Chap wrote:Jersey Girl wrote:We spent years of our lives in service to this country and we didn't pick and choose who we were serving with regard to the populace. We served all. We're either a nation united or divided. So far as I am concerned, it's time to pull together in whatever ways we can and be a united front.
So what does this mean in practice?
It means
this:
“Thank you so very much for being here. Last night I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans. This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for, and I’m sorry we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country. But I feel pride and gratitude for this wonderful campaign that we built together. This vast, diverse, creative, unruly, energized campaign. You represent the best of America, and being your candidate has been one of the greatest honors of my life.
I know how disappointed you feel, because I feel it too. And so do tens of millions of Americans who invested their hopes and dreams in this effort. This is painful, and it will be for a long time, but I want you to remember this: Our campaign was never about one person, or even one election. It was about the country we love and building an America that is hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted. We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. But I still believe in America, and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power. We don’t just respect that — we cherish it. It also enshrines the rule of law; the principle that we are all equal in rights and dignity; freedom of worship and expression. We respect and cherish these values, too, and we must defend them.
Let me add: Our constitutional democracy demands our participation, not just every four years, but all the time. So let’s do all we can to keep advancing the causes and values we all hold dear. Making our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top, protecting our country and protecting our planet, and breaking down all the barriers that hold any American back from achieving their dreams.
We spent a year and a half bringing together millions of people from every corner of our country to say with one voice that we believe that the American dream is big enough for everyone. For people of all races and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people, and people with disabilities. For everyone.
I am so grateful to stand with all of you. I want to thank Tim Kaine and Anne Holton for being our partners on this journey. It has been a joy to get to know them better and gives me great hope and comfort to know that Tim will remain on the front lines of our democracy representing Virginia in the Senate. To Barack and Michelle Obama, our country owes you an enormous debt of gratitude. We thank you for your graceful, determined leadership that has meant so much to so many Americans and people across the world. And to Bill and Chelsea, Mark, Charlotte, Aidan, our brothers and our entire family, my love for you means more than I can ever express. You criss-crossed this country, even four-month-old Aidan, who traveled with his mom.
I will always be grateful to the to the talented, dedicated men and women at our headquarters in Brooklyn and across our country. You poured your hearts into this campaign. To some of you who are veterans, it was a campaign after you had done other campaigns. Some of you, it was your first campaign. I want each of you to know that you were the best campaign anybody could have ever expected or wanted. And to the millions of volunteers, community leaders, activists, and union organizers who knocked on doors, talked to their neighbors, posted on Facebook — even on secret private Facebook sites — I want everybody coming out from behind that and make sure your voices are heard going forward. To anyone that sent contributions, even as small as five dollars, that kept us going, thank you.
To all of us, and to the young people in particular: I hope you will hear this. I have, as Tim said, I have spent my entire life fighting for what I believe in. I’ve had successes and setbacks and sometimes painful ones. Many of you are at the beginning of your professional, public and political careers — you will have successes and setbacks, too. This loss hurts, but please, never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it. It is, it’s worth it.
Now, I know we have still not shattered that highest glass ceiling, but someday, someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now. And to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams. Finally, finally, I am so grateful to our country for all it has given me. I count my blessings every single day that I am an American, and I still believe, as deeply as I ever have, that if we stand together and work together with respect for our differences, strengthen our convictions and love for this nation, our best days are still ahead of us.
Because you know, I believe we are stronger together and we will go forward together. And you should never, ever regret fighting for that. You know, scripture tells us: Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in good season we shall reap. My friends, let us have faith in each other, let us not grow weary and lose heart, for there are more seasons to come and there is more work to do. I am incredibly honored and grateful to have had this chance to represent all of you in this consequential election. May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America.” ~Hillary R. Clinton
If you mean that you are urging people to unite behind any of Trump's trademark social and economic policies, then good luck with that, but I'd be surprised if that's what you meant. Political opposition remains legitimate even when an election has gone against one. I'd be even more surprised if you expected those policies to have the beneficial results that Trump's supporters so fervently hope to see in their own lives. You seem much too intelligent for that.
I take it, however, that you mean that you intend to go on making a positive contribution to society in the role in which you find yourself. I agree that that is exactly what is called for in a situation like this.
[/quote]
Yes, that's exactly what I mean, Chap. I believe it is called for every day of our lives and today is no different. Some examples might be:
Today a soldier woke up in Afghanistan.
And it didn't matter who won the election.
Today his wife woke up 30 miles away from me and thousands of miles away from him. She put breakfast on the table for her kids, put them on the school bus ready to go about the business of her day parenting alone and holding down the family fort.
And it didn't matter who won the election.
Today a stage 4 cancer patient woke up with the same cancer he had yesterday.
And it didn't matter who won the election.
Today the cancer patient's nurse pulled a 12 hour shift on his floor.
And it didn't matter who won the election.
Closer to home...
Today someone who is grieving reached out to me for support.
And it doesn't matter who won the election.
Today our friend Cam is still waiting for another poster to whom he offered help (regardless of both their politics) to accept his help.
And it doesn't matter who won the election.
Steuss's folks in Las Vegas, still need their blankets for winter.
And it doesn't matter who won the election.
Our lives aren't dictated by Washington. They are dictated by the choices we make every day to put something positive or negative into the world. They are dictated by the grace and compassion that we show to others or fail to show. They are dictated by the responsibility we take for ourselves and others, or fail to take.
Washington isn't America.
We are. So far as I am concerned, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton got it right today when they each let humility and grace lead the day.
I'm pretty sure when Clinton chose the campaign slogan "Together we're stronger",
she meant all of us. I don't know how intelligent I am, but I know how I live my life and it never matters who is in the Oval Office. What matters is what is inside of me and what I choose to do with it or not do with it.
And I'm pretty sure I won't spend much more time on this election going around in circles for no good reason.
