This is the day!\u00a0 While surely many will thank God that such denotes the end of the inundation of political advertising, today also marks the anniversary of the Intramuralist.\u00a0 Four years ago on election day, this blog began.\u00a0 My reason for writing that day was because my strong sense was the wisdom shared would be the same regardless of the election\u2019s outcome.<\/p>\n
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We then posted the following:<\/p>\n
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TOP 10 THINGS I LEARNED FROM THIS ELECTION CYCLE:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 9.\u00a0 Tina Fey is a comedic genius.<\/em><\/p>\n 8.\u00a0 Limericks using \u201cObama\u201d can be fun (\u201cHomearama\u201d\u2026 yo momma\u2026).<\/em><\/p>\n 7.\u00a0 Jesus would not be a Democrat OR a Republican.<\/em><\/p>\n 6.\u00a0 Objectivity in the media cannot be assumed.<\/em><\/p>\n 5.\u00a0 No party has a true grasp of all that encompasses social justice.<\/em><\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 \u201cFeminism\u201d does not mean \u201cin support of all women.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 People need to pray for our nation more than once every 4 years.<\/em><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t know how to respect those with whom they disagree.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And for this playful artist\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1.\u00a0 Both Presidential and \u2018Veep\u2019 candidates will be fun to caricature over the next 4 years!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As for this current election cycle, many of the above observations were again made manifest, although I would also add the following:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 10 MORE THINGS I LEARNED FROM THIS ELECTION CYCLE:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 10.\u00a0 A combined campaign costing approx. $2 billion cannot be a process that\u2019s pure.<\/em><\/p>\n 9.\u00a0 Hope and change mean different things to different people.<\/em><\/p>\n 8.\u00a0 Racial and religious discrimination is still alive on planet Earth \u2014 and often in more places than vocal victims claim it to be.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>7. \u00a0Vice Presidents don\u2019t require polished speaking skills.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>6. \u00a0Budgets make politicians financially accountable.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>5. \u00a0Government mandated health care is divisive.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>4. \u00a0First ladies always have a cool side.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>3. \u00a0Debates matter.<\/em><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 Spending is far easier than saving.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And…<\/em><\/p>\n 1. A President Romney wouldn\u2019t be as much fun to caricature\u00a0\u2014 although Paul Ryan, that’s a different story! \u00a0(Sorry, friends… it\u2019s all about the facial features…)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The reality is that on Wednesday, our country has a lot of work to do.\u00a0 First, we have to recognize that many candidates (on the federal, state, and local level)<\/em> intentionally divided the country in order to spur on their own election.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s not as self-serving as we\u2019re oft inclined to conclude, as many candidates believe so deeply in both their articulated and unarticulated agendas, that the end justifies their divisive means.\u00a0 Allow me to simply say that if I ever ran for office, I would hope to not fall prey to such alienating activity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Also, after intentionally investing in the sewing up our nation\u2019s political scars, we must then tackle a run-away economic situation and get control of our nation\u2019s debt.\u00a0 We must return to and embrace our (responsible)<\/em> fiscal and (thus also moral) <\/em>roots.\u00a0 Regardless of how passionate any<\/em><\/strong> of us is about any<\/em><\/strong> budget category or entitlement, our spending patterns over the past 12 years cannot be sustained; our fiscal fragility must be aggressively addressed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Enough of that.\u00a0 Happy Anniversary, friends!\u00a0 Thanks for modeling respectful dialogue with me and one another.\u00a0 You have done your job well!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And here\u2019s to 2016!\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019ll be running.\u00a0 More likely, I suspect, I\u2019ll be busy with new caricatures.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Respectfully,<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is the day!\u00a0 While surely many will thank God that such denotes the end of the inundation of political advertising, today also marks the anniversary of the Intramuralist.\u00a0 Four years ago on election day, this blog began.\u00a0 My reason for writing that day was because my strong sense was the wisdom shared would be … <\/p>\n\n