Put the Suitcase Down. Let's Talk.

To all of you who are about to pack up and flee to Canada today, I'd like a moment of your time.

Yes, Barack Obama won the election. Was he my choice? Not the point of this blog. The point I would like to get across is that, for all of you who think the world has come to an end and that we have Lenin as our president-elect, calm down!

Many times during the campaigns of both Barack Obama and John McCain, I listened to the promises (and vague platitudes) and thought to myself, "No matter how well-intentioned a candidate is, they're not gonna be able to fulfill all of these promises." The President of the United States is not a dictator (despite what some people say about our current commander-in-chief), because we have checks and balances in place to make sure that he (or maybe she, someday), doesn't run around making laws and passing decrees willy-nilly. Their ideas have to pass through Congress, and even the best, most ideal bills are going to get watered down in the give-and-take of political maneuvering.

The same goes for whatever evil people believe that Obama is waiting to spring on us: it's gonna get watered down. That's what makes our system of government the greatest on earth. We have safeguards in place to filter out the wildest ideas. Do some of them still make it through? Well, yeah, a few. The system isn't perfect, but it's the best there is.

So before you start brushing off your copy of 1001 Ways to Use "Eh" In Everyday Conversation, take a deep breath. I refuse to believe that President-elect Obama is as conniving and dangerous as some people say he is. I'm sure he has a good, patriotic heart and genuine concern for every American. I'm sure he'll do his best. Now let's do ours. At the end of the day, America is still the greatest country on earth.