Wednesday, November 7, 2012

A Painful Night...

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.  The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.” 
- Alexis de Tocqueville


Mae woke up last night at 3 am screaming in terror and, even awake, continued to scream and scream at the top of her lungs, even as I held her close and kissed her little forehead over and over again.  

After the election results last night, I couldn't help but kind of feel the same way.  I say "kind of" because I'm used to being disappointed in political election results, especially at the national level, and while I do feel like this election was more important than many of the others we have seen, you can only have your hope crushed so many times before it doesn't quite rebound in the same way.  Sure I still find myself hoping... I went to bed praying that Romney wouldn't concede, what with a 200,000 person lead at that point, although the electoral college already looked like a hopeless loss (and yes, I understand how it works... I understand that we're a republic and not a democracy, my $100,000+ political science degree is not a complete and utter waist...).

I was hopeful that I wouldn't be raising daughters in a country with a president whose election runs crude campaign ads and tells women to vote with their lady parts.  I was hoping for a president that didn't act as if he believed that the exercise of one's religious liberty was something that desperately needed to be scrapped off of the first amendment, like gum off the bottom of his shoe.  And most of all, I hoped that we would have a president that hadn't repeatedly promoted the slaughter of the unborn up to birth, and including making sure that any little life that was born alive could be squashed so that the mother wouldn't be "burdened" in any way with her "mistake."

Four more years.  The idea of where we will be frightens me, even with the checks and balances.  Supreme court appointments are incredibly important.  We've already seen what he can do with his executive powers.  We've seen where four years takes us when he's worried about being reelected.

In my most pessimistic moments I feel like our nation voted for the future that we deserve and we will reap what we've sown now.  And in life sometimes the most frightening outcomes are when we get exactly what we deserve (although sadly I don't think the unborn are getting what they deserve at all... just us voting age Americans who've remained silent, or voted for a few more free handouts because we don't think Romney would have been quite so quick redistributing wealth...).

If the majority of Americans feel like the last four years were a disappointment I can't imagine what they think that the next four are going to be like.

As a Catholic I can't help feel that the idea is especially frightening.  As a small business owner trying to make ends meet I feel a bit hopeless.

Now to head to the hospital to have this baby.  I can't help but think that today won't be nearly as painful as yesterday... and that even this hopefully painkiller free birth won't be as painful as what we'll be facing in the next four years on a day to day basis.

Sadly Alexis de Tocqueville's words seem especially fitting this morning...

Let us pray and pray and pray... that we may have the courage and strength to stand up for what is right and to face the persecutions that are to come...

9 comments:

  1. Blessings to you and your little boy today! Congrats in advance and hope all goes well. (from a Longtime reader from Illinois)

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  2. Prayers headed your way as you head off to the hospital. I think that a truly small business owner like you is going to be okay. You have a niche market, you don't have employees to fund health insurance for, you're poor, so the new taxes that will inevitable aren't going to impact on you just yet (not until after Paul is a very successful lawyer and that's still years and years away). Now go have that baby and welcome him into a world where there are saints like Thomas Moore, Ann Line, Margaret Clitheroe, John Fisher, and Edmund Campion already praying for our days ahead.

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  3. Alexis de Tocqueville said it perfectly. People absolutely voted for getting more and more and more free things - as though taxing the rich "a little more" can pay for all of this.

    I am sick. I was so hopeful that Romney might pull through. I am so sick thinking of what is coming next from the POTUS.

    There is a line is a Star Wars movie (I believe the third one) when the emperor takes on basically complete power because of problems in the republic (to all SW buffs, yes, I am hugely summarizing!). Queen Amidala says"So this is how liberty dies—with thunderous applause." This is exactly how I felt watching people clap and clap, so excited to bring in four more years. I am in tears.

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  4. I'll be thinking of you today!!! We don't agree politically but I want you to know I have so much respect for you and enjoy reading your 'blog.

    My prayers and best wishes for safe and wonderful delivery! Much love and hugs.

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  5. The gravity of the night certainly hangs over the seminary this morning, and I have the feeling that most of us are kind of thinking "What now?"

    But on to happier things, at least for the moment. Be assured of my prayers for you and the safe delivery of your baby, and for all of your family.

    -Your servant, a seminarian

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  6. I too have been waffling between sadness, fear, confusion, resentment, and ultimately... hope. I'm resolved that God has asked great things of Catholics, and steadfast faithfulness in dark times. Even now, there is grace. I'm expecting my first child in February, and it terrifies me... But I expect that God has specifically called our children to be born in *this* time for a particular reason, and that the journey for us all towards sainthood is no less diminished by the election results but is actually strengthened. Bless you, Cam. And bless your family!

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  7. This pretty much sums up how I'm feeling. Thanks for giving words to it.

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  8. I completely agree. Oh how frightening the future could be. True patriotism is lost in a wash of handouts.

    I hope your labor goes well. Can't wait to see the newest member of your family.

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  9. Was de Tocqueville prescient, or what? Very scary.

    I'm not necessarily an extreme right-wing ideologue; I actually want some type of universal healthcare (not this type, however): I oppose the death penalty as part of my "conception to natural death" pro-life view: I am open-minded about climate change, and I believe there should be a safety net for the poor and elderly.

    But, I can't help but feel that the nation has sold its soul in exchange for handouts and lowered moral standards. The vitriol expressed towards those who hold "traditional moral values" is chilling, as is the victory of a party who proudly touts its support for the taking of innocent, vulnerable pre-born lives. I am very uneasy these days.

    But, we must pray without ceasing and put our hope in the Lord.

    Cam, I am also praying without ceasing that you have a perfectly uneventful delivery and healthy little boy. God bless!

    Marie

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