Emotional Times

Well, I can't let yesterday pass without comment, can I? I always choose to keep to myself my candidate of choice, so I will not be sharing which side of the battle I came into this on. My comments are purely based on outcome and my hopes for my country, which I love in a fundamental way that is always creeping out and leaking out my eyes when I least expect it.

I am proud that my child will be born into a world where anyone can achieve anything. I hope that he or she will grow up with that fact woven into the fabric of his or her life in such a way that perhaps the thought would never occur that such a thing couldn't happen. I hope that my child someday wonders why this was such a big deal. Because I do believe it is a big deal, but I don't believe that it should be a big deal ideally. Mr. Obama is just a person, as all of the other 43 presidents have been. I hope that my child someday sees that better than we all do.

I hope that Mr. Obama is able to pull this country out of the despair it has fallen into lately. I actually think the emotional reaction to the economic downturn is worse than the downturn itself and that a change of outlook would do a lot to mend the problems. Perhaps our new president will help us to find that new outlook.

I hope that McCain's supporters will not spend the next 4 years booing their president, as they did during McCain's lovely, respectable, generous concession speech last night, but will instead give Obama a chance. Let him earn his reputation by actual action, not by fear of possible actions. And if they never find a way to have faith in the man at the helm, I hope that they at least maintain faith in the structure of this country's governing system to keep them safe. I hope that the Bush supporters learn from how they have felt having an out-of-favor president, like their guy was never given a break, and try to show Mr. Obama some of the support and faith that Bush didn't get. I hope that all of the most outlandish of the Republican fears turn out to be resoundingly unfounded and that they will be able to acknowledge that they were wrong about these fears, assuming that they are wrong. I hope they are wrong. I would hate for them to be proven right.

I also hope that Obama's supporters will be gracious winners and acknowledge that there are people in this country, nearly half of the people, who feel very lost right now. I feel sad for those people, and I wish that we didn't have to go from one side feeling disenfranchised to the other. I hope that this doesn't turn into 4 years of waiting for the next change. Let's all together see what this change can do for us first. I suspect it will do less good than the Democrats hope it will, but I also suspect it will do more good than the Republicans are predicting, since they predict no good can come of it at all. It's easy to do more than nothing.

Mostly, I hope that we can all start to learn about each other, play politics by the Golden Rule a bit more, and maybe come out of all this conflict a bit wiser and more open-minded and more civil than we've ever been.

This is my wish for us. Regardless of who won, who lost, and who will win or lose in the future, this will always be my wish. We are one country, united, and whether we always like it or not, we could do better to act like it. I start with me by sharing my feelings here.

What do you wish for our country, and where will you start to make those things happen?