Election Day 2008

After a long hiatus… The Earl is back! I’m writing this piece on Election Day. This is not a national holiday, but it is an important day nonetheless. It should rank second to Independence Day when you really stop to think about it. The rest of the world marvels at the spectacle that many Americans do not care about. In few other places… and I mean a SMALL FEW… does the change of power take place with such ease and efficiency. Today, either Barack Obama or John McCain will become the next President of the United States. Now, the president-elect will not take over for about 100 days or so, but he will assume that position without strife or conflict. On January 20th, 2009, the current leader of the most powerful and influential nation on the face of the Earth will calmly step aside, renounce his position and a new leader will assume that mantle... and that will be that!

Throughout history, leadership changes usually came associated with death. Either the incumbent leader would die and leave successors, or his/her position was taken by force. We have countless records of regimes and governments that were deposed at the point of a sword or at the barrel of a gun. Hitler, Nebuchadnezzar, Julius Caesar, and countless others are leaders who assumed power by force or were removed by force. The crazy thing is… this still goes on today! It doesn’t usually take place in the West, so we’re not as familiar with it. But it still goes on in the Middle East, Far East, and parts of Africa. Power and government are determined by the might of the winning side.

And that is why the American process of election is amazing! We exchange leaders relatively often (no longer than 8 years). We exchange leaders that may be opposed to one another’s viewpoints. We exchange leaders who come from different backgrounds, origins, wealth, and other various things. And we do this without hardly any problems. Of course, not everyone will vote for the same person, thus there will be many disappointed voters after tonight. There may even be protestors at the inauguration. But leadership will move on peaceably. In other countries, an exchange of leadership could lead to civil war, genocide, or worse!

I am writing this piece to say how much we as Americans really take for granted when it comes to government and leadership. We sometimes forget just how fortunate we are in this regard. Americans are bad for taking things for granted anyway (another blog, another time), but we should really be thankful we have a voice in choosing our leaders. We should be thankful that when the president-elect steps onto that podium and swears into the office of President, that he will not turn around and kill or persecute those who didn’t support him.

I am not going to tell you who I voted for and I don’t really care who you voted for. It really doesn’t matter. What does matter are these two things:
1) If you had the privilege to vote and didn’t, then you have no right, I repeat, NO RIGHT to complain, bemoan, or malign about who was elected. You had a chance for your voice to be heard and you didn’t take it. We don’t want to hear your voice now.
2) Whoever is elected needs our full support. We need to pray for him. We need to encourage him. We need to show him that America supports him. That is our civic duty. Whether we are pleased with the choice or not, he needs our support and we should support him simply because he is our President.