Who’s the Winner?

In an election in the US, you always know who won. You know even before it happens.

Really.

Every citizen wins when a free people elects it’s leaders. Influence is given. Authority is granted. In the US, the government is “of the people.” Every person living in a nation that elects it’s own leaders is a winner. Any person alive with the opportunity to freely participate in the selection and success of the leadership is a winner. You can’t call it anything else.

And even if you don’t think much of the US or you feel the US is less than it could be, remember freedom is a double-edged sword. It comes with responsibility. We get the government and the elected officials, and the policy we really want. For that matter we get the media and the morals and the society we really want too.

So if the election didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to, remember regardless of the outcome, you won today. You won yesterday and you’ll win tomorrow too. Because you’re a part of the greatest idea of self-government in the history of the world. You’re a winner because you are free to join the discourse and work to change the world again tomorrow.

Will we accept the responsibility we have to continue to make that idea of self-government work? That’s up to the winners… What do you say?

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