Hopey Changey for the Country First

Here's MY two cents on Election Day, and my State of the Union address (and thanks be to God that I was born in the U.S.A. where I can freely type this opinion without being persecuted by my government -- just my lil bitty readership):

Sure I have anxiety about today, but it's unfounded and irrational. My Xanax reminded me of that. (Thank you for that prescription, Doctor You Know Who You Are!)

Truly, deeply, absolutely, I am a part of the American Arrogance (I like to call it idealism) that believes that America ROCKS and will be just fine....FOREVER. The United States is not going to Hell in a handbasket because we'll have a black man or a one-foot-in-the-grave man as a president (which I might add is a different form of discrimination: age discrimination).

A President is a President. He is one man (or woman...) who cannot singularly create change, or singularly dominate the world, or singularly destroy the constructs by which this government was created. He (or she...) is surrounded by a checks and balances system works quite well, thankyouvermuch. Our democracy prevents a dictatorship, an oligarchy, an anarchy, or any of the extremist kinds of rule. He (or she...) has a Cabinet and Advisors. There's a Congress. There are laws. There are people. There's no way that Obama is going to save us all, and no way John McCain is going to slam dunk us into Hell. There just isn't.

Because there are Cabinet members and Advisors, should John McCain die and Sarah Palin take over as President, she won't fail. She will have lots and lots of smart people who are very savvy help her -- as ALL Presidents do! Just because she doesn't have an Ivy League pedigree, has a newborn and has an accent that, quite frankly, just about ANYONE can imitate, does not make her an idiot.

I'm sick of Obama's "Vote for Change" because change is freakin' inevitable. He isn't inventing the concept. He's not the creator of a brand new gadget that will miraculously elevate the country. OF COURSE, change will occur. For cry-sakes (yes I know that's now most people spell that but I just can't bring myself to spell it the other way), there's change EVERY election. Our country inherently WILL change by the very fact that it SHOULD change, *especially* every eight years. Even when a president is re-elected, change happens. Part of the beauty of the design of our democracy is that while a new person is elected, and has their own ideas on what they'd *like* to do, they can't do it on their own. It has to be in the context of the other bodies, cooperatively. However, the change must be accomplished within the design of democracy itself, which is constant, unwavering and perseverant. Thankfully, it breathes and expands, constricts, and it still fundamentally sound.

I am also beat down with the "Country First" motto because doesn't EVERY presidential candidate put the country first? Even over his (or her...) own family? The candidate - prior to ever being say, a judge or a school board member, a mayor or governor, a member of congress, President, you name it - is serving something bigger then themselves and their homelife. I equate it to the priesthood. The priest doesn't have a wife because The Church is his bride, and his flock is his family. And being a priest is not just presiding over community parish. A priest takes a GLOBAL vow. He serves in a different way, but he's still subject to a governing bodies. There's a reason the Roman Catholic Church has not split or fallen in 2000 years....

Above all is the shallowness and ignorance of us voters. We squander a privilege by our passion or lack thereof, based on sheer silliness. Shame on us for voting (or not voting) for a candidate merely because of their ethnic background, skin color, religious views, straight teeth, height, age, or from which state the candidate hails. Shame on us for voting for the 'pretty person'. We should use the cognitive skills gifted to us to make informed decisions. Do not vote in protest; just because you don't want a black man in office, or a woman Vice President is the worst reason to vote for a candidate! Don't allow the news bytes and the headlines and the pictures on MySpace, or Facebook, or CNN to teach you. Dig, people, DIG! Learn ALL sides of an issue. Learn ALL you can about a candidate. Don't just read about one because you like them best. Read about the other, too. Listen. Process information. Let it marinate. THEN, vote your beliefs, your convictions -- vote your heart. Lastly, I plead -- don't shove your issues down someone else's throat or judge them because their opinions don't align with yours. Embrace that difference and bridge the gap. And if you can't bridge the gap, at least show some respect.

So, yes, we'll have change. (Again, DUH - no brainer.) Yes, the U.S. will shove it's way to the front of the line like it does and be the Ruler, the Bully, the Best, the World Champs, the Valedictorian, the Beauty Queen. Yes, The World will continue it's love-hate relationship with us.

I recognize that today, America is like the drunk whore that everyone's pointing fingers at, snickering under their breaths wondering which guys are going to have their wicked ways with her before the night's said and done. America will wake up hungover, changed and still the center of attention.

But America will still be the shining jewel that everyone wants a piece of...not only because of our arrogance, but because the Rest of the World wants us there, puts us there, keeps us there, too. And we'll continue to share our wealth, our military, our humanity, our heartache. Because no matter what, America was founded on the betterment of all. All. ALL.