As I write this column early in the morning on Monday, Nov. 7, I haven’t voted yet nor do I know who I am congratulating. What I do know is that this has been a very contentious election and when I go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 8, I will have to choose between the Devil and Satan as the person I want to see hold that office. And no matter which of the two wins, the supporter of the other one will be angry. The anger that has been galvanized is not something that can be ignored or taken lightly. This country is at a precipice from which there is no easy way back.
How does one heal a country whose division by one of the major issues of the campaign — illegal immigration — has split the country into polar opposites? No matter what side of the coin one falls on regarding illegal immigration, it is a subject that must be honestly addressed. How our newest president handles the subject can either heal or further divide the nation. Job creation is another area that has divided this country. We have lost millions of jobs and how we go about getting them back or crafting new ones will be at our president’s feet.
The internet has played a major role in this election. When President Obama ran, many were amazed at his online fundraising ability. It has been eight years since and with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram among the leaders in internet social media sites for getting information out to the masses, instant connection to the 45th president are here. I hope our newest president uses it for the good of the country.
Our next president must display leadership. There have been troubling times and there may be more ahead of us in the future. How this new president handles it will be telling. Will the 45th president have a strategy for us to feel like we are the United States of America? I admittedly am jealous watching other nations with different racial and ethnic types behave as one country. Cubans, Brazilians, Colombians, for example, no matter their racial heritage, see themselves as members of that country and not whatever racial/ethnic group from whence they came. Wars have traditionally been used as a unifier. But a country at war with itself cannot fend off those from outside, looking to do it harm, if the internal fighting is taking precedence.
Lastly to the one who didn’t win, the voters (and I pray that we have had an honest election, where the dead, the non-citizens, and most of all the “hanging chads” and electronic machines recorded honestly the choice of the people) have made their decision. The grace with which a loser acknowledges it is more important than ever when it comes to this election.
These are the only words that matter on the 9th day of November, 2016:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
