Our Voice

Unless you have spent the last week and a half under a rock in some uninhabited part of the world, you know that America elected Barack Obama to be its 44th President of the United States on Nov. 4.

Even if you were in such an odd location, chances are pretty good you still managed to hear this news.

There can be no doubt that this election stirred an immense amount of passion within the American people on both sides of the political battlefield.

And, it seems as though battlefield is the only way to describe this election, especially after seeing the responses by the supporters of either candidate.

Many McCain supporters appeared bent, broken and even fearful of the coming presidency of Obama.

Obama supporters celebrated the outcome with jubilation, ecstatically praising the president-elect and his promise for change.

Unfortunately, many supporters of both sides did not handle victory or defeat particularly graciously.

This was especially apparent in the wee early hours of Nov. 5 on Facebook.

Actual Facebook statuses:

McCain supporter: “America is screwed! I’m moving to Canada.”
Obama supporter: “Take that conservatives, now we’ve got a smart president!”
McCain supporter: “I hope everyone that voted for Obama can take it when he turns this into a socialist country and takes all your rights away.”
Obama supporter: “Obama ’08, s**k it haters.”

Unfortunately, passion can bring the best and worst out in people, and this election certainly proved that.

It’s important that people realize that no matter which side they landed on when the election dust cleared, it is no excuse to act in an uncivil manner.

McCain supporters, the country is not going to fall apart; even if you do not agree with his politics, Obama is only one person and, even if he wanted to, would be incapable of changing the way the country is run all by himself.

Obama supporters, remember that winning graciously is one of the most difficult, yet commendable acts there is.

In sports there is a saying, act like you’ve done it before. It means when you win don’t get too high, keep your class and don’t rub your opponents noses in it.

This country has come entirely too far in the last 100, 80, even 20 years. Now is not the time for it to fall apart because of a massive political divide.

Support our president-elect. If you still do not like or agree with him in four years you have the opportunity to vote him out of office.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 14 2008. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry