Hail to the Chief

Going to press on Election Day relieves the columnist of the temptation to prognosticate. The race has been unduly long, with many twists, turns, gobbledygook and just plain bull-feathers as stock daily fare from stumps that have circled the entire fifty states. Now someone crosses the finish line among many cheers and tears -- and great joyous victory or the acute and terrible sense of loss. It has been entertaining as well as emotionally satisfying to watch the transfer of immense power without more than verbal struggles honoring our Constitution.

One ex-president said that the constant playing of "Hail to the Chief" was the most annoying aspect of the pomp associated with the job -- or one he missed more when his term was over. Today we give our pledge to the victor and also our promise to constitute a loyal opposition to the one we did not choose, if it comes out that way. There is no office anywhere in the world which requires more effort than that of the American presidency, and that is why it is worthwhile to engage in living through the world's longest civics lesson every four years. On a personal note, remembering all the votes this senior has made constitutes a mosaic of our very history being collected and so honored. One looks back over our collective shoulder to place the events in a sort of perspective that is a work in progress. What happens in America is noted with sometime anxiety by our neighbors and more often with wonder in the world. A study of American history is a recognition of cycles which we must learn to anticipate so we may prevent the sadness of economic loss or the terrors of war and its sequelae.

On a sour note, we did view with alarm all the dirty tricks of "robo" calls, false or out-of-context remarks made and morphed into purported scandal or unfitness for office. A contest between gentlemen ought to be kept on a presidential level instead of the gutter which both sides went to. On a self-congratulatory part of the campaigns; it has been the very first time we have even considered a black man or a woman seriously for the highest office in the land. One ventures the opinion we are growing up as a nation and together as a people. We are proudly diverse folk who have finally learned to accept and promote that inclusion of those who are not the same we have done in our past. We have finally rid ourselves of the old stereotypes (white male) and it is to our immense credit that we have finally done it.

(A final note: thank our Lord it's over at last!)