Election 2008: Last thoughts....or thoughts that last?

America is either a very sickly country at the end of its "good run" or..... it's full and complete strength is about to be shown in ways that no man or woman can yet know on this election day.

On this blog I've argued that the 2008 cycle would be the best election that I've seen in my lifetime.

(And you gotta believe that means something to me, as I was a year-old babe on my daddy's shoulders waving to show I liked Ike in 1957's Inaugeral Parade in DC, was four years old when the nation went all the way with JFK - if only Marilyn Monroe truly knew the signifficance of THAT motto - was a young boy, then a teen, then a grown man, then a dad and now a grandfather as I saw each election from LBJ to W to now.)

And this election is the best of them all.

The reason is not becasue we "hang fearfully on a thread of civility" as such clashing opponents vie for the White House, et al. Candidate X wins and woe is me....Candidate Y wins and the palm branches are layed before his colt.

None of that. It's not about personalities, but about worldviews espoused by many, many people (above and beyond mere candidates).

It is the best election because it has CLEARLY brought out the true differences in America.

No longer are we a culture of sleep-walking political zombies. What we believe matters and we HAVE to express it. What we hold dear, like marriage (or not) and babies (or not) and low taxes and military aid and education and prison reform...are all on the table for discussion and direction.

We won't be able to do it all...so WHAT will we do? What are our top priorities? Marriage? God and country? Money? Individual liberty?

By and large this Election Day (and the days that cascade off of this momentous day) may tell us whether we'll have "last thoughts" about America as she was....or whether those new thoughts by an unproven visionary may be "thoughts that last".

Then again....

I'm betting McCain's election will postpone this deep discussion for 4 more years...and it will continue to benefit the nation greatly as the new Obama-fired goal-plants gin up the machine to illuminate the next great series of debates for 2012.

Comments

[Andrew Rampenthal]

This is the election of a life time. I wholeheartedly agree with you, Uncle Den. This will decide whether America's best days are ahead or we are finishing our good run. If McCain wins that deep discussion very well may be put off for 4 more years. Though I have trust in God he will do whats right, I never have worried so much about an election and its consequences. Although those fears are based upon history, as well as the current times we live in. With a wide range of issues we have never had to deal with and the direct consequences of the actions of our leaders, this makes it a perfect setting for such an important election.

[Kilroy]

Hi Den;

You missed one point of political nostalgia: that summer in 1974, while we were in Beast Barracks at West Point, when they ordered us into the TV room to witness Richard Nixon resigning. I recall the upper classmen's instructions as if it were yesterday: "The Commander in Chief is most likely getting ready to resign. File in, File out. No comments." I'm sure you rememeber that.

After the campaign we've had, I imagine we wish someone would tell all the media just that: "No comments".

Kilroy

[Rob Faler]

Den....

I stood in line to vote. Ah! it was great. As I looked around the poleing place, I recognized some of my neighbors. We all had differences.... Some visable,... some not so.... I like Harleys,
I was surrounded by Northenders!
Still .... Taking time to smell the air is great.
Every person waiting to cast his or her vote, was visably anxious.
Here is what was cool, I think they were anxious about voting, not because they were missing a little work, or late for something else.
We have some issues to take care of in our country. I really believe the american public is really paying attention.

You mentioned America as she is, was, or could be. Standing in line, I swear I could feel an energy.... It was as though I was waiting for a train to stop, and allow me passage. I usually am never moved by the act of placing my vote, except for today.
For the first time, I crossed party lines, I voted for the person. I came to the realization that Ronald Reagan hasn't been president for a while now. Maybe the world has changed since the gipper helped me to feel good about things. Maybe he would be doing things different than Rush Limbaugh says he would do. I tend to believe he would probably say something like "Well... lets clean up this mess, and firure out what the right thing to do is." Not just fire bullets into the air wildly.

Denny
You are soooooo on the mark.
With McCain... are we putting of the inevitable? waiting to cross the bridges before us, four years from now?
Orrrrrrrrrrr is John McCain really going to be the guy who breaks molds and assumes the mantel that will cause some guy 28 years from now to ask, What would John McCain have done?

This is really going to be quite the day. The posability of lady Vice-president, the posability of Barrock O boma? No matter what...
I believe we have been granted one blessing... a vote.

Take care
Rob