The election is over; no more campaign ads, no more mudslinging, no more of the calls trying to get out the vote, but the same disrespect that has plagued this election still exists.  People say that they’re going to move to Canada if either McCain or Obama is elected or that they’re going to kill themselves, or walking around muttering about Nobama or calling him Osama; obviously people aren’t actually going to move or kill themselves–they are just being dramatic. We need to stop the ignorant disrespect.

This type of name-calling and flippant impertinence has been going both ways, the Democrats did it during both of the last two elections with current President George Bush and it was wrong then too. Obama won fair and square, so it’s time to stop being bitter and deal with it, show some class and respect because he’s our president. Go ahead and disagree with him and his policy, that is the right of the people––but make sure you are educated on the topic and be respectful, because there is no reason to be negative just for the sake of being negative. When criticizing a leader, the motive should not be to degrade them simply because they weren’t your favorite, but to generate a healthy discussion that looks at their policy differences.

John McCain did a phenomenal job of accepting his defeat and pledging his support for Obama in his concession speech. Throughout the speech he quieted the boo’s of the crowd at the mention of Obama and told them it was important to support Obama now. Bravo, Senator McCain, now everyone else needs to follow suit. Politicans across the country have echoed his call for cooperation.

This election has been a rollercoaster but we all knew that only one person could win it and the foundation of our government is that the president (and all officeholders for that matter) are elected and win by majority rule. While not all Americans love Obama, it is our responsibility as citizens to stand behind and if nothing else, respect our President even if we don’t agree exactly with his views.