In a time when our nation needs to come together more than ever, there are still some out there who have decided that the politics of division are still the way to go.
I just read a letter where the writer states he's surprised that people are praising Obama and has heard him referred to as the messiah. You know I was surprised at how many people called him a socialist, a terrorist, and un-American because of the company he might have kept, even though John McCain's list of known shady associates was far worse and more menacing and that his running mate looked more and more like a fraud the more her executive record was looked into.
The writer states that the reason Obama won some counties in Indiana was because black citizens voted for him because he is black. Using this same logic one can conclude that the counties that McCain won were because white citizens in those counties voted for him because he was white. Is this what our country has been reduced to?
He states that by looking at the national map, one sees an overwhelmingly red map. He states that a vast majority of the map was red. But if you count the states, Obama actually won 28 and McCain won 22. Obama won the electoral vote 365 to McCain's 173. Obama won the popular vote 52.3 percent to McCain's 46.2 percent. That's a 6.1 percent margin. 66.1 million people voted for Obama while 57.8 million voted for McCain. That's over an 8 million vote difference.
Many have decided that somehow Obama's victory was not legit. They will tell us that it doesn't matter that the politics of fear and division were overwhelmingly repudiated on election night. That the voices of over 66 million Americans should be ignored and that the campaign should continue until their side wins.
If many feel this way, then it really doesn't matter who the president is. There will be no improvement. There will be no unity. Our differences will continue to be exploited, as they have been for the last eight years, and our nation will suffer for it.
When I was in college, getting an education and becoming what Republicans call an elitist, I would hear many people from foreign countries tell me that the only thing that prevents America from being as great as it can be, are Americans themselves. That we chose leaders who think small thoughts and accomplish little. That we wrap ourselves in our flag and patriotism while wiping our feet on the ideals of our founding fathers and thumbing our noses at the constitution and the declaration of independence. I argued and defended America against these accusations. But this last presidential campaign showed a very ugly side of America and I fear that we might be our own worst enemy. That we will not heed the call for unification and fall into the same divided country of the last eight years. We are still the greatest country in the world, but if we never overcome our differences and unite, then we will never reach our great potential as a nation.
Robert Betances
Warsaw, via e-mailEditor's Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limit stated in our Letters Policy.
