Friday, 21 November 2008

• MY VIEWS ON THE ELECTION

  Now I'm not one to call myself a Reagan Republican, a Reagan Democrat or a Reagan Independent any more than I'm likely to put Washington or Lincoln as the defining statement of my political beliefs. Not that I have anything against President Reagan. He was a great president, one of the greatest to serve in the past century. I own a ton of respect for what he believed in and what he accomplished for our country.

  But to refer to my beliefs using his name as a defining point keeps me from being relevant to what's happening today. Does it mean I am not conservative? No. Does it mean I don't hold to his beliefs? No, I agree with Reagan on much of his doctrine.

  What it means is, I am a 2008 Conservative. It means I don't want Reagan for president. It means that I want a true conservative from 2008 to be my president.

  I understand the concept of learning from history. But there is a difference between learning from history and living in history.

  The Democratic National Convention in Denver this year featured many speakers, at least one of which was a Republican. But as I watched the many speeches, fawning over the party nominee as only these national conventions can do, one phrase by a speaker jumped out to me. He said, "Senator Barrack Obama will reach across the aisle, will work to bring us to bipartisan solutions, and will stand up for the principles we all believe in."

  Now, I'm not putting this all on the Democrats as this has become an increasingly popular phraseology in the recent years from both sides. ‘Spearheading bipartisan efforts.’ ‘Reaching across the aisle.’ ‘Working with members of both parties.’

  But you tell me, how can you stand up for the principles you believe in, while compromising them to be popular? How can you compromise your core values for bipartisanship and claim to be defending them?

  You can't! You have to choose one or the other.

  I don’t vote for men and women to go to Washington and be popular. I don’t vote so they can reach across the aisle. I don’t vote for bipartisanship!

  I vote for congresspersons, senators, governors, and presidents so that they will stand up and defend the ideology in which they claim to believe!

  Let's bring back the men who were our leaders, our congressmen and legislators when they thrashed each other over the head with canes and pulled guns and nearly killed each other over the principles they held closest to their heart. The men who went into politics to fight for their values, not to gain power. The men who were willing to be unpopular for the sake of defending freedom in America. The men who were willing to give up their political ambitions for the sake of upholding the Constitution. The men who were willing to take the responsibility for the death of 620,000 dads and brothers, sons and husbands for the sake of keeping their nation whole. The men and women who were so passionate about what they believed they were willing to die for it.

  When did we get the yellow-bellied, lily-livered walking and talking lumps of flesh that today call themselves our congressmen and senators? When did the position of leadership in this country become nothing more than something to be given to the highest paying special interest group? When did the vote of the American Citizen become nothing more than something to be bought with empty promises rather than earned by hard work and stalwart character? When did our values and principles become nothing more than a hot potato to be dropped in the mud as soon as the going got tough?

  Do I want those men who were our leaders a hundred, two hundred years ago to be our leaders now? No, I don’t. But I want to see the fervency that burned deep in their hearts to once again burn in Washington. I want to see them live passionately for their beliefs. I want to see us live passionately for our beliefs.

  I want to see it today. In 2008. Then, in 2009 . . . 2010 . . .2011. . .

  We must learn from the past. It is our duty.

  But while learning, we cannot afford the luxury of living there.

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  I sat in my living room, sad, somewhat disillusioned, as I watched my candidate, Senator John McCain, give his concession speech. It was election night 2008.

  After two years of campaigning, political ads, rallies and debates, it was over. It was finally over.

  We had a newly elected president.

  I had a new president. President elect Barrack Hussein Obama.

  A man with whom I had nearly no political agreements.

  A man whose policies contradict mine nearly as much as could be possible.

  Yet, he was now my President.

  Not my choice, but my president. . .

  Not my vote, but my president. . .

  I stayed in my chair for quite some time that night watching the news, thinking, and waiting for Senator Obama's acceptance speech. Regardless of my political views, it was a historic moment that I was not going to miss. The acceptance of the job of President of the United States of America by the first black man in American history. It truly was an epic moment.

  After the senator's speech, I found my way to bed, my mind racing. How will the new administration affect the future of my country? How will they affect my life? Will the new president really change the tax system the way he promised he would? and a million other questions that burn in the mind of the election-lost voter.

  Then I drifted off peacefully, silently prepared for the next season of our country's future.

  Are you?

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