But first, I had to pop the pestilent pimple of these modern times, social media. With the election returns last night my Facebook wall had become rather infected and by morning an abscess had to be drained. Simply put, a mass of gloats had squatted on my laptop and things were starting to smell.
Let me be clear, I do not mind honest expression of political interest. That is the cornerstone of democracy and I encourage it. But seriously, if your favorite team wins the Super Bowl, did you really have anything to do with it? Of course not, so sit down and stop screaming 'we're number one' in my face. The same goes with your presidential candidate. You cast your vote, hopefully, and you chose the winner. That is all you did. You chose the band wagon that had the most riders on it. Lets examine the deeper meaning of your actions.
It is possible you chose a candidate who will assure prosperity into the future, or you may have simply seen a line and stood in it so come wednesday morning you could jump and down in front of me telling me what a bafoon I was for choosing the other guy. Something tells me that isn't the American way, or maybe these days it is. Kim Kardashian is famous and rich for some reason which I haven't figured out, and a lot of Americans are interested in her, so maybe she would make a good president too, huh?
One facebook friend posted how his 7 year old daughter was glad Barack Obama won and wants Mitt Romney to go to Alabama and be their president. What in the hell are you telling your daughter about Mitt Romney and Alabama? I'm pretty sure this now hidden Facebook friend of mine has never been to Alabama but apparently he taught his child to think it's the Isle of Elba we send our disgraced politicians to because they are poopy heads.
Another former facebook friend took the broadest of brushes when she painted her comment that the president's re-election was proof that God exists. Sure, why not? The man who set one of his presidential goals as killing an enemy is close to God. The one who supports abortion (face it, it's killing a baby) is here to solidify our belief in a higher power. The one who through quantitative easing is printing money like manna from heaven is here to lead us into the promised land. Puleeeaaassse!
This acrimony does nothing for the democratic process and is offensive. Free will, a gift from God who I know exists because of St. Thomas Aquinas's writings, allows us to vote for whom we choose, unless we are to presume roughly half of us who voted didn't listen to God in the first place and the other half-plus-2% were the unwilling pawns of the creator and only voted the way they did because God said, "Hey, I got an idea, let's divide my people."
A candidate lost and a candidate won. I congratulate you for choosing the guy who played the game better than mine, but that in no way diminishes the importance of my ideals and my dedication to our country. Thanks for trying to make me feel that way though.
It is November and that means NaNoWriMo. I am at almost 20,000 works and I must keep at it. Now shoo.
