Why can't we be friends?

I'm not going to wax poetic about yesterday's election as Tom Brokaw did after NBC and various other news outlets called the race last night because I certainly am not as refined as Brokaw and really, I think the significance of the election stands on its own merit.

As I was bumbling around online while watching returns last night, I was paying particular attention to my Facebook status update feed. I have tremendous balance among my friends when it comes to political affiliations. In other words, there was practically a war going on in my feed as the results came in:

[redacted] is thrilled I won't have to choose between Canada, Australia and the UK.
[redacted] is very disappointed...but praying that everything will somehow still be OK.
[redacted] is ear to ear. Ear to fucking ear. OBAMA!
[redacted] is glad her hope doesn't rest in any mortal man.
[redacted] is doing a happy dance and is proud of her country.
[redacted] LETS GO SOCIALISM!!!!
[redacted] is time to pack your bags Sarah!! Bye bye! Go Obama!!
[redacted] is Huckabee 2012!
[redacted] is yelling... YES WE DID!!!
[redacted] i hope all of you who voted this commie bastard in are fuckin broke in no time...fuckin jackasses. you deserve it! eat me...im movin to australia!

(OK, I'm not going to lie -- good riddance to the last one, a former schoolmate and not necessarily a friend. I don't tolerate that kind of attitude from either side.)

What I'm getting at is that no election creates a united country. There are lots of people celebrating while others are upset. Whatever side of the ticket you're on, please be sensitive in these next few weeks to aid the country in its effort to heal from a very long, divisive campaign cycle. The sky isn't going to fall because Obama was elected, nor will things change overnight. Let's all be patient.

If you need some warm fuzzies to help you, then try this:



And as always, keep the comments civil. I will not hesitate to kick comments of any political persuasion off this post for being tasteless or incendiary.