Today is that day that comes every four years that the pundits tell us is the most consequential day in the history of our nation, or our lifetime. It is Election Day. For years I have believed this schtick as truth. For those of you who have fallen victim of such fearmongering, let me ease your mind, the President makes very few decisions without the support of the House and/or the Senate. Even an executive order can be overturned in many cases by the Supreme Court, and many have. The President is mostly a figurehead unless their party is in power in both houses of congress. If that is the case, they could have a lot of power, unless they have a John McCain or Joe Manchin on their side that throws a wrench in the gears from the inside. As we have seen with most presidents with the power of both houses, not much gets done, even when the power is on your side.
Of course we want our candidate to win, that is human nature. There are many advantages of having a President who shares your values. The biggest power the President has is to appoint Supreme Court judges. That is a biggie, but most of the current judges are now younger and not close to retiring. Those who are close will not change the dynamics of the bench if they retire under the next President. It would only be the same or more Conservative. As we saw with the last two Presidents, they can get petty and do things to prove a point on their first day. One opened the parks in Alaska to drilling and approved the Keystone pipeline. Then next one put an end to both. One made half the country happy in his actions, the other made the other half happy. No one is going to please everyone, that isn’t possible. A President could say they were going to invest everything into curing cancer once and for all, and there would be those angry ones who say, “What about Alzheimer’s?”
I think it is time for us to realize that there are two sides, or more, to everything. Your opinions may not be my opinions, but your opinions are okay. In this free nation there is room for all beliefs. We don’t know what people have gone through in their lives that have shaped their opinions and their values. My opinions about many things differ from my parents who tried very hard to instill Christian values when I was growing up. They believe that college corrupted me, but college, military, city dwelling, living in a foreign country, working for the government, and other experiences have opened my eyes to a lot of things my parents know nothing about, because they have not had those particular experiences nor have they been in the environments I have been in, surrounded by the same people. I grew up in a farm community where everyone was white, Christian and straight, or if they weren’t, they didn't advertise it. I was very, very sheltered, so much so that I didn’t really believe homosexuality was a real thing until I got to college and became close friends with guys, I would go man hunting with. It is true that a gay man is a girl’s best friend in many situations. Getting me off the farm changed my perspective, but I still have my Christian values. There are many issues that I am able to see different sides of and I understand the passion on each side. It doesn’t mean I don't have my own beliefs and my side of the issue; I just understand why they believe what they believe, and their beliefs are valid.
I guess my point really is only to say, in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter if we wake up tomorrow with a President-elect Harris or President-elect Trump. Either way half the nation will be excited, and half the nation will be ready for Civil War II. Tomorrow when you see your colleagues at work, you will know which ones are political junkies. They are the ones who can’t hold their eyes open because they stayed up all night to see who the winner was and may have either fallen asleep before the winner was announced, or maybe was up all night and the winner is still not known. If the winner has been determined, you will know who these junkies voted for by the smirk or scowl on their face.
I believe if Trump wins, there will be riots all over the country. If Harris wins, Trump will fight the outcome as illegitimate for one reason or another. In a few weeks whoever it is will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. It could be the historic first female President of our nation, or it could be the second President to be re-elected after a term between this one and the last one. Remember, Donald Trump is still a convicted felon in New York and is scheduled for sentencing later this month with jail time probable. This is a state crime for which he cannot pardon himself. We could be looking at a President Vance sooner than later. Just a thought.
My final thoughts in this short little post are best said by the great poet, Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Who cares who the President is? You should care who the senators and congressmen are. They are the ones to worry about. They can either hold the President’s feet to the fire or do as they have done with Biden and turned a blind eye to him as a helpless old geezer. If you don’t like this one, you can vote for a different one in four years. That sounds like a long time from now for you younger folks, but I promise you, as all of us over 40 know, go to sleep a few nights and it will be here. And if you are worried, my best suggestion is to take a six-month hiatus from the national news. Just stop watching it. I did and it has taken away so much of my worry and bitterness and has given so much of my time back. The 24-hour news cycle has damaged us as a nation. It has scarred us as badly as the cell phone. Turn the television over to Andy Griffith or Raymond and laugh a little instead of worry. This too shall pass. The world has been in turmoil since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, you can’t expect it to change now.
I hope the candidate of your choice wins this evening. 😊 I’m not too concerned either way.
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