NATIONWIDE SIGH
You,too, may have heard it today – the sound of a giant sigh of relief, of satisfaction and long-awaited pleasure. I was among those sighing,too, and we were celebrating the end - finally - of the 2004 Election campaigns. It has been a tedious time.
The campaigns start too early and run too long. This one started at a faster pace, too and hearers became tired if it. The campaign voices were loud. They were omni-present among us in print and on TV far too long; much too frequently. Some personalities were unpleasant; ill-fitted to aspire to the office in mind. Much of the subject matter brought up and, on the whole rather poorly handled, was of a nature which we Americans, in general, have not yet learned to be comfortable within public forums. To have our prospective leaders commenting on the merits and demerits of same sex marriages or discussing the prospect of all-out stem cell research do not make especially good in-home topics. We are in an era when religious matters are of world-wide concern. Terrorists attacks,until now not at all common in American thinking, are now an historic reality in the lives of citizens of New York and our nation's capital city. Beside such topics the usual election talk talk about taxes, trade-offs, pork deals, pensions, aid programs and employment positions(jobs) are rather tame subjects. The campaign was far too often urging citizens to vote their fears for the future rather than strength and blessings to be gained from unity.
It may be a good thing that we are on the verge of the time of the year in which we, as a nation, celebrate a day dedicated to being thankful. Tonight, as initial returns are just starting to come in to the nation's newsrooms, there are also a score or more of elaborate ways in which all can go wrong! There is serious thought tonight that we may become involved in a legal war among ourselves to decide who won in which contest. Election 2004!
A.L.M. November 2, 2004 [c364wds]
