Presidential Election 2012

I have been writing this post off and on since Election Day, but every time I start writing, I get cranky, ticked off or just want to sit in a corner and wail.  Why?  Well, I'll tell you.  I am tired, fed up, done, have had it with all the discontent and bickering.  I have had it with people holding up signs saying "We need our country back" and "Is this America?" I've had it with people wanting to state their opinion, but not letting those that do not agree with them have their say.  It's okay for them to stuff their opinions and thoughts down our throats, but God forbid you speak your mind, however calmly and rationally you state your thoughts.  Because when you do you are labeled and none of the labels are pretty.  People need to grow up, put on their big kid underwear and deal with a changing world.  But it does not mean we are no longer America, this is still our country.  In the past week I have lost two friends merely for sticking up for BOTH sides, parties, what have you, having a right to their respective opinions.  Mind you, I did not say I am particularly fond of the President, like one of my favorite bloggers ever stated in a recent post, this is a non-partisan (for the most part) blog.  I just said one of them (who really dislikes President Obama) had a right to not like the President, although she should still respect him, he is, after all, the President.  So, for saying that, I was called a Communist, which gotta tell you, having come to this country from a Communist regime, I really do NOT appreciate that particular label.  I can be liberal, for some things, yes.  But that is a far, far cry from having a Communist mind-set.  Hello?  In the second case I was told "your people" (meaning Cubans) "need to go back to your country."  What really struck me as ironic was they were both essentially agreeing with each other (neither one likes the President and both were really upset he won a second term), not that they saw it that way.  I just merely said people have a right to like or dislike the President, both sides have a right to state their opinion and BOTH sides of the coin should be respected.  As should the President.  Like him or not.  Still both of them went off half-cocked and name-calling ensued.

The first comment came from someone who came to the U.S. roughly around the same time as my family did, back in the early 60s.  The second comment came from someone who was born in the U.S. and whose family has been in the U.S. for generations. But still, descended from immigrants. Not a drop of Native American in them.  Why was I called a Communist?  Because I said my friend (the one who later proceeded to say my people need to go back to their country) had a right to her opinion, but she should still respect the President.  Why did she then turn around and make the "back to your country" snarky remark?  Because I said I happened to like Marco Rubio. She could not understand how I could say she should respect the President (a Democrat) and then turn around and say I like Marco Rubio (a Republican).  Yeah, it didn't make any sense to me either, but there you go.  Neither has called to apologize.  Frankly, I'm in no mood to speak to either of them.  If you can't have a civilized conversation, about any subject, with your friends, who in heck can you have one with?  What was up with the insult hurling?  Really?  Communist and back to Cuba?  Hmmm, golly, I thought I already WAS in my country.  See if I bake either of them brownies ever again.

So, got home, turned on the t.v. and it's still going on.  The fighting, the name calling, the all-around nastiness.  Really?  It's done with.  The election is over.  The President won a second term.  Like it or not, deal with it.  But, please, please, on both sides of the coin, stop the name-calling, the bickering, can't you all just act like the grown-ups you are supposed to be?  You are acting like little kids, stomping your feet and refusing to play nice.  Notice I am not favoring one side over the other.  Can't we just, please, put our differences aside, see our similarities and work together to try and solve some of the muck going on out there?  Have we become so partisan that it is impossible to reach out and just work together, respect our differences, respect ourselves?  We may belong to different political parties, but we are all Americans.  Can't you see that?  We may have different religions, but we all have the same Father.  We are all human.  We all love our families, laugh, hurt.  Can't we get past our(sometimes negligible) differences and see we are, in oh so many ways, the same?

But, maybe, just maybe, we are behaving like any other family, where we bicker and fight and argue, but if someone from the outside (in this case it would be someone from another country) steps in to criticize, then we close ranks and unite.  I seem to recall that happened in the not too distant past, on a horrible day in September when the world stopped.  When it didn't matter who or what we were.  A lot of us died that day.  It didn't matter what political party we belonged to.  Those planes plowed into our very heart.  I hope and I pray it will not take another cataclysm to bring us to our senses.

The Presidential election is over.  The people have spoken, their voices were heard and their votes were counted.  If you are not happy with the result, roll up your sleeves and start working on making a difference the next time around.  But, please, accept the result gracefully not spitefully.  If you are happy with the result, also be graceful about it.  Avoid the "in your face" attitude, because sooner or later, you will be on the other side of the coin.  To both sides, stop the negative ads and campaigning, that really turned a lot of people off.  I don't want to hear what the other guy has done wrong, I know what he's done.  I'm not an idiot.  I want to hear what YOU are going to do and HOW you are going to do it.  I want to hear a clear, concise plan.  Not a bunch of negative yammering.  Above all, work together, get past your differences.  There is a world of hurt out there and there is also a world of good, we just have to find a way to come together and make it a better world all around.  We are not a perfect country, we get beaten up by the press (national and international) on a daily basis, but you know what?  We are the only country that come hell or high water, people still want to come to.  People risk their lives on a daily basis to live here, some come in legally, some not. We need to get back to basics, family, faith, decency.  Stop focusing on the inane.  Personally I don't give a fig if Tom wants to marry Harry or Susie wants to marry Becky. I may not vote for them to be able to do so, then again maybe I will, whatever the vote is, if the majority of votes are in their favor, so be it.  Personally, I like the ying and yang of relationships. But I have friends who belong to the ying-ying category and I tend to be very protective of my friends. I don't think it's my place to tell them how to live their lives. There was a time not that long ago, when women did not have the right to vote, when African-Americans did not have the right to marry, let alone vote. Today that seems absurd.  Denying someone the right to vote or marry based on their sex or race?  That is incomprehensible.  Today.  But there was a time when it was the norm.  Maybe someday the fact that Steve and Harry had to fight to be allowed to marry will seem absurd, I don't know.  But I sure as heck am not going to get in a lather because they want to be married.  I don't give a flip who sleeps with who, as long as they comport themselves in a decent and honorable fashion and do not get caught with their pants down with someone who isn't their chosen partner somewhere down the line. It really bothers me to see people touting "family values" and then get busted having affairs, I do believe that is the epitome of hypocrisy. As to those who froth at the mouth saying it is in the Bible and the mere notion insults the sanctity of the marriage vows, well, one heck of a lot of you have violated the sanctity of those vows, boinked others while married to other people, divorced, remarried, cheated (again), divorced (again).  So, shut your yaps and let the Father deal with this issue when Steve and Harry die and get to the Pearly Gates, okay?

There are children sleeping on the streets, going hungry, falling through the cracks in the system.  There are vets sleeping under bridges.  There are elderly people being preyed on and abused.  There are babies being massacred on a daily basis.  There are sick people dying because they cannot afford the treatment they need.  There are churches being desecrated. The church I attended when my parents still lived had a very pretty little garden with a statue of the Virgin Mary in it.  It was a very peaceful spot.  One day after Mass, we walked over to the little garden and found the statue had been splattered with red paint and someone had written on it "idol worshippers will burn in Hell."  That really ticked me off, because (supreme irony) those who desecrated the Virgin Mary's statue call themselves Christian and are really anything BUT. I would never go into their place of worship and say they are a bunch of fanatic loons. I have gone many a round with my sister, because she belongs to a way different faith than mine. I always find it amusing (and also annoying as all get-out) that while I will defend her right to worship, she will not stick up for mine.  Instead she will say that when I defend her right, I am "on the path" to convert to her faith.  This is when I remind her that, nope, not happening.  I happen to like Christmas and Easter (Midnight Mass and Easter Mass being my two all-time favorites, they are so exquisitely meaningful, even if I always sneeze during Midnight Mass and get a "look" from the priest).  I love Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July.  I love birthday cake and do not happen to share her belief that you offend God when you celebrate holidays, birthdays, life!  But I respect her beliefs.  Have to admit, I also like the fact I get extra birthday cake because she won't have any.  Win-win as far as I'm concerned.  There are people being persecuted because their faith is different from those around them.  We need to focus on what matters, get our house in order.  Because a house divided will, ultimately, fall.

Okay, I have vented and I have railed, time to step off my well-used soapbox.  Oh, wait, just one more thing, to those who spout the really distasteful "We need to get our country back" slogan.  I have news for you, you never lost your country, your country is still here.  It always will be here, from sea to shining sea, and, gotta tell you, I lost one country already in this lifetime, I am NOT going to lose this one, I am NOT going to leave this one.  Like it or not, I am here to stay.  I am an American.

Until next time, be blessed, be safe, be loved.