Election 2012

Well, the election's over. I'll admit, I was disappointed. I was really hoping for Romney. But I think that the best thing we can do now, no matter what party or person we were supporting, is focus on what we can do to keep our nation progressing. It's important that we don't become either sore losers or arrogant winners. This isn't just a contest about beating out one team or party over another, it's about providing what's best for the country and the people. Some people have different views than others, and on some issues we will most likely never agree, and that's ok. All we can do it try to be civil, respect and understand a difference of opinion, and work hard to do the best we can with what's we've got.

It's important to remember that the fact that we even have the ability to vote for our leaders is a huge blessing. After the results were announced I was reading an essay by Stanley Fish about multiculturalism for a class and I came across this quote. "That is to say, we have rights not as men or women or Christians or Jews or blacks or Asians but as human beings, and what makes a human being a human being is not the particular choices he or she makes but the capacity for choice itself, and it is this capacity rather than any of its actualization that must be protected."  The right of  fully functioning capably minded adults to choose for themselves based on thought and long consideration must be protected and respected, regardless of what that choice may or may not be. Without getting to crazy here obviously, if you choose to harm someone else clearly that's not going to fly (The idea is the right to opinion and choice rather than turning a blind eye.). I'm a big believer in God given agency and the right to exercise it. Force is the opposite of agency, and just because someone exercises it differently doesn't necessarily make what they have chosen or them evil or wrong, just different.

I think that we should try to follow the example of Mitt Romney during his speech last night. He congratulated President Obama and wished him the best of luck, and encouraged everyone to pray for the President and the nation and to avoid pointless bickering. If the man who just lost the presidential election can be humble and civil enough to do that than I'm sure we can too.

I made a commitment for the month of November to look at things with an aspect of gratitude, and that includes this election. So here we go. Like I said earlier, I'm grateful for the right to vote and for people to voice their opinions. It's a blessing that is often neglected. More specific for this particular election though, I'm grateful for what I've learned. Four years ago during the last election I had just turned 15, and so this is really the first one that not only have I been able to participate in but have actively payed attention to. A lot of the friends that I've made here are highly involved or interested in politics and as a result I've followed this one from the pretty much the beginning to the end. Along the way I've learned a lot about how politics work, different issues going on, and also more about myself; the kinds of things that I support and what I want and look for in a candidate. So even though the election didn't turn out the way that I was hoping, it's still been a benefit to me.  

Oh, and to everyone going crazy about President Obama being re-elected, I realized that you're excited, but try ( I know it can be hard) to not be obnoxiously arrogant. Just like people bemoaning the "signs of the times" wont change the outcome of the election, jazzy F*** you Romney songs and self-righteousness won't either. So please, stop. It's just making you look bad.