Election 2016

On Monday and Tuesday, I was seeing posts about how it is almost over. Today I am seeing posts about how the election is over, and people are glad that it is over and don't want to think about the election anymore. On the one hand, that is great - no more political commercials is always a good thing in my book. However, unlike the World Series, when it is over, it isn't really over. When the Cubs won the World Series, Cubs fans got bragging rights for a year and Indians fans had to go home an lick their wounds, but the members of the Cubs baseball team didn't win control over baseball for the next year. When an election is over, the real work has just begun. 

Too often, politics is treated like sports. We have chosen our teams and too often root for them blindly. Without even realizing what we are voting for or the true consequences of our decision, we make decisions that will hurt not just others, but ourselves, in the long run.

A lot of bad decisions were made in this election cycle on both sides of the aisle. The whole country is going to have to live with the consequences for at least two years, until the midterm elections. So don't stop paying attention. This was not game 7 of the World Series. This was game 115 of a series with no set end point. We have elected America's 115th Congress. In two year we will elect the 116th, and the game goes on. But remember, it is not just a game. It has real consequences for America and the whole World. Pay attention to how your decisions affect you, your friends, neighbors, the rest of the country, and the rest of the world.