For the past year, we've been arguing about some of the dumbest issues to reach national attention since Kim Kardashian's sex tape. We all know the economy is circling the drain and should take precedence, yet we can't seem to stop getting flustered over religious nonsense and civil rights questions that should have been settled years ago. But that is all over, for a little while anyway.
So where do we go from here?
Congress, the men and women who can actually affect the way things go during the next four years, hasn't really changed. The Democrats control the Senate and Republicans control the House of Representatives, and they hate each other just as much as they always have. Much of the political gridlock that has occured during President Barack Obama's first term came from the extreme polarization of these two legislative bodies.
Democrats blame Republicans for the mess our country is in, and Republicans have spent so much time trying to get President Obama out of office their party has turned into a hollow caricature of what it used to be. We all have our political alliances, but hopefully the more clear-minded among us can see the harmful tendencies of partisan politics.
Maybe the mood in Washington will be different this time around. Without the burnden of trying to win a second term, President Obama could focus his time and energy on rallying Congress to do some actual work.
Is it too much to ask our elected officials to do their job? We don't think so.
Sure, conservatives are upset, which they have the right to be, but that is no reason we can't bury the hatchet and prevent a catastrophic economic collapse. Believe it or not, it doesn't matter who the president is when it comes to our nation's ability to achieve great things. If we were able to work together, a potato could run the country.
It may not be ideal for some people, but we need to forget about the division of the past four years. If your candidate won, good for you; if not, better luck next time. The most important thing right now is our ability to work together for the good of the nation, not just our superficial political party.
We want to wish President Obama the best of luck, but we know it's going to take a serious group effort to make things better. Our cooperation is our redemption.
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