Moral Victory?

Bush wins the reelection with many of the exit polls citing that a majority of America agrees with the moral values of the current president. There's a lot of post-electoral depression going on and it's understandable. How can we have such polarity throughout this nation? The fact that I'm not in the majority makes me feel completely out of synch with the rest of the country. How do we, the minority, face the reality of another four years?

Still, it was a 51/49 split, which is damn close. There's a relief to know that although deeply divided, there is a large number of people out there who do seem to be thinking progressively and not clinging to seemingly outdated values. I don't feel the need to apologize to other countries, as other people do. I heard the issues. I formed my opinions. I cast my vote. I didn't get my way, but neither did 49% of the country. What does the rest of the world see when they look at us? Before they make a blanket condemnation of us all I hope that they realize the turmoil within. Whatever the perception is, we can no longer hide under the excuse that Bush was a fluke and did not win the majority. Voter turnout was the highest in years, but Bush still won the popular vote. I voted for what I thought was the lesser of two evils. But maybe the rest of the country thought that would be Bush. Which is worse, a leader who leads badly or a leader who can't lead?

There is a lot of work that needs to be done to fix the issues we face. But there were no guarantees that Kerry would have been our savior. Most of the voters who chose Kerry admitted to picking him because they were more anti-Bush than pro-Kerry. Bush claimed to be a uniter not a divider. We need him to live up to that claim more than ever, but there are deep-seated reservations that he can't or won't.

The Republicans have a stronger hold on Congress, which is a bit scary. In Texas, there are already actions being taken to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage. Looks like the values of America are already being imposed on us, whether we agree on them or not.

NOTE: What message was the suicide at the world trade center supposed to convey? Protesting violence with a violent death? It's this counter-productive extremism that pisses me off. I hate even spending time acknowledging this. I don't pity that you died. I pity that you didn't live your life.