Wednesday, November 5, 2008

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.

Sir Winston Churchill
British politician (1874 - 1965)

Election day is over.  I won some.  I lost some. 
 
California Propostion 8 - Marriage is between one man and one woman - passed.  To my pleasant surprise.  Ben says, "O ye of little faith."
 
Prop 2 - Standards for Confining Farm Animals -  passed.  Again a pleasant surprise.  It may hurt the pocketbook, but cruelty is not justified by cents, dollars even.
 
I was disappointed that Prop 4 - Parent Notification Before Terminating Minor's Pregnancy - went down. 
 
We passed a few more bonds - more debt!!  Good causes, no doubt, but when will it end?
 
Everyone knows, of course that Obama won.  Resoundingly.  Both McCain and Obama gave speeches last night that gave me hope and reminded me how grateful and proud I am to be an American.  Isn't it wonderful that we can fight with words and not violence, that we vote, accept the will of the people,  and move on together regardless of  whether the outcome is what we would have chosen?! 
 
So now the election is over, but our job is not done.  Every few years, we rant and rave, wave signs, complain a lot and eventually vote.  Then we go back to business as usual. Which often  includes a good bit of complaining amongst ourselves.  I think however the business of citizenship is not confined to voting every election.  In between times, we need to communicate with our elected officials and tell them what we want and what we think.  If we want a representative democracy, we need to inform our representatives of the will of the people - preferably before they make the big decisions. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

3 comments:

  1. I have been wondering about Prop 8, I heard it was very close! I'm glad it passed. :)

    Yeah, the speeches last night were nice and hopeful. I just hope that it wasn't just "talk". I'm concerned but hopeful. And I feel that it's more important than ever for us to 1) pray for our nation and it's leaders, and 2) stand up for what we believe. (By letting our elected leaders know where we stand and also by getting involved in the things that are important to us.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. A heartfelt "amen!" to you, Barbara, and also sariah in vancouver. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)stated that he thought the Constitution is hanging by a thread now, and I don't think he was talking only about our new elected president's promises. We can not sit and watch, taking our freedom for granted anymore. We've already lost much. We need to wake up and get educated, do our duty as lovers of liberty.

    I now get off my soap box.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am glad prop 8 passed. It was great to hear about it from your perspective!

    ReplyDelete