I hate election season; that said, I wish to release this statement:

There’s no need to leave the country just because Bush won. We…well, okay, I won’t speak for everyone. But at least I still respect (most of) you. I believe that reasonable people can disagree. I just hope to see a return to discussing facts and reason over rumor and emotion.

Having just watched Kerry’s concession speech, I think it’s worth noting that he seemed…well, confident. I suppose that the extremests who supported Kerry only because they couldn’t support Dean won’t understand why that is, but I hope that the rest of the liberals in the audience see that and know that there is no coming apocalypse. The world continues to spin, the sun continues to burn, the squirrels still leave acorns strewn about campus.

Incidentally, did anyone else notice that Bush mentioned “reform the outdated tax code” (or words to that effect) in his acceptance speech? He can raise himself in my eyes from “pretty good guy” to “personal hero” status if he does in fact successfully pull that off. “Minor deity” is still available if he simultaneously reduces the deficit (but that seems extremely unlikely).

As both candidates closed: God Bless America.