Elections: Your side won, now what?

So, the election is just around the corner - mere days away.  In a week or less you will (we hope) go to bed knowing who won, or you will wake up the next day and find out.  (Unless it's really close.  I sure hope that doesn't happen!)

So  - your side won!  Congratulations!  (Maybe!)  Now what?

First, no gloating.  I'm writing this first draft about three weeks before the election, but I'm betting that at least 40% of the population will vote for the loser in the presidential election.  That means that four out of every ten people you might meet are delusional idiots - right?!  Hopefully not.  They may have different values than you, or be less informed, but their hopes are being dashed.  They are fellow Americans.  They are people you should care about.  Some of them even hold their views as a result of intelligent thought.  (Imagine that!)

Second, your candidate(s) won't solve all (or perhaps any) of the problems we're facing in this country.  Our problems are huge.  Support your candidate(s), but be aware that given the need to get laws through legislative bodies, special interests, changing circumstances and so on, that many of those hopes and promises will be modified or left unfulfilled.

Third, be humble.  Your ideas and values may be wrong.  You may be able to learn from those on the other side of the political spectrum.

Fourth, be loving toward those who lost.  Your turn to lose will come; I can guarantee it.

Fifth, don't forget to continue to support those who are newly elected.  Let them know when you support them and disagree with them.  Let them know why.  They are our servants, not our bosses.  Pray for them.

Sixth, don't write off your side if your candidates have to go against what they said they would do when they ran for office.  Sometimes politicians change their points of view or actions because they want to get political favors.  But sometimes the necessities of governing mean that they must do things they didn't want to do at one point.

Lastly, we must decrease the amount of distrust we Americans have for people who hold other political views.  "We must all strive for unity, peace, and a re-examination of how we can learn to live with each other better at both a national and international level."  (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/adrianwarnock/2012/10/us-presidential-elections-a-nation-divided/

As we pray for our leaders, let's also actively work toward being understanding and kind toward others.

Elections: Your side lost, now what?

So, the election is just around the corner - mere days away  (Won't you be glad when it's over!).  In a week or less you will (we hope) go to bed knowing who won, or you will wake up the next day and find out.  (Unless it's really close.  I sure hope that doesn't happen!)

So  - your side lost!  I'm sorry!  (Maybe!  Depends on whether I won, right?!)  Now what?

First, no nastiness toward the winners.  I'm writing the first draft of this about three weeks before the election, but I'm betting that at least 40% of the population will vote for the loser in the presidential election.  That means that four out of every ten people you might meet are delusional idiots - right?!  Hopefully not.  They may have different values than you, or be less informed, but they are fellow Americans.  They are people you should care about and treat with kindness and dignity.  Some of them even hold their views as a result of intelligent thought.  (Imagine that!)  Also, about four out of every ten people agree with you (more or less)!  Maybe next time your side will do better!

Second, your candidate(s) wouldn't have solved all (or perhaps any) of the problems we're facing in this country.  Our problems are huge.  Some, perhaps much, of what the winning side wants may not get done.

Third, be humble.  Your ideas and values may be wrong.  You may be able to learn from those on the other side of the political spectrum.

Fourth, be loving toward those who won.  Your turn to win will come; I can guarantee it, even if I don't like it.

Fifth, don't forget to continue to support those who are newly elected.  Let them know when you support them and disagree with them.  Let them know why.  They are our servants, not our bosses.  Pray for them.  Governing well is difficult.

Sixth, be glad that we live in a land where rulers and governors at all levels come and go and no one has to go into exile or is shot or imprisoned because they were on the losing side.

May that long continue.

Polls

Let's throw the pollsters, media, and the political candidates a curve ball.  When you are called by a pollster to answer questions about your political views, simply (but politely) tell the caller that you only do one poll - the one on November 6.

If enough people do this, it will frustrate the whole process.  Maybe the candidates will concentrate on persuading us rather than pandering to us.  And the media will lose a news story.  And the media can't use the "momentum" to skew the election in the way they think it should go.  And that would be good.

Book Reviews: Still the Best Hope & The Brief Against Obama

I'm getting a bunch of reading done this summer!  Some of it's fiction, but I'm also doing some political reading.  Specifically, I'm reading The Brief Against Obama by Hugh Hewitt and Still the Best Hope by Dennis Prager.




I've listened to both men for years on their radio programs and read several of Dennis Prager's books.  Nothing against Hugh, but I really like Dennis.  Both write well.  If you are interested in knowing more about why you should support Conservatives rather than Liberals, read one or both of these books.

The Brief Against Obama is primarily presented as a legal brief against Obama.  There are twenty-five chapters.  Each chapter is a topical brief against Obama.  These briefs are reasons not to vote for Obama.
The twenty-five chapters are divided into three areas.

1. Domestic Policy Failures
2. Foreign Policy Failures
3. Leadership Failures

Each chapter is fairly short and easily read.  Some are more interesting and compelling than others, but together they make a compelling reason not to vote for Obama.

Still the Best Hope is longer and summarizes Prager's thoughts on America, her values and their roles in the world.  The sub-title is: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph.  Prager believes that there are only three futures for the world.  Either the world will embrace Leftist values, American values, or Islamist values.  He believes that only American values will give security, prosperity, and  freedom to the people of the world.  This book explains at length why.

Part 1 explores Leftism, which is the most relevant to our situation in America today with the election coming this Autumn.  

Dennis describes why Leftism is a religion and describes what Leftists believe and why they believe it.  He then describes what the consequences are of these beliefs  The Left is Utopian, believing that in this life and world we can have a perfect or nearly perfect life.  The Right realizes that the best is often the enemy of the good and that in the search for the best the Left destroys much that is good in society.  Why is the Left so successful in putting forward their ideas when their ideas are so destructive to society and so often don't match reality?  Dennis explores this at length.  The reasons include: the emotional basis for much of Leftist thought, sloganeering, pursuing self esteem rather than accomplishments, the wide-spread dissemination of Leftist thought in universities and the media, the demonization of the Right, and the creation and propagation of crises such as heterosexual AIDS, second hand smoke, swine flu, global warming and so on.  The last chapter of this section deals with the moral record of the Left.  Prager concludes that the Left does not recognize evil, and that whatever it touches, it has made worse.

Part 2 explores Islam and Islamism.  I'll have to comment more on this part later, as I haven't read this part yet.

Part 3 describes America and her values.  Again, more later.

Supreme Court tenure

With this past week's Supreme Court decision regarding Obamacare, we once again realize that the makeup of that Court is very important.  And because presidents appoint these justices, presidential elections are very important.  Part of the reason why these appointments are so important is that we never know when a new justice will need to be appointed.  Because they have life tenure, they stay on the Court until they decide because of health, death, or other reasons to leave.

I have an idea that might help make the ramifications of Court appointments a little less dramatic.  What if, mid-way through every presidential term, say in December or January, the most senior member of the Supreme Court (either oldest or longest on the bench) retired?

That way every president would be guaranteed to appoint at least one justice per term, leaving his (or her) mark on the Court.  This plan would also reduce the likelihood of any one president being able to "stack" the Court with his/her appointments.

A justice could still serve a long time - perhaps over thirty years, so this is not a guarantee that one or more of them would not leave before their time because of illness or even death.  But this solution might help reduce the partisan bickering over Court appointments and the increasing importance of the Court in presidential elections.

I know it would take a Constitutional amendment.  But I'm allowed ideas, aren't I?

What do you think?

What kind of leader?

Here we are, in the middle of the next American electoral season. Up for grabs is the presidency and the direction that the country will go. What are some important guidelines that we can use as we examine the (currently) three major candidates that are running?

I just began reading How to Pick a President, one of Christianity Today's new line of ebooks. (Yes, I'm reading it on my new Kindle.) The first criterion that the author discusses is virtue. The virtues specifically mentioned are moral courage, temperance, commitment to justice, commitment to keeping one's word, and prudence.

The importance of picking leaders who exhibit these virtues is that we can trust them to make hard decisions in the reality of political life. If a candidate says that he (or she) will do x, y, and z relative to immigration, the reality is that by the time that Congress has had its say, and that various realities have been dealt with, x, y, and z may have changed into m, n, and o!

Instead, we should pick a leader who tells us what justice toward illegal immigrants who are already here looks like. And what it means to her to protect our borders. And how we will guard the rights of citizens as opposed to those who are here legally or illegally. And so on. Then we can decide whether or not we agree with those values. And then we decide whether these values are in fact just, and whether the candidate has had a record of keeping his word and exhibited the moral courage to stand up for what he believes to be right even if it costs him power, money, or prestige. And if that person is elected, then we trust her or him.

The book I mentioned above mentions that it is important that we look to a candidate's commitment to these values in their public and (hopefully) also in their private lives. This means that what a candidate said and did before and after they entered public life is very important. How else can we measure their fitness for leading us? Those who wish to lead us but who keep their private lives hidden perhaps shouldn't be trusted.