So, in case you haven't heard, President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term in office. Both sides vowed to come together in a spirit of unity and work for what was best for the country instead of their own partisanship goals.
Bwahaha! That last was a joke on my part, in an attempt to cheer myself up today. Because of course, as a friend of mine aptly put it, it didn't matter who won the election this go round, half the country was going to be unhappy. And she was right.
I am unhappy for two reasons today. The first is that my candidate lost this time. Like many, I'd hoped for a different outcome this election. The second reason I'm unhappy is that James is not moving back to Florida as I'd hoped. What does that have to do with the election, you ask? Nothing, but it's contributing to my all around bad mood.
It doesn't help that I stayed up far later than I should have to watch election coverage and talk with James on the phone. This means I spent a lot of today sleeping and Not Getting Stuff Done. This does not make a happy columnist.
But let's look at what we have here. President Obama won. Fair and square, he got a majority of the electoral votes. It is what it is. The question now is, what happens next?
If looking at Facebook is any indication, both sides are as far apart as ever. Many of the winners lost no time in letting the rest of us know we'd lost. (At least this is how it appears the day after; I ignored Facebook election night on purpose). Many on my side of the issues bemoaned what is happening to the country, if the election results were any indication. I worried about friends of mine and their state of thought and was prepared, in spite of my own feelings, to talk people off ledges today.
At least we don't have a repeat of the election of 2000, which neither side wanted as far as I know. That is one bright light to look at in this mess.
Another bright spot is this: when I got up this morning, the sun was up, it was pleasant outside and I still lived in the United States of America, which is still a pretty good country to live in. Yes, we are having trials now in this country, and we all have very different ideas on how to deal with the problems now facing us. But we are still Americans, and we can still deal with what's going on.
I really believe that we can still avoid the fiscal cliff ahead of us if we will only work together to do so. I don't think any American, conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, wants to sail off that cliff. This means letting go of our disappointment and finding ways to work under the circumstances. I'm not saying it's going to be easy or fun - but it's either that or build a bunker and wait for Armageddon. I choose to try to salvage our nation, not write it off. I hope all Americans make the same choice.
On a more positive note, I will be doing a book signing today for my novel, "Dead Hypocrites," which is now a print book as well as an ebook. It'll be at Brewster's Coffee House on U.S. 27 from 3-5:30 p.m. I'd love a chance to meet my readers, so if you're free this afternoon, come on by. I promise I'll be in a better mood.
Laura Ware is a Sebring resident. She can be contacted by e-mail at bookwormlady@
embarqmail.com Visit her website at www.laurahware.com. Guest columns are the opinion of the writer, not necessarily those of the staff of the News-Sun.
Sunday, November 11, 2012 - www.newssun.com/col-111112-ware