Obama where art thou

Here are my late night post election thoughts:

1. Presidential campaigns go on way, way, way too long. I don't care what party or candidate you support it is simply not healthy to spend 2-3 years agonizing over who will be the next President.

2. I'm glad I will no longer be saturated with moronic campaign ads (for another year anyway).

3. It's becoming increasingly clear that what divides our country is not merely a matter of policy or party but distinctive worldview and ideological differences. That said I think it's completely unrealistic to think the majority of our elected officials can work together in any meaningful way. McCain's gracious concession speech and Obama's lofty victory speech with all their platitudes may sound nice, but the American left and right are by and large too polarized to find any common ground. The secular left and the Judeo-Christian right (what's left of it) are from different planets and will never come together—nor should they. I think if people on both sides were honest they'd agree with me. One side must be wrong and one side must be right. Take your pick.

4. While I'm sure this will be terribly difficult, I'm going to do my absolute damndest to do exactly what the Left of this country did not do for the majority of the last 8 years—extend courtesy to the President of the United States even if I didn't vote for or agree with him. I'm not much of a George W. Bush fan but the venom, vitriol and disrespect shown to this man has been without comparison. You will not find the equivalent of a "Buck Fush" bumper sticker on the back of my car ("Ouck Fbama?"). You will not hear me make asinine statements like "He's not my President." There is nothing wrong with critique or even a little sarcastic mockery but the kind of attitude outlined above does far more damage to the American political system than somebody's bad policy.