Regardless of how you filled out your ballot this year, there’s likely to be some election outcome that makes you unhappy, whether it’s who gets to go to (or stay in) D.C. or Denver, or one of the umpteen ballot measures.
While Rio Blanco County voted as expected on most items, I was surprised by how close some of the ballot measures were. Several of the local term limit questions were close calls, with just a few votes between them.
I’m proud of our county for casting our ballots in ever increasing numbers. At the same time, I’m troubled by how divided we are on so many issues, locally and nationwide, partisan and nonpartisan, and how far away we are from even approaching the idea of compromise. It reminds me of the scripture: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”
We’ve been declaring the United States of America “indivisible” for decades. Are we? Or have we been lying to ourselves? Are we only indivisible if we’re all in agreement on everything? That seems weak. Can we overcome our differences and remain “we the people,” or will we continue to allow ourselves to be divided up as “we the conservatives” or “we the liberals,” and “we the Republicans” or “we the Democrats”? If we allow the divisions to persist, if we can’t figure out a way to come to terms with one another — especially when we have differing opinions and points of view — we’re in deeper trouble than we realize.
When we tootle off to the grocery this week or head out to the post office to gather our first blissfully political-ad-free mail in weeks, let’s remember that we’re all part of the same community and we need to have each other’s backs. When trouble comes knocking, it’s not the politicians in Denver or D.C. who show up at the door with a casserole or a kind word, it’s our friends and neighbors and community members.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
