My wish for today's election

While wondering what to blog about today, I thought about today's election. I began to think to myself, it's election day, what do I want from this election? Those of you who have been following my blog know that I rarely talk about politics of any sort. However, this being the first election to occur with me living outside the US, it seems somehow appropriate to talk about it. So, what do I wish for this election?

...I wish that whomever is elected would begin to return America to a place that embraces differences, uniqueness, and the beauty of multi-culturalism

...I wish for the country our founding fathers envisioned with the freedom of speech granted by our Constitution

...I wish for a country where people who offer honest and well-intentioned criticism of the path we are taking are not branded as "traitors", "liberals", or any other term intended to be derogatory

... I wish for a place where the leader of the country is willing to listen to people attempting to change his mind rather than creating "Free Speech Zones" so that he does not have to hear them

...I wish for an electorate that views the actual issues and ignores the stones being cast by each candidate at the other

...I wish for a trouncing for BOTH the Republicans and the Democrats so that both parties may take a serious look at themselves and the direction in which they are moving

... I wish that the changes wrought in this election and the next one would bring back an America that makes me proud - proud of its firm adherence to the liberties promised in our Constitution; proud of its treating of everyone the same, rather than singling one group to be discriminated against; proud of leaders who are not constantly engaged in activities that, when discovered, will cause scandals.

So, maybe my wishes are over-ambitious. But, they are what they are.

Happy wishing!