And Men Have Lost Their Reason...

Let me preface what I am about to say with this statement: I support freedom of speech. The First Amendment has kept me out of a lot of trouble. As a liberal voter in a solidly red state, my opinion is not often shared by my neighbors, coworkers, or even family members. Free speech is an essential right in American, and while I may disagree, sometimes vehemently, with you, I respect your right to say what's on your mind.

The one exception to this liberty is when a person abuses their right to free speech to incite a riot or violent activity. For example, we all know that it is widely accepted to be wrong to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Another example that I have witnessed in the last 24 hours is promoting, encouraging, or condoning violence against a public official, namely our President-elect, Barack Obama.

I work in a small-town grocery store to pay my way through college. Today, the day after we elected our first black president, the sheer hatred that I saw coming from so-called "good" people absolutely floored me.

I lost count of how many times I was forced to listen to racial epithets and violent tirades. You see, I cannot afford to lose my job. I was stuck, behind a counter, as person after person took shot after shot at everything I believe in.

One lady referred to yesterday as "The Day America Died." I think she might have been right, not because we elected Barack Obama to be our next president, but because of people like her refuse to move on. It is because of people like this ignorant woman, who probably couldn't give one valid reason for using this phrase, other than that it was likely to incite anger, that we cannot get over our differences.

I have engaged in plenty of name-calling and mudslinging throughout this campaign, trying to gain support for my candidate. I admit that. I have gotten into heated arguments over issues and policies. What I did not do was attack McCain's patriotism or his service to our country. I believe that McCain tried to keep his campaign focused on tangible issues (healthcare, taxes, Iraq, etc.), but it was impossible. A group of his supporters, not all of them, but the group that has bullied our nation into submission the last eight years would simply not let this be a clean fight. We were bombarded attacks on Obama's character. He's a Muslim...He's a Socialist...He kills babies...He pals around with terrorists. These are all incendiary accusations that are meant to invoke fear. There is no truth here, but these allegations can be spun to look suspiciously like the truth. For example, 23 percent of Texans believe that Obama is a Muslim. Minimal research shows that this is untrue. However, a closed mind does not wish to dig deeper. Barack Obama doesn't sound like he comes from around here, so he must be a Muslim. The Socialist label? How many people who have called Obama a socialist even know what the hell socialism is? My guess is not many.

I have defended Obama's ideas and proposed policies. The election is over and decided, and I will rest my case for a while. What I cannot abide is this unadulterated hatred that has become apparent in the past day or so. When I woke up this morning, Obama's victory speech was still fresh on my mind, and I thought we might actually see change for the better. After a long day of dealing with bigots, however, I am disheartened. I do not know what the day after was like in other more progressive states, or parts of my state, but it was a sad day for my part of Texas today.