A More Perfect Union

I am writing this on the evening of the mid-term election of 2010; I don't have a clue (as of yet) who has won the vote today. I don't even know who is leading according to any exit polls.

I just want to say that I am proud -- dadgum proud -- to be an American.

When I went to vote this evening, it struck me that I am a part of one of the most elite  and fortunate minorities in the history of the world. I get to have a say in how my life is governed and lived. I am a free member of the greatest society ever constructed on the face of the earth.

People who lived in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, and even medieval Europe did not have the privilege that I have. They never got a vote when the Pharaoh or the Emperor or the Kings of England, France, or Spain were deciding their fates.

Even in the history of our own great nation, not every one of us has always had the right to vote. Though we were founded on the self-evident truth that "all men are created equal," not every man was -- equal, that is. Red men, black men, men of practically any color but white weren't "equal" enough for too many years after our founding.

And women! Geez, oh Pete, women just weren't considered smart enough or "equal" enough to vote, either, until less than a hundred years ago in America!

I don't know who will win today -- whether there will be a new Republican majority, or a continuing Democratic stranglehold, or a split-down-the-middle stalemate, or even a thorough Tea Party rebellion. But I do know this.

I saw America working today; I saw people of every color, shape, gender, sexual preference, and political persuasion exercising one of the most precious privileges ever given to a nation. We voted. We counted.

And we helped to push the boundary a little further toward that "more perfect Union" our forebears saw 223 years ago.

I, for one, am grateful and will abide by the decisions of the people of the United States. I will seek to do so without grumbling unduly, acting uncharitably, speaking unthinkingly, or obstructing justice in any way.

This is my country; we are the United States of America. And today, I hope you'll join me as we stand proud -- together!

God bless the USA!