All the spin-meisters have packed up and taken their three card monte tricks to wherever it is pundits go when they're not punditing (call the Guinness World Records book folks, I'm not sure anyone has ever made that word into gerund before today. You are witnessing history! Or not....) We are alone with the consequences of those decisions we made, or chose to NOT make, on Election Day. That's how this nation works and when you look at our history, our heartaches and our triumphs, it has been, and is, a remarkable process of new beginnings and unending hopeful horizons.
Since my Mom and Dad taught me manners (and the set I have is still in pretty good shape because I seemingly hardly ever use them) let me start on an appreciative note: To all of those who sought office and campaigned tirelessly in the last weeks and months, thank you for your generosity of spirit. Congratulations to those of you who were elected and for those who weren't, there's still a role for you in all of our communities so thanks in advance for lending a hand. We have some rough days before us all, not just the Red States or the Blue States, but the United States. There's a reason why we call ourselves that-sometimes, it seems, we forget.
We, the voters, have expectations of those whom we elect and those men and women, in turn have responsibilities to us. We all also have obligations to one another: to speak clearly in articulating our wants, needs and desires (and our ability and willingness to pay for those), and to listen to one another and the explanation for why, sometimes, a particular course of action was chosen (or not chosen). We have two ears and one mouth in that particular ratio for a reason: perhaps we should listen more and shout less.
In recent years, there's been far too little civility in our civic discourse with one another (the opponent always eats bugs, and often worse) as we've opted to impugn character and denigrate integrity instead of debating, developing, evaluating, implementing and improving one another's ideas. We've turned elections into popularity contests that no one seems to win. I can't help but believe if John Hancock and the Founding Fathers could see what we've made of this nation that some of them gave their lives for (even before we were a country), he'd insist on a bottle of Wite Out while reaching for a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Right now, the days after a national election, are traditionally the most hopeful time in the political calendar. At all levels of government, the past few mornings have been a little brighter because of the perception and belief in possibilities created Tuesday evening. But we don't dare do more than pause before continuing on our joint journey to build the nation regarded as a beacon by so many around the world.
As that nation we may not, in the last decade or so, have been especially good at narrowing the gap between promise and performance. As we continue in this, our third century, as a democracy, we need to be mindful we may be approaching a critical moment when our "Missed Opportunity" becomes our "Last Chance".
We all have too much at stake to leave government to "somebody else"--we each need of us to become that somebody. Democracy is a contact sport-it's time to suit up and get in the game.
-bill kenny
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