Pray for the loser

[ElfDude]

I just read a column that I thought put some things in perspective, and thought I'd share it with you.

I WILL PRAY FOR THE LOSER

Today I pray for the winner, that he will wisely lead our country. And today I pray for the loser, that he won?t tear our country apart.

For months we have been told this is the most important election of our lifetimes. Those predictions may prove correct.

Not because of who wins.

But because of who loses.

For two centuries the voice of the people has been the voice of the people. The system has been held inviolate, and lust for power has never eclipsed love of country. There has been a means of transferring power, a peaceful shift from one leader to the next, a uniqueness among the empires of history.

It was more important to do what was right for the country than it was to be the president of the United States. Integrity counted for something and the presidency could be won, but it could not be stolen. There was always enough honor to guarantee that.

But then there was 2000 and the new millennium dawned with an old evil. In the mystery of a dangling chad democracy hung in the balance and the voice of the lawyers supplanted the voice of the people. A bloodless coup was attempted and one man didn?t know how to lose.

The fear is that that will happen again.

The likelihood is that that will happen again.

The appearances are that one candidate and one party have established as their back-up strategy the theft of something they could not win. Lawsuits have already been lodged and more will follow if the slightest pretext can be conjured.

It will be a legal and propaganda assault on the integrity of our electoral system, a purposeful sowing of division and discontent. An attack on the fabric of common trust that holds our Republic together.

A narrow win will be described as a theft, and phantom voters will be declared ?disenfranchised.? Panderers and preachers who have never held office will pit one part of society against another and the tension of the election will be replaced by the anger of the aftermath.

It seems that some would tear the country apart in order to rule over the broken pieces. And so they cavalierly endanger the bond that has held our nation peacefully together for so long. Their rhetoric seems less suited to a political campaign than it does to a civil war.

And we collectively hold our breath for fear they will assail the certainty of a presidential election.

So I will pray for the winner.

And I will pray for the loser.

And I will know that the loser by his bad deeds has the potential to do our nation more harm than the winner by his good deeds has the potential to do our nation benefit. Growth comes little by little, but destruction can come in a whirlwind.

And for two centuries we have built public acceptance of and loyalty to our electoral process. We have had rule of law in the most fundamental arenas of power. Just once has a presidential choice been rejected, and it led to a civil war. For 140 years the memory of that bloodletting has disciplined our craving for power. It has kept ambition on a chain.

But that chain now seems in danger of breaking. And the ground beneath our feet seems in danger of rumbling. I fear that the loser won?t do the right thing.

I fear that the loser will try to tear us apart.

I fear that an opportunity to lead by example and dignity, and selfless service to the Republic, will be turned away and lost. I fear that a day or a week or a month from now we may not know who our president will be, and we may not trust the decision even if we do.

I will pray for the winner.

And I will pray for the loser.

And I will pray that the difference is clear. That there are margins in the states and a certainty in the Electoral College. The Founding Fathers knew the danger of electoral uncertainty and provided a way to make it sure, a voting of electors and an ease of taking a count.

I will pray that tonight?s tabulations escape the distortions of the media and the larcenies of the lawyers.

I want there to be a winner and I want there to be a loser.

And I want the loser to be noble enough to stand up and concede. To recognize that he lost and offer his best wishes to the winner and the Republic.

I want the loser to direct the thousands of party minions and hacks ready to do his bidding to abandon their efforts and consider the matter closed.

I want the loser to lead, even in electoral failure.

Because our politics have endangered us. And it will take more than just the winner to strengthen us tonight.

It will also take the loser.

Only one can be the president, but they both must be patriots. And before the one can lead, the other must bind.

We need them both to serve.

One tonight, and the other for the next four years.

- by Bob Lonsberry ? 2004

[happysmilies007]

aww..that's awesome, ElfDude. i love it. i hope the loser'll be a good sport this election..but somehow i doubt it!

carolynn

[awip2062]

Amen!

[ElfDude]

Well... hats off to Kerry. I heard on the news last night that he had a team of 10,000 lawyers ready to strike in the event of a narrow Bush victory. But he conceded. Granted, the Edwards and Kerry concession speeches were the weirdest concession speeches I've heard. But, they were still concession speeches, and I'm grateful to them for being noble enough to make them.