Disappointment is inevitable
On Wednesday morning, one this is certain: Some of us are going to be disappointed with the election results. What is less certain, however, is how Americans will respond to that disappointment.
With passions running high, some say the nation should look to Delaware for an example of how to move beyond hard feelings. In that state, candidates–both winners and losers–gather on the Thursday following election for Return Day, an event aimed at demonstrating “that divisiveness need not endure after the election. They even bury a symbolic hatchet.”
“All the ill feelings and harsh remarks, all of that is buried in there, and everybody agrees to put aside their partisanship and work together,” says Debbie Jones, one of the organizers. “It’s something everybody could use.”
Would instituting a national Return Day have value?




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back to top55 Comments to “Disappointment is inevitable”
It’s pointless, worthless and a waste of time. Let’s just roll up our sleeves and get back to the work of correcting the massive problems ushered in by the Bush years, no matter who is elected.
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That seems like a cool idea, actually.
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If we follow the example of the disappointed Democrats in 2000 through 2008, we would…
1. Refuse to accept the election.
2. Call up an army of lawyers to take the election to the court system (on false pretenses).
3. Stoke up hot fires of deep resentment and hatred (for the winner) in the hearts and minds of all those who are disappointed.
4. Commit ourselves from day one to demonizing and loathing the President of the United States and lie about him daily until the lies began to wear away reality.
______________
I don’t recommend this response for the losing party on Tuesday, but it is a response we have seen all too clearly from the left.
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Some folks say that no matter who we vote for, two years from now, we’ll wish we’d voted for the other guy. I don’t buy it. I didn’t vote for Gore, and still wouldn’t vote for Gore even if he were running in this race. I’m not going to vote for Obama, and two years from now wouldn’t vote for Obama.
It’s about the issues, stupid.
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Instituting a National Return Day? Would that like, be a beerfest so I can forget about our troubles for a day?
I despise most alcohol by the way. It’s foul tasting…
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Amend that. I didn’t vote for Obama. I voted last week.
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That’s an interesting tradition, and it might not do any hard to give it a try.
I’ve been thinking about Wednesday for some time now and have been concerned about how 1/2 of the country will handle defeat after such a contentious election. I frankly can’t remember this level of anger in an election, although 2000 and 2004 came close. It’s disconcerting, to say the least.
As a Christian, I’ve been focusing on how I need to be content with whatever the the outcome, and to trust that God still reigns and has His purposes for whatever comes to pass. So as bad as something may seem to me, it is always good in that sense, though I may not see the reasons for it. We must continue to rejoice.
I also saw liberals behaving absolutely horribly in the past 8 years and I refuse to follow suit. It was a vivid object lesson on how NOT to lose, how to truly be a “bad loser.” We can all commit to doing better than that, surely.
But with passions running so high, there will be lots of drama on whichever side loses, I’m sure.
I would hope we can stop the whining (not to mention the screaming), put our country first, and at least try to pull together on some things. On the issues that divide us, let us vigorously but respectfully disagree.
We Christians must pray for our leaders and always live within the larger perspective of God’s call for us to love Him, love our neighbor and preach the gospel, in season and out of season.
This is all such a blip on the radar screen of history — a history, by the way, that God ordains and remains in sovereign control over, past present and future, now and forever.
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“harm” that should have read in the first sentence. Where’s an editor when you need one?
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Whoever is elected will be the one God ordained to be president.
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For once, I don’t plan to be disappointed tomorrow night. GObama!!
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We should all be prepared to either win or lose, whatever side we support, and think about how we will personally handle that.
Will we complain and whine? Or gloat and lord it over the other side? I’d hope not, but there will be plenty of all that going around come Wednesday, you can be sure.
I just don’t want to be part of it, whether the candidate I support wins OR loses.
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Disappointment is nothing new. I’ve been disappointed for the last 8 years with the presidency of the guy I voted for…twice.
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The GOP will need more than that – they are losing more of the moderate wing of their party in this election, and the “Republican rump” that will remain will never regain power without them:
The Republican Rump
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I’m already disappointed and the election has not even been called yet. Every time I’ve pinned my hope on politics to forge change I have been grossly disappointed.
If Obama wins I will be praying quite earnestly for him. We all know what human nature does to our messiahs after the hosannas have quieted down; we crucify them.
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I hear you, Graceland.
Out here where California is completely falling apart, I have the “comfort” of knowing I didn’t vote for any of the bozos responsible for this mess. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make me feel much better or take the sting out of the problems we have living here.
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Black people are going to be especially disappointed.
Never mind the fact that having a black President will make a lot of their endless charges of racism seem hollow.
Just as having a series of black mayors has not improved the conditions for blacks in the inner cities a black President is not going to improve their condition.
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‘If Obama wins I will be praying quite earnestly for him. We all know what human nature does to our messiahs after the hosannas have quieted down; we crucify them.”
Amen.
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Would instituting a national Return Day have value?
Only on issues of common ground. Other than being born to human parents, that’s about it.
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#1 Scott,
It seems lefties have forgotten they took over congress two years ago and have been responsible for the economy of this country since that time. Also since that time we have had a housing collapse, a mortgage collapse, a credit collapse, a stock market collapse with the democratic congress nationalizing the insurance and banking businesses like they were Hugo Chavez, Mao, Stalin or Castro. Unemployment is skyrocketing from 4.6 to well over 6% now too. The country can’t take too much more of their idea of change and socialistic future don’t you think? They will spoom have all selling pencils and apple in the street begging fot work for food like they had Americans doing in the 30’s.
No wonder they have forgotten that they are creating the same nightmare that got them tossed from office in shame over 30 years ago after their Jimmy Carter fiasco that only a Messiah can top.
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#19 DCLAawyer,
But you will still be a thief or about to become one. SINCE YOU ARE A LEFTY LAWWYER THE PREVIOUS IS PROBEBALY CORRECT SINCE I’M SURE YOU QUIT BEATING YOUR WIFE AFTER SHE LEFT YOU
.
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#14 Adios,
Don’t worry he will do that all by himslef. Like all lefties he has no self control, no shame and can never be satisfied. Just pray you are not dead broke or plain dead by then. It’s getting much worse.
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I believe JoeB to be right at #9 when he says, “Whoever is elected will be the one God ordained to be president.”
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Keep singing that fear tune, #19…. tomorrow night or so we should actually know if people actually think that or if they think that this is a republican debacle after 8 years of a disappointment (Being tossed out in shame, I might add) of an administration. I wouldn’t put too much money down on your position unless you were one of those who made lots of money in the stock market these past 8 years. Good luck, sir.
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On election Day I resolve to
1. Pray for both the candidates and their running mates, that they might be gracious to accept the results of the vote without accusations and acrimony.
2. Vote for the candidate I believe will do what’s best for the country and not my party or my pocketbook.
On the Day after Election Day, I resolve to:
1. Not gloat if my candidate wins the election.
2. Not be bitter in my disappointment if my candidate does not win.
3. Not begin looking to the next election already to plan any strategy if my candidate does not win.
4. Accept the official results of any close election calls, even if my candidate loses.
5. Not be disrespectful of the the president-elect by making insulting or vulgar plays on his name. I will afford him the respect due his office by not calling him anything other than his title and name.
6. I will not make derisive and divisive remarks about the president-elect.
7. I will refrain from fomenting haterd and disrespect on the part of others for the president-elect.
8. I will not seek ways to bring down, belittle, or defame the president-elect.
9. I will refrain from looking for dirt to dig up about the president-elect.
10. I will pray for a peaceful transition of power.
11. I will pray for less acrimony and more unity in this country; more bi-partisan cooperation and less partisan pettiness.
12. I will pray for the president-elect on the day after election day and also throughout his presidency that he might make wise decisions that are best for the country.
13. I will trust God who establishes kings (rulers) and kingdoms (nations). He is Sovereign. And He is still on His throne.
14. I will praise God that His will WILL be accomplished with and in and through the president-elect.
15. I will give thanks to God that I still live in a nation where I have the freedom to vote without fear, where I can express my opinion without fear, where I can worship God whatever way I want without fear.
This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!!
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Mark Roth / JoeB
Maybe God just stepped back and “ordained” to let us choose our own poison instead of engineering the outcome. That option is part of His sovereignty, too.
Even if He were to have engineered the election, we still need to ask ourselves if what has happened is God’s judgment on a nation which has thumbed its nose at Him. Just because the person is God’s choice doesn’t mean we still won’t have Hell to pay for our sin.
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#22, so why bother with the vote or with the election at all. Just let god decide. That piece is just a delusion to make people feel nothing. Aren’t you good and numb now??
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Klasko (24) has it right.
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Scott, God works through secondary means — which includes our prayers, our votes. But it is always His will that is accomplished.
As for whether God judges nations through events or leaders, he has and does. But we need to be careful about pronouncing exactly what God is doing, and why, in a give situation without the benefit and perspective of hindsight.
Often we can’t see God’s will being worked out when we are in the midst of events. Years later, it may (or may not) become quite clear to us. Always we are to pray, remain faithful and trust in His sovereignty.
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Too bad we can’t get the Democrats, who are historically sore losers, to endorse Klasko’s approach in post #24.
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This is an interesting take on what’s going to happen day after…
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/11/say_goodbye_to_america.html
One point I find especially interesting is what’s going to happen if McCain pulls out a victory and the exit polls are wrong because people didn’t want to admit voting for him.
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Well, can we pray for somebody even as we work to get them impeached?
I find it hard to imagine actually supporting a guy who supports, enables, and legislates for the act of delivering a full term healthy child, stabbing her in the neck, sawing up the body, and throwing the pieces into a trash can. And even supports the refusal of care for a child that somehow manages to survive all that – by his record, not by his lying words since he slithered onto the campaign trail. And also wants to make us pay for it through increased exortion from our paychecks, even more than we are already paying for it.
So I can pray for him as a human being who, for whatever reason, is utterly twisted and amoral and devoid of even the most elementary virtue of compassion, AND simultaneously pray that he will be booted from the office that he should not be within 500 miles of, at the same time, right?
And just because God allows someone to be elected President of the United States certainly does not mean we must support the person as President (beyond the support we would give to ANY fallen human being, as an individual).
In this country WE the people are the government (at least up to this point in history – Obama seems to have other plans) and hence WE are responsible for what happens – we are the Board members, as it were.
Whoever is elected is simply our employee – and if we are agreeable to ‘keep’ a bad employee just because the rest of the board is too stupid or amoral or brain-washed to object, the damage the bad employee does is on OUR hands as well.
So, sure, pray for Obama as a human being if he is elected (through whatever combination of vote fraud and media intimidation and slander that gets him there), but remember to pray just as fervently that he will be impeached.
And remember, should he be elected, to pray just as fervently for all the ADDITIONAL millions of children that will die in various horrible ways in abortion clinics in this country in the coming decades, thanks to his election.
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An excerpt from http://www.parentalrights.org/learn/the-attack-on-parental-rights
“International law that seeks to empower the government to intrude upon the child-parent relationship is becoming an increasing threat. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a seemingly harmless treaty with dangerous implications for American families, is approaching possible ratification by the United States.
If this treaty is made binding upon our country, the government would have the power to intervene in any child’s life to advance its definition of “the best interests of the child.” The scenarios that could occur—and are occurring—as a result of this dangerous notion are both manifold and frightening.
Under the UNCRC, instead of following due process, government agencies would have the power to override your parental choices at their whim because they determine what is in “the best interest of the child.”
In essence, the UNCRC applies the legal status of abusive parents to all parents. This means that the burden of proof falls on the parent to prove to the State that they are good parents—when it should fall upon the State to prove that their investigation is not without cause.”
Sen Obama’s global worldview makes us so vulnerable to the UN. I do believe he will erode US sovereignty in favor of his own reputation as an exemplary world citizen.
HSLDA.org posts reports on instances where local social service workers intrude improperly on families all the time. Under the UN treaty, these bureaucrats will trump parents.
There is SO much at stake.
Yet, God may well choose to allow our freedoms to be taken from us in order to turn us to Him. How many times did the Israelites in the OT have to relearn their lesson? Have we made an idol of freedom??
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If Obama wins, I will properly prepare the crow – and a sufficient quantity of adult beverage to wash it down, and I will allow the other side to say “I told you so!” If Obama takes us into the tank – and I believe his leftist-Marxist-make us into Europe policies will – I hope the other side will also prepare their crow and allow me to say “I told you so!”
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Donna, #28, god is a delusion, like a ghost, a fairy or a demon. Thus, your comment doesn’t compute to anything who isn’t part of this delusion. Using this logical of “His will”, why should you be praying because his will is already decided upon. Prayer is a big waste of time. Go out and help someone in your community or mow the lawn or pick you fingernails… anything like this is more useful than prayer.
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Scott,
You don’t believe. I won’t belittle you for that.
We do believe. You belittle our belief rather than engaging in a discussion. Not very tolerant of you…
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MOMOF5, I didn’t belittle anyone. Not one person. If you reread carefully, you’ll find out that I belittled the concept of “prayer” and the concept of god (like a unicorn). There is nothing intolerant about my comments. Intolerance suggests that I don’t have a willingness to let them exist. That, MOMOF5, is simply not the case and is not evidenced in my comments on this blog.
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Scott – 36
Mom of 5 is EXACTLY RIGHT, you did belittle, and further more, you deny what you did – You are either seeking attention by making such vile statements, or you actually believe such tripe, in either case you lose more than you may ever realize until your life is over -
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To Scott
Does it take a certain amount of gall for you to state there is no God?
I mean to say there is no God means you almost have to have a god-like knowledge of the universe.
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Somehow Scott’s perception is more objective and exhaustive than ours to be able to state emphatically that there is NO God.
By what criterion and instruments did you measure that data Scott?
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“I’ve been disappointed for the last 8 years with the presidency of the guy I voted for…twice.”
Don’t make the McSame mistake this time
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To Make It Man and Scott
Why is the burden of proof on people who belive there is a God?
What are the odds the the planet Earth could sustain life in this vast universe?
Trillions to 1?
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There are several powerful arguments for the existence of God, and each of them can be dismissed by an atheist as not being proof, and I’d agree with them. The curious thing is that cumulatively, they make an even more powerful argument, so much so, that the atheist begins to look foolish to continue his belief in morality, beauty, and truth – not to mention his confidence in his own rationality.
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The atheist is in a curious position, that of denying God’s existence, while all the time affirming that which he actively undermines in his denial.
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#37, name the person I belittled? What is his/her name? There is a difference between belittling a person and a religion or a concept. Unicorns rule the world is not worthy of discussion because it’s just silly.
#38, how much gall do you have to say that allah doesn’t rule the universe? Is there gall is saying that a unicorn doesn’t exist? See, we agree on most delusions EXCEPT one! We’re more alike than not.
#39, what data? Also, I can be convinced of anything, gimme the evidence and proof. Can you be convinced of non-existence of god?
#41, because you make the assertion/allegation.
#43, yes, in exactly the same way you deny a belief in allah. Again, we’re more alike than different.
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To Scott
You gave 5 “rebuttals” and said absolutely nothing. But luckily you came back to your example of the unicorns.
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Scott,
Are you sure you understand what I said?
My denial of the existence of Allah has nothing to do with the Atheist’s dillema of having no foundation for his belief in morals, beauty, and truth, because he has denied the existence of an ultimate Person that establishes those absolutes. If anything, my belief system, as far as those issues go, line up more closely with the Muslim. We differ more than you think on this.
If you were speaking of similarity in our humanity, and fallen-ness then I would wholeheartedly agree.
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Scott:
Y’know, there’s something about skeptics like yourself I just don’t get. You profess no belief in the One who wrote the information in your DNA, and yet, you still come onto a magazine blog site populated by theistic believers. Why? This is utterly irrational by your own standards, unless you’re “slumming” or getting off by mocking us. And yet, you’ll act as if you are completely in the right for doing something without any logic or meaning in your worldview.
If you professed disagreement, that would be respectful. I can respect atheists courageous enough to admit their disagreements. But when you hold yourself up as being aloof and better, that begets pride. You show yourself then as simply an adherent to a competing belief system, be it humanism or atheism.
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Oh MIM, I am pretty sure I understand that argument. It’s not new. However, by likening yourself to a muslim (and thus your god to allah), do you undermine your argument against allah? Let me know if the answer is “Yes” then we can talk more. If the answer is no then you totally understand but refuse to extend the same courtesy to me.
#47, Why? The safest place is in the mouth of the wolf. Aloof and better? Perhaps you can offer the citation where I said that or alluded to it because if I did, I’d like to know where so I can correct my behavior. I didn’t malign anyone, just a (all) religion, prayer, a sky pixie and a belief is something that isn’t and can’t be proven. And, merely BEING an atheist (or a Christian or a Muslim or a Morman or an “Evolutionist”) has an intrinsic quality of being in disagreement to something. I believe that I professed my disagreement (and waste) of prayer.
What do you call someone who doesn’t believe in Pink flying elephants with argyle legs? An aflyingargyleleggedelepantist? We all start out atheist and learn to be otherwise. Think about it.
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“However, by likening yourself to a muslim (and thus your god to allah), do you undermine your argument against allah? Let me know if the answer is “Yes” then we can talk more. If the answer is no then you totally understand but refuse to extend the same courtesy to me.”
Well if you understand my argument, I certainly don’t understand yours here. Can you elucidate? I am not sure if my answer is yes or no…. or even why it’s applicable.
I liken myself (or the Christian world view) to a Muslim only in that there is an ultimate Person in that world view, and therefore one has the possibility for a foundation for morality, beauty, and truth.
After that the attributes of each belief system begin to diverge significantly. I’m not sure how this applies to “extending the same courtesy” since Atheism is as different from Theism as night and day?
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Scott, Make it Man, and others: You have interesting dialogue taking place here, but it’s not related to the subject of this thread. In the future, tangent discussions should take place over on the Whirled Views thread. Thank you!
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Scott, your comments about Christians and their beliefs are nasty. There is this word “rephrase.” You may wish to take it under advisement when responding to Momof5.
Drill asks: “Well, can we pray for somebody even as we work to get them impeached?”
Yes. I prayed for Bill Clinton, and I also prayed that he would be impeached.
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Take it outside boys….
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We Democrats will be as gracious and understanding as the Republicans have been to us for the last 8 years. Remember how they called us “traitors” and questioned our loyalty to America for opposing President Bush over the last 8 years? Well, if Obama becomes President, we are prepared to be just as “nice” as they were us. Fair is fair.
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Ah, now that’s taking the high road.
The nastiness has gone both ways. We can’t control what other people do or say (on either side). But we can control how we personally behave.
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It’s cute to see who is already calling uncle.
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