voter fraud did not give him him 52% of the popular vote. He had lots of help from the media, but the media did not give him 52% of the popular vote.

Fact is, he was the person the American people wanted, no matter how you slice it, and I’m not going to sulk over that. The best man won.

Now I am annoyed at the people who have been nothing but whining little babies for the last 8 years now saying “Yay! Kum-ba-yah, let’s all work together, red and blue!” See, for example, the latest project from those morons who did http://www.sorryeverybody.com four years ago. They can kiss my ass if they think we’re never going to point out the failings of Captain Telepromptor and his magical unicorns riding on rainbows of hope and change.

I will watch Obama carefully, and I may be a harsh critic of what he does, but I’ll wait and see what he does. I’m not going to write him off before he’s even started like so many people did to Bush.