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wonder and thankfulness

My heart hurts for the people of Iran and their turmoil. In the 2000 US presidential election, I feared our country could very well be headed the same direction. I think everyone breathed a sigh of relief when 2004 ended without much contention. But it also makes me stop and think about how truly dramatic and impressive our democratic republic and its transfer of power is. So many times we hear of murder, civil protests, hunger strikes, military abuse, police brutality and voter fraud when we hear of nations during election time. I think of Belarus, and how one of the last three presidential contenders was found dead on a dark road, and the other was mysteriously imprisoned two weeks before election. How can a prisoner be a president? Is it any wonder their President stayed in office? While I didn't vote for Obama and I'm not crazy about many of his policies, I am still very proud of our country and its peaceful transition of power. I was thankful the Bush's exited with integrity, didn't vandalize and demean the White House like its earlier predecessors did, and for the most part have refrained from criticizing the current administration. If I were Bush, I'd have probably come out and said, "Uhhuh. Told you so." after Obama reneged on his promise to close Guantanamo. But we never heard a word from the man.
I have never witnessed people dying in the streets after an election. I have witnessed panicked poll officials when we had missing ballots, and I witnessed their dedication and integrity as we counted, recounted, and counted again to ensure the total, and we refused to sign off as if everything was okay. What does that say about our nation?
I like to think that our nation will always have a peaceful transfer of power. Yet I fear as we continue to "every man do that which is right in his own eyes" that peace will slowly erode. For as we eliminate absolute standards, we will eliminate the very principles that give us orderly transfers of power.
For now I am thankful. But I also wonder how many more election cycles will occur before such a news story as Iran will be the US.
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