In the best of elections, everyone loses

The last few days, I have listened to many election & senate debates, election and concession speeches etc. Being based on the other side of the globe, I have never paid much attention to US politics due to its complexities and ignorant impressions that I had; but curiosity from the recent events sent me watching how some of maybe the greatest people, not just in the US, but the world, carried themselves.

I watchd VP Gore give a heartbreaking concession speech; whom after losing the 2000 elections by just 537 votes, in the state where his opponent’s brother was Governor, subsequently saw the recount stopped by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling. Instead of pursuing further legal options, which he very reasonably could have, he decided the nation had been through enough strain, and sacrificed his dreams so that the people could heal; conceding against the advice of his campaign team.

I watch Senator McCain address the Senate in one of the most moving and patriotic speeches after he voted against party lines, preventing the repeal of the AFA, pleading that they worked together, instead of against each other; to fulfil their duties thrust upon them them; speaking as he battled an illness that ultimately took his life. I also watched him defend President Obama against hecklers in his own campaign rally, praising his opponent as a decent family man. A man who used to be on the other side of the aisle that would later return those kind words with a touching eulogy.

I read about S.A. Douglas’ courageous attempts to prevent the Civil War by heading south to dissuade the secession of the southern states; placing country over party; and read the kind note President H.W. Bush left for President Clinton in the Oval Office. I read of the patriotism of Lt. Penny and Col Sass who took to the skies on 9/11 without live ammunition in their hurry, and committed to bringing down Flight 93 “kamikaze” style, if necessary, at the expense of their lives, so others could live.

These people, and many others, displayed overwhelming amounts of humility, self-sacrifice, magnanimity & patriotism, and are models for people to learn from. 

As VP Gore & Sen. McCain lost their presidential races, the people around the world lost them as well; irrespective of the performance of their opponents who held the highest office in The Land of The Free. And what a privilege it must be that the people had no choice but to lose a patriotic, sincere and for-the-people leader no matter who they voted.

It is unfortunate that with the way things are going, the only person who will lose Trump this time, is Trump himself.