Here’s a truth that many people on both sides of the political aisle will want to deny, whether they are in Washington gearing up for the presidential election or closer to home in places such as the newly-created 7th Congressional District:
No matter who wins in November, the United States of America will not crumble.
Old people will neither be thrown off a cliff nor marched before a death panel.
Women will not by the millions either demand abortions or protest to assure that not one more is ever performed in this country.
There won’t be another civil war, even though a judge in Texas said there would be if President Barack Obama is re-elected.
Guns won’t be confiscated.
Marshall Law won’t be instituted.
The sun will rise on the morning of Nov. 7. (If it doesn’t, it won’t matter who won the night before anyway.)
The economy will continue its recovery, probably at a slightly faster pace given that the real estate market has finally shown signs of life and politicians have finally backed themselves into a corner on spending and taxes – which just so happens to be about the only time they really come together to do something big, politics be damned.
In the fall of 2008 a bipartisan group of those evil folks in Washington came together to save the country from what could have been another Great Depression by signing onto an extremely unpopular but entirely necessary bailout of the American banking system.
The country will not be either more or less moral if President Obama or a President Mitt Romney will begin a 4-year-term in the White House in January.
Though I have a clear preference based on what I believe are solid reasons – just like so many Americans who agree and disagree with my choice – I don’t have to deny that broader reality.
To that end, here’s my proposal: On the second Tuesday of November, let’s declare a National Political Truce Day. That will give the winners a week to gloat and the losers a week to get beyond the gloom.
But on that day, Nov. 13, political debate would cease.
Conspiracy theories would be thrown into the back of the closet.
On that day, if only that day, we would remind ourselves of how incredibly fortunate we are to have been born in this country, where we can argue, fuss and fight, but at the end of the day, we all line up at the polls, let our voices be heard and accept the political verdict – even if we hate it – without picking up a gun or strapping on a suicide vest.
So, how about it? Wanna make it happen here and elsewhere?
Maybe even a few American history historians can be enlisted to help with the educational process.
If millions of people can line up to support a chicken sandwich franchise, surely some of us can gather together to help bring each of us back to our senses after what is turning out to be a fairly ugly election cycle, complete with baseless conspiracy theories.
Oh, and by the way, Obama did not cook the unemployment books and Romney did not use a cheat sheet to win the first debate.
