Is There Something We Can ALL Agree On?

Well, I’m disappointed. It looks like my candidate won’t win. There are consolations, however, at least Bush got the popular vote. I can deal with losing fair and square. If the country, as a whole, wants Bush, so be it. I’m concerned because I don’t believe he is what he presents himself to be. I would be much less concerned if I really believed he was this spiritual morally ethical guy he tries to come off as, but I don’t see the “fruit” of that in his leadership. Oh well, I figured he’d get it anyway, so I’m not terribly surprised. I was just worried he’d get it via underhanded tactics and I’m very relieved that he’s getting it via honest votes and fair play. That’s what really counts.

These last four years have taken a terribly hard toll on our friends and family. The economy is just killing folks in our income bracket and lower. It is eerily like depression years, family moving in with family, people having trouble even feeding and clothing their kids. The majority of my friends have lost jobs and either not found replacement jobs or are working at jobs at substantially lower income. Some are either now uninsured or have had to go on COBRA at great expense (like us who are having to pay $934/month for the next two months until the new job insurance kicks in) or take out insurance with expensive independent plans that have very high deductibles meant to cover catastrophes only. I don’t ever really remember a presidential term having so much negative impact upon the lives of people I knew before, even when I was an army wife. I’m hoping, though, that this is not directly because of George Bush but, instead, just where I country was headed regardless of who was president and he just happened to be it.

I had hoped in 2000, as much as I didn’t want him to win, that he would do some things to help the churches, to lower the abortion rates, and to loosen the discrimination against religion in schools. Instead there has really been no significant change in any of those areas. Abortion rates are higher, corporations are still not donating to religious organizations, and the schools are still just as unfriendly to kids with a desire to form religious clubs or make religious statements. Additionally, the ban is off assault weapons. I mean, what has happened while he has been in office just doesn’t jive with the things he tries to portray in line with being so strongly Christian. I’d love to believe he’d like to push forward a more Christian and moral agenda, but never saw it and sadly don’t believe I’ll see it in the next four years. Instead, I believe Chaney will continue to grow his stock trust as will the others who have benefited financially from this administration.

But, who knows? I will wait and pray and do what I always do. I abide by the laws of the land. I cast my vote. I express my opinion in a gentle, respectful and Christian way and encourage others to do the same. I love my country and am glad I was born here. I want this country to be what I was raised to believe we are… a land where we do what’s right and strong and courageous… where we may make mistakes but we move forward and sacrifice to correct those. A land where righteousness ultimately prevails, where hard work and honor and Godliness will pave the way for our children’s futures. I want us to be a land where we don’t deride others or cynically degrade another’s choice of a candidate, but instead allow another the freedom to hold an opinion and live freely with that opinion without fear of our ridicule or persecution. We need to build a land that’s filled with courtesy and compassion for those who think differently, live differently, and believe differently than us. That used to be part of our magic and it seems to be something we’ve been losing over time.