While each year we close the polls with a sigh of relief, I believe that every American who votes understands that it is a right which has been and will be paid for by the sacrifices of so many sons and daughters. With such a high price paid, it becomes our duty not only to vote, but to honor our system of government and the freedom we enjoy. When the choices are made, I believe that the vast majority of citizens simply want our representatives to conduct themselves and the nation’s business like we do our own homes, offices, shops, garages, and factories; put simply, to respect each other, get it right and get it done!
Our country is equally divided along party lines. Abraham Lincoln prior to his campaign for President was also looking at a divided nation.
A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.
Like Mr. Lincoln, I don’t believe that our house will fall, but I do expect it to cease to be divided; and for all of us, whether republicans, democrats, or independents to work together for the common good, to build our country back into the creative force that the world has known for practically the past 236 years. While I was in the voting line, that was the topic of conversation, and I think it was why the people of my little county in Middle Tennessee were there in line and proud of it this chilly November morning.
Today while scanning for the election news I saw a similar train of thought expressed by Frida Ghitis of CNN: On Election Day, pause to marvel at democracy.
Robby Meadows
Nashville Wraps
