Trying to Digest the Political Cycle

If you hate politics, stop reading. Last night was a very interesting night. After following the election for the better part of 18 months I'm happy it is over. I'm not thrilled with the Obama win, but I will support him as the President of the United States. I think it is a telling story to the Republican party to which I most closely affiliate myself. Republicans need to regroup, put together a plan and come up with some solid ideas and solutions to the problems we face. This total butt-kicking should be a wake-up call that divisive politics and me-too ideas do not resonate with the American public at large. We need real leaders, with real solutions, with some real world experience. I hope we see some new leadership emerge and some new ideas put forth.

In addition to the presidential politics I want to say I admire the courage of some of my friends who defended their beliefs and supported Prop 8 despite having eggs thrown at them, being screamed at, being threatened, flipped off on the freeway and mistreated in every way you can think of. I can respect the opinions and the passion behind both sides of the issue but I don't understand the complete lack of respect that was shown to nearly anybody that supported Prop 8. Now I'm sure there was some hatred towards those that opposed it, but I don't think it was nearly as common place...could be wrong, but not from the people I've talked to.

This election cycle has opened my eyes to the passion that people feel behind politics. What has disturbed me is how dogmatic people are in their beliefs. I don't believe that God has endorsed any one political party despite what Mike Huckabee (and some other local people I've met) might think. There are solid principles found in both major political parties and some solid ones found outside of the two major political parties. While we may not always agree on principles I think we can all agree on our desire for a country where we enjoy our rights and freedoms...I think there are far more places of common ground that can and should be the focus of our political discussion. Wedge issues don't help move a society foward...Here's hoping that the next cycle has a tone of more civility.