United We Stand...
I'd like to be optimistic, but it seems my predictions were off.Jimmy Carter has just won his second term.
Economy a bit on the shaky side: Check
Unpopular Republican President blamed for the loss successor: Check
Trouble with Iran brewing: Check
Energy crisis: Check
National newcomer Democrat elected as president: Check
Career Washington insider elected as Vice-President: Check
Russians/Soviets feeling belligerent and expansionistic: Check
Seriously though, I hope that President Elect Obama will be a better President than Carter was.
I can't think of any words adequate to the occasion of America electing its first black President, so I'll just say this: This may be a bleak day for the Republican Party and for conservatism, but come what may in the years ahead, it's a great day for our country.
My sincere congratulations go to President Elect Barack Obama for his victory last night. I’ve never supported him and I will likely disagree with him a lot, but like it or not, he’s my president.
As a great man once said “Country first.”
Since the Democrats hold nearly all the cards now with a majority in both chambers of Congress (which is kind of scary) they really have to put up or shut up. I happen to believe that Obama and Congressional Democrats will do things that cause harm to America. Unless his victory somehow leads him to become a centrist rather than a liberal ideologue once in office.
I have certain principles, beliefs and ideals. I had them before yesterday, I still have them today, and I will keep them long after President Elect Obama takes the oath of office.
I do not consider myself to have an overarching ideology. My principles, beliefs, and ideals were assembled on a point-by-point basis, derived from careful and rational thought on each issue individually. As such, the assigning of any such labels or categories to me means nothing, and the rise and fall of those labels and categories trouble me not one bit.
Yesterday, many of my principles, beliefs, and ideals were rejected by the majority, but I don't feel alone. John McCain won about 48% of the vote after all. I do not take that as a rebuke in the least. Rather, I see it as a challenge to continue espousing the things I believe in, as strongly and persuasively as I can.
I do not take it as an "opportunity" to re-examine them. I do that on a regular basis anyway. I have arrived at them by my own experiences, thoughts, studies, and contemplations. As those are ongoing processes, they have already been tested and revised and corrected when needed. To say that I suddenly need to re-evaluate these things because of an election is to say that I do not hold them that dearly at all, and they are subject to the approval of the majority.
They are not and they never will be.
I have concerns about President Obama and his plans for America.
I very well may be wrong.
Lord knows I've been wrong before, on enough other issues.
Unfortunately the facts are not showing me that I am at this time.
If President Obama does pull off his plans and they do make things better despite my fears to the contrary...
At that point, with actual facts before me, I will re-evaluate my principles, beliefs, and ideals, and how they apply to certain issues.
But not yet.
Not without evidence to the contrary other than "a lot of people disagree with you."
I shall wait and see.
Until then, though, I will remain true to my own self.
I'll close with President Elect Obama's own words:
"Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long... while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress... And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn-- I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too."
The work ahead is not the President's alone; the task is for all us.
United we stand...divided we fall.
posted by Digital Fortress at 09:00
5 Comments:
I also agree that this a monumental moment in American History, that certain barriers are seemingly erased. I applaud Americans for breaking down that wall!
And you should know by now, how I feel about the rest of it! Excellent comparison, by the way, and I too hope that we are not left standing with a pocket full of peanuts at the end of President Carter's second term. I do sincerely hope that he proves me wrong!
How will our first truly Marxist president rule? Will we see an exodus of jobs greater than the Great Depression? Will he bankrupt us with entitlement programs?
I am sorry, but I fear for my nation. I think the nation that our Founding Fathers envisioned is about to slip away. We are about to see the Great Experiment on the road to failure.
On January 20, 2001, George W. Bush became my president.
Pending unforeseen circumstances, he will remain my president until January 20, 2009.
At which point, pending unforeseen circumstances, Barack Obama will become my president.
And, pending unforeseen circumstances, he will remain my president until at least January 20, 2013.
Over the next four years, I anticipate criticizing him when I think he is wrong, and praising him when I think he is right.
I also anticipate doing far more of the former than the latter.
In 2010, I fully anticipate voting against whoever he endorses. Further, in 2012, I will most likely vote for whoever challenges him.
But he will be, legally and officially, the president of the United States and as a loyal and proud citizen of the United States, I feel that nothing less is my duty.
After all, as we've been reminded so many times over the past years, "dissent is the highest form of patriotism." And nobody damned well better question MY patriotism when I point out how many of the new president's policies are wrong-headed, foolish, ruinous, and downright dangerous.
Because I expect I'll be doing that a lot.
You crystalized my thoughts on my own principles exactly. It was fun the past year playing the "political game" of the election cycle. I have gone through many. John McCain lost but it was not a rout which does say something about how unsure a large part of the electorate is of Obama. I will commit to supporting and encouraging the Obama presidency with all the decency and honor the left showed to GW since 2000. The flip has been flopped. I wish our country well. I am not hoping for a catastrophe but I am here to point out every lie, misstep and mistake ad nauseum if it is warranted.
How convenient that President-elect Obama calls for an end to the partisanship, pettiness and immaturity now that he's finished a campaign replete with all three.
I want our new president to succeed because I want my COUNTRY to succeed, but at the same time, I will not sacrifice my principles or common sense in favor of his collectivist ideology.
Like Fidelio, I will take up the mantle of "loyal opposition" when Obama proposes Marxist policies. I anticipate being a very patriotic dissenter.
Sauce for the goose.
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