Soul Food Friday for the week of Veteran’s Day 2020: We CAN Get There From Here

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

We CAN Get There from Here
By Ken D & Neville B

The most votes in a US Presidential election have been cast, with Donald Trump garnering more votes than any other candidate in the history of the United States, except for Joe Biden.

Now, results from a deeply divided country continue to trickle in, both at the top and through to the bottom of the ballot. As anticipated, about half our country has to absorb, make sense of, and adjust to present realities in our collective efforts toward charting our course forward in service of the future of our beloved but fractured nation.

It is a proud testament to American democratic ideals that so many of us exercised our right to vote. That said, simply voting in this election, might in hindsight, turn out to be the second most important decision of our lifetimes, not the first as speculated by both sides during this lengthy, polarizing and divisive election season.

After nearly a week of excruciating uncertainty in the national ballot counting enterprise, the presidential election was called on Saturday. Within minutes of one another, news channels, on all the major networks and on both ends of the political spectrum, declared Joe Biden the President Elect. Now, headlines across America and some parts of the world will read either “Trump Loses”, or “Biden Wins”.

Whether you’re dancing in the streets in jubilation and relief, or find yourself in a state of abject disbelief, disappointment and despair, the decisions you and I will make in the coming hours, days and weeks, regardless of which side of the political aisle you choose to position yourself on will, in our opinion, turn out to be the most important decision we make with respect to the future of our country.

We see four basic choices:

First, if your candidate won, your default choice might be to gloat; self-righteously rubbing the noses of everybody on the other side, including family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers and strangers in their frustration, humiliation and defeat. Exuberant expressions of victory are one thing. Mean-spirited gloating is another.

Second, is the choice to feed that beast of rageful anger, despair and/or grief by taking up arms with conspiracy theorists and those who are determined to vengefully contest the election at all costs? Legal issues supported by evidence must always be explored, but contempt prior to investigation is something else altogether.

Third, is the choice to temperately and rationally determine if there is in fact, a substantial, legal basis for contesting and/or challenging the results of this election? There arguably will be claims, investigations and possibly even recounts in the most closely contested areas in the weeks to come. Based on the evidence, if nothing untoward is found, will the disaffected be willing to suspend their disbelief, moving forward constructively and accepting the reality of the results?

Fourth is the inspired choice to join those in your community and across the nation who are determined to co-create a positive path forward for our cherished democracy? Will we be willing to come together with diehard patriots from the other side who are equally committed to building a trans-partisan roadmap to begin the healing, reconciliatory rebuilding of our deeply divided nation? Would you be willing to roll up your sleeves to help till the soil of common ground on which we can build the kind of safe, just and prosperous nation we all want for ourselves, our kids, our grandkids and future generations?

Once again, the whole world is watching. Particularly our kids, so let us lead by example.

When the “future you” is being held to account; either by our own selves, or by the next generation(s) and are asked point blank where you stood on those fateful days in 2020, and asked whether you chose to encourage the divided states of America or united states of America, what will you say?

The most important question of the day, today is, “How will you and I elect to get there from here?” We think it is crystal clear what will happen if we choose gloating and/or vengeance. Oppositional defiantly disordered liberals and conservatives can only contribute to the increased escalation of dangerously political civil unrest. Without self-regulation our worst nature spills out of our heads and hearts into the streets, society, and by extension into our government.

Choosing instead to allow the courts to weigh the evidence of any electoral wrongdoing, evaluate whether it was enough to materially change the results of this election, and as needed support the transition of power will help our nation find its best path forward from 2020.

We are a great democracy in the throes of a historic and evolving experiment to create a more perfect union. Let’s all take some time to process, decompress, and recover from the stress of this vitriolic election, while giving others the grace to do the same- all while staying COVID safe and characterologically strong in our collective resolve to set the table for America’s best possible future as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday. Please elect to support those who are doing what is best for America’s health and wellbeing, give our democratic institutions a chance to succeed, while personally modeling leadership by rolling up your sleeves and doing your part in voting America First. And let us ensure that our current leaders will follow suit.

We can get there from here. Please do the right thing. It is the right thing to do!

Speaking of Inspiring Veterans that were willing to come together with diehard patriots from the other side…

John McCain’s Concession Speech from the 2008 Election Has Gone Viral with Over 12 Million Views

Here it is (4 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Mba8ncBso

On a lighter note-
Brilliant Puns:

Thanks this week go to Ken D, Chris B, Bob C, and to all of you that serve and sacrifice for the betterment of humanity!
Please pay it forward
Love,
Neville