For far too long, I have been terribly cynical about the future of this country. I was absolutely appalled at the tenor of the campaign that John McCain conducted and despaired that sanity and intelligence would ever reappear in political discourse in our country. Now that Barack Obama has been elected, it appears that our long national nightmare is beginning to come to an end. I am particularly pleased that he has selected Gregory Craig as his lawyer and is considering Hillary Clinton for the Secretary of State position. I’ve read the anguished howls of those on the Left protesting Obama’s choices so far and have this to say: regardless of what you projected onto Obama during his campaign, the reality is that Obama is an Establishment politician. He is going to select his Cabinet from those the Establishment is comfortable with, not those who would “rock the boat”. Don’t be surprised if he selects some prominent Republicans for his Cabinet also, as he has said that he wants different ideas to be presented to him so that he can govern effectively. Obama is a pragmatic politician – he is not the Socialist or revolutionary that the McCain campaign tried to smear him as and he is not the Conservative that many on the Left have tried to paint him as. Obama is a rare example of a politician who understands that people, for the most part, do not vote on the basis of issues. They vote on the basis of values, connection, authenticity, trust, and identity. Obama has connected with the American people in a way that no one since Ronald Reagan has. He is a very intelligent man and he is also not at all afraid to exercise his power to “knock heads” if the need arises. I am proud to have voted for Obama – a man who will be inclusionary, practical, and good for all Americans.

We need to ensure that Obama works to give us our country back and deny the radical right wing authoritarians the agenda that they have worked so hard to achieve for the last 30 years. As George Lakoff phrased it in his book, Thinking Points:

“America today is in danger. It faces the threat of domination by
a radical, authoritarian right wing that refers to itself as “conservative,”
as if it were preserving and promoting American values.
In fact, it has been trampling on them.

“American values are inherently progressive, but progressives
have lost their way. As traditional Americans, that is, as progressive
Americans, we are beginning to lose our identity, the very
values that have made America a great and free country—a
country where tolerance has led us to unity, where diversity has
given us strength, where acting for the common good has
brought our dreams to fruition, and where respect for human dignity
has increased opportunity, released creativity, and generated
wealth.”

These right wing authoritarians have used the hot-button issues the religious right advanced, like gay marriage, abortion and their definition of “family values”, to advance their Corporate agenda, which included gutting the American manufacturing infrastructure and exporting jobs to other countries, deregulating Wall Street so that it could bankrupt Main Street, and enriching military contractors while pursuing unachievable and strategically foolish initiatives at the expense of our crumbling infrastructure, inadequate schools and an increasingly tattered social safety net. While these right wing authoritarians have kept us fighting amongst ourselves, they have been looting our country and stashing the proceeds in Swiss bank accounts.

Make no mistake about it: the religious right bears the majority of the blame for the sorry state of affairs that this country is in now. By focusing exclusively on abortion, homosexuality, their narrow interpretation of Christianity and their false interpretation of “family values”, the religious right has hijacked the platform for the wider discussion of American values for the last 30 years. While debate was focused on those issues the religious right thought to be critical, the elite has used the acrimonious atmosphere that was created to advance an agenda that has resulted in near-economic collapse in this country.

It is time for Christians of conscience to stand up and advance the liberal and progressive values that Jesus Christ stood for.

It is time for divisiveness and finger-pointing to stop. I think that the election of Obama is the beginning of the end for the plague that has infected this country for too long. All of us have our work cut out for us, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike. It is time to stop trying to force those who disagree with us on social issues to yield to our positions and to recognize that good people can disagree and still contribute to the future of this great country. We need to pull together and work to solve the health, educational, environmental and economic crises that this country faces. We will be judged harshly by future generations if we do not stop our bickering and finger-pointing and start working together to fulfill the dreams that so many immigrants have come to this country to fulfill.