Please America!

I’m writing to my fellow Americans who love this country.

In an email and follow-up conversation, a dear friend I’ve known well for 30+ years [one of the brightest people I know] said that if his candidate didn’t win in the upcoming election, it would be the end of America as we know it.

This on top of a different friend implying that there would be another civil war if the election didn’t go to his candidate.

I responded forcefully to both. We can’t have that kind of talk in America! We have been blessed to live in the greatest nation EVER on planet earth. We take it for granted when it is precious and singular. We are ALL very lucky. On average, we live better than anyone else, in any other country, in all of history. Somehow, we’ve gotten focused on the negatives [social media?].

Remember, it’s not our leaders that make America great. It’s the beautiful principles upon which our country was built, and our wonderful citizens -true patriots - who carry forth the American way of life and thought. WE have a sacred responsibility – a debt owed to all those who gave their lives to protect and preserve this beautiful country. And a responsibility owed to our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren for generations to come.

Differences of opinion are healthy. I don’t get angry when someone has a different view of something. I am too smart to think that I get everything right.

Americans are allowed to disagree. It is through “disagreement” and debate that our Founding Fathers forged our beautiful Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, with weeks of discussion, debate and ideation on both. It’s understood that there are differences of opinion but we should disagree with mutual respect and appreciation.

America IS – without a doubt – the greatest nation EVER to exist on planet earth. It’s not perfect but it’s the best we humans have come up with and that’s why millions want to come here.

To be honest, I think we’ve gotten spoiled. If we don’t get what we want we throw a tantrum. Guess what? Being an adult means that we don’t get what we want sometimes. We can’t let that fact ruin our country. “If my candidate doesn’t win – there’s gonna be trouble!” should be: “We’ll all pull together to help each other and our country succeed.”

In a “old style” monarchy, the King and/or Queen set the direction for the country and rules for the “subjects.” That’s not how it works in a democracy.

In a democracy we the people select our Representatives who guide the nation. It’s understood that there will be different views on how to move forward. The Greeks, a couple thousand years ago, came up with the concept of majority rule [not the wealthy rule; not the people with guns rule; not the violent rule; not the talking heads on TV rule]. It’s “We the People.” And it’s understood that we’ve all agreed to support the majority, even if the majority does not agree with us.

Our nation has a sophisticated voting system with checks and balances. It’s the best in the world. Is it perfect? No. Does it get the job done? Absolutely.

We have had almost 60 Presidential elections since America began. In each case, some Americans were disappointed. Many terribly so because they worked on the campaign and believed deeply in their candidate. Perhaps they were looking forward to a great job in the Administration… and their candidate didn’t win. And once the results were reported, they picked themselves up and got refocused on other goals… helping their family and their country to live the best life possible.

Living in the greatest nation EVER - far greater than whoever comes 2nd – creates a sense of obligation that we owe to the Founding Fathers and the millions of Americans who’ve come before us, including our own parents and grandparents [some of whom pulled up their roots in a foreign land and risked coming to America]. We owe it to them to make good on our promise to do our best to continue this phenomenal [not perfect, but the best ever] country together.

We’ve gotten so used to getting our way with everything that we show rage and frustration and a surge of ill temper when the election doesn’t go the way we want. We should be a cohesive national unit. The election causes a fracture every 4 years. The inauguration brings us back together.

Sometimes it’s very close. In 1960 after a hard-fought battle to win the Democratic nomination, John F. Kennedy faced off with Richard Nixon, who had been vice president under?Dwight Eisenhower and was nominated by the?Republicans to face Kennedy in the general election. Kennedy was Catholic and many people worried how that might affect his Presidency if he were elected. It was an extremely tight race, with the candidates tied at 47 percent in the Gallup polls. Kennedy won the popular vote by less than 120,000 votes out of 68.8 million votes cast and received 303?electoral?votes to Nixon’s 219.

Many of us remember the?2000 Presidential election which was one of the most contentious in American history and one of the closest—just days before the election, pollsters said it was too close to call. Vote tallying was marred by inconsistencies, particularly in?Florida, where?Al Gore demanded a recount. Legal challenges eventually brought the race before the?U.S. Supreme Court, where calls for a recount were rejected, handing the election to?George W. Bush. Bush won the electoral college with 271 votes to Gore’s 266 but lost the popular vote by some 500,000.

Bush won the electoral college by 1 vote. It was a tough one for our country. Democrats picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and went about the business of running our country and planning for the next election.

Every 4 years many Americans are disappointed. In 1963 Lyndon Johnson faced off against Barry Goldwater. Johnson cruised to a convincing landslide victory, winning 486 electoral votes to Goldwater’s 52, an electoral margin of victory of 80 percentage points! But still, 1 out of 5 Americans had voted for Goldwater and were disappointed. But the country moved on.

We must think about future generations, not our own disappointment.

Talk of Civil War is seditious. This is our country we’re talking about!!! Where our children and grandchildren will grow up and spend their lives.

Think about what a terrible thing the Civil War was. 700,000 Americans died. Can you actually give credence to the idea that if your party’s candidate doesn’t win, you are going to tear the United States of America apart with a civil war? Talk like that must cease.

Yes, we’ve had inflation to deal with and other imperfections but America is still the greatest nation in the world – BY FAR!!!!

If your team loses, there will be another election in just 48 months. Get to work now!

The only thing that makes any sense is to support our new President, regardless of party.

The old phrase “cutting off your nose to spite your face” comes to mind. Wanting the President to fail because you didn’t vote for them is crazy.

That’s not how it works. We’ve all tacitly agreed that we want the BEST for our new President.

Trump had 4 years – life wasn’t terrible. Obama had 8 years – we made it through!

Setting aside political considerations, the last 4 years haven’t been so bad. Yeah, we’ve had inflation but that’s been a worldwide phenomenon.

In the Olympics in Paris – the place/event where mankind shows our potential for excellence AND comradery the US won 126 Olympic Medals. 35 more than China [#2] and more than double #3 - Japan. We have the largest economy; the strongest Military and we provide more aide to the world than any other 5 nations combined. We are awesome! And we will remain awesome, no matter who gets elected.

Just remember the deal – we can enthusiastically promote our party’s candidate but after the election, we all come together as Americans.

God forbid – if another country were to invade America, we would put petty party considerations aside and fight, shoulder-to-shoulder to defeat the invaders. God-willing that will never happen again but reminding ourselves of our mutual respect, covenant and love can go a long way to maintaining our excellence as the worlds leading nation.

We’ve got to stop “America Bashing.” Are we perfect? Of course not. But we as a nation are always working to improve, to come together, to get stronger.

Let’s also remind ourselves, all of us, that no candidate is perfect. And differences of opinion are healthy. There are thousands of people who work together to make our government work.

What a privilege to be born an American. We are 4.23% of the world’s population. Let’s keep that in mind. 95% of all the people on earth do NOT live in America – MOST wish they did.