Land of the free

Despite all the bad press, really, I'm proud to be an American. As much as I try to remember that I'm also a world citizen, and that my identity as a Christian supersedes any other affiliation that I have, there are some times when being American makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Here are some reasons why I feel that way today.

1. The world goes on. Seasons come and seasons go. Change is inevitable and you cannot continue going in one direction forever. It's natural. Hearing other perspectives is a very good thing. I'm glad that Americans are open to hearing other points of view.

2. We have gracious winners and gracious losers. Barack Obama isn't gloating over John McCain, and John McCain is offering his full support and aid to Barack Obama. The presidency isn't something to treat lightly, folks. This is a job that can literally take years off of your life in stress. Thank God that despite it all, these two men are willing and able to work with each other.

3. I am so proud of our voters for setting records for political participation. That's what it's all about. I helped shuttle 300+ students to the polls yesterday morning in about 3 hours. That's awesome! And over 5 million Facebook users voted! Also awesome!

4. Media coverage last night wasn't bad. The networks didn't call states too quickly and they were showing positive highlights for both candidates. I had to go to bed by 10 and I still really had the feeling that the election could go either way. Props. However, I'm a bit disappointed by the language the AP is using. Landslide? Sweep? Yeah, maybe in terms of the number of electoral votes, but not in terms of the popular vote in key swing states. Virginia came really close, y'all. It's important to remember that honestly, a few thousand changed votes could have produced a different result.

5. Though there is a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate, the margin is close enough that there will still be room for substantive conversation and other perspectives. We have checks and balances for a reason, and they work. Obama will still have to deal with the Republicans in Congress. Honestly, this is a government teacher's dream, as my CT said this morning to our class. The government and the parties are going to have to work together to get anything done. My hope is that they will.

To me, the country does feel a bit different than it did yesterday, and perhaps it is, but I know that this life and this country is more than the person sitting in the Oval Office. A good teacher, a good citizen, a good American will be able to look at the trends, take it in stride, and pull out things that we can learn. I'm excited to see what will happen next.