Post Election Thoughts

     The U.S. is slowly leaving the backward thinkers behind.  Yesterday was a huge step forward and sent a clear message. It also likely showed the Republican leadership that catering to the rich and to the uneducated, less intelligent part of the general population is no longer enough to win the Presidency. They now know they can no longer win the Presidency simply by securing the god fearing "Democrats hate God and want to take our guns" crowd. The outrageous fear they created with propaganda and lies about Sharia law and secret Muslim takeovers only resulted in the loss of billions of their dollars.
     All 9 of the "rape candidates" lost their jobs. The message has been sent loudly. Theocracy has been rejected for reason. I suspect we will see a much different face of the Republican party in 2016. They must evolve or perish; survival of the most fit to live and lead a nation of all genders, races and sexual orientations.
     I'm left wondering, however, how those stuck in the fearful thinking created by the propaganda machine will adapt over the next four years.  I've seen posts on conservative sites today that left me worried.  One woman said, "I don't know what I'm going to do now, but I will never let them put a Muslim head wrap on my baby!"  Others are posting about having come into the world covered in blood, and thus they will leave it the same way.  I fear for outbreaks of public shootings by unstable individuals such as Jared Lee Loughner, whom left with the psychosis created by irresponsible media during this campaign may act out of irrational fear.
    For this truly is a problem.  Media figures such as Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter make their money by playing on the fears and irrationality of the less intelligent among us.  They create questions in peoples minds by suggesting Obama is a secret Muslim and then twist every little bit of news they can in order to reinforce that belief and give it the illusion of credibility.  They spin everything in a negative light, as they did when Obama and Christie put aside their partisanship and did their jobs following Sandy.  No longer do we have pictures of two exhausted men working together to keep a State running, a symbol of America at it's finest.  Instead we have "photo ops", "ass kissing" and "treachery".  I honestly do not believe any of the hundreds and thousands of people who were calling Governor Christie a traitor and sell-out would have come to that conclusion had it not been suggested by right wing media first.
     I read a quote once, but I cannot remember from whom, but it was to the effect that America should never become a two party system lest the competition between the parties come before the good of the country.  This is exactly what has happened.  There is fault on both sides but none as so blatantly perpetrated by the Right.  They spent the last four years shutting down bills that would have greatly accelerated our economic recovery simply to make President Obama look bad and, as they planned, when election time rolled around they used the slow recovery as an example of Obama's failures.  America told them strongly yesterday that these kind of underhanded, self serving tactics will not work.  The majority were not fooled.  With any luck, they learned their lesson and will spend the next four years actually helping to fix the economy, rather than stonewalling progress like a third grader who takes his ball and goes home if he's not winning.
  America is moving forward, with or without the Republican Party.  Will they evolve, or fade away into history, the next four years will tell.

A letter I wrote to the Lewiston Morning Tribune

There is a war on religion being quietly waged in the United States, but it's not the war the far right likes to pretend is being waged against them.  It's a war being waged against the religious freedoms of non Christians and eroding the First Amendment.  
You see, this is America, where freedom of religion is protected by the Constitution.  I have the right to pray to a kumquat if I so choose.
I do not, however, have the right to make others live according to the kumquat's rules.  Nor do I have the right to make your children pray to the kumquat in school. 
I have the right to quietly pray to my kumquat whenever and where ever I so choose.  I have the right to live my life according to the kumquats tenants.  If I believe the kumquat doesn't want me to pet dogs, then I will not pet dogs.  If it offends me to see other people pet dogs, I will quietly pray to the kumquat to forgive them.  I will not petition the government for laws forbidding people from petting dogs.  I will not get upset that schools do not stop class and make everyone sit quietly while my kids pray to the kumquat. 
Christians are not being oppressed by laws that protect my children from sitting through their prayers.  Christians are not being oppressed by gay people getting married.  Christians are not being oppressed by people having abortions. 
Oppression would be shutting down churches and teaching kids in school that Christianity is bad.  Oppression would be forcing abortions on people who don't want them.  Oppression would be banning the cross from public display and forcing children to remove their cross at school.  These things are not happening in America.
I have come to view this election as a deciding point in American history, between reason and religious extremism; democracy and theocracy.  I am voting for reason.  I am voting Democrat.