Madness, complete madness...

I woke up this morning to a whole new world. My conservative friends think the sky is falling, and my liberal friends believe they can now finally rid the world of all that is wrong. Wait... nothing new about that, never mind.

So here's what I have to say... EVERYONE CALM DOWN. The truth of the matter is that, republican or democrat, none of you can really say what Obama is going to do to this country, good or bad. In the last few weeks Obama has campaigned on tax cuts, spending reform, and has even said he supports the right to bear arms. Not exactly the extreme liberal agenda. The problem with that is that none of these things he has been saying remotely matches up with his voting record! So for people to say on one side that he's going to destroy the country, and on the other to say he's going to rebuild the country, is complete foolishness on both sides. The simple truth is that we have absolutely no clue what he will do. Will he live up to his word or will he do what he's done in the past? Will he build a non-partisan "Lincoln" administration of opposing views creating constructive tension, or will he surround himself with lunatics like Wright and Ayers? Will his tax increase threshold really be $250,000 or will it be $42,000 like he voted for in the senate? Will he be a friend of Israel or will he negotiate with AnotherNutJob in Iran and weaken our position? Will he pull out of Iraq in 90 days or set an 18 month scaled plan for transfer of power? (he's suggested both)

The bottom line is that America has just rolled one massive dice and it's still spinning down the table. We don't know how its going to land, and no one knows enough to speak with any authority one way or the other.

(Personal side note - the information I know from working on the Unconventional Nuclear Weapons Detection program for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency scares me. This is not the world right now that I would want to roll that dice in. Maybe 10-20 years ago, but not right now. However, that ship has sailed, America rolled the dice.)

So everyone calm down, quit beating up your liberal friends for "screwing up our country", and quit gloating because you won. The fact of the matter is that this might be the best thing that ever happened to our country, and could just as easily be the worst.

Now for those of you who enjoy politics - here's a few things to watch for:

- Cabinet appointments. If Obama wants to rebuild this country, as did Lincoln, he'll surround himself with the brightest people in their areas of expertise, not just the democrats. Watch for key people, like SecDef Gates and Petraeus. If he's serious about what he has said - he'll be very wise in these areas, and probably leave them alone.

- Transition. How much time will he spend with Bush making sure that a smooth transition sends the right message to the world - or will he march into town and ignore the things he can learn from the current administration. I'll admit that Bush has screwed up on a fair amount of things - but he and his people have a great deal of knowledge to share that you and I dont get to see. Will Obama learn what he can there?

- Reid / Pelosi - Now that the democrats control the white house and congress, will Obama be called into "the principals office". Obama is a big question mark to me, but one thing I am certain of is that Pelosi is trouble. Will Obama let her and Reid run wild with their new control or will he keep them in check? What will his reaction be when the democratic leadership says to him "I know what you said to get elected, but what are you going to do now that you've won?". He got the nomination by appealing to the extreme, then successfully slid to the center to win the general election. How quickly will he walk away from campaign promises once he gets congress whispering in his ear?

- Gun laws. Obama in the past has supported the banning and rounding up of every semi-automatic weapon (which is just about all of them). If he goes after this first - watch out. I dont think he will, but he did use the words "clinging to their guns" which to me implies that he sees a paradigm under which they lose them. The constitutional right to bear arms was never about gun ownership, defending your home from criminals, or the right to wipe out the deer population. It was a mechanism set in place to make sure your government could never take away your liberties (the way the British did ;) ) and that the people would always be guaranteed a way of rising up against the government if they did so. (Basically, the government can never be more powerful than the people it serves). If this becomes a priority for Obama - bad things will come.

(Another personal note - I don't really care about an assault weapons ban like the one Clinton passes, and Bush allowed to sunset. It allows people who bought these guns before the law passes to keep them, which tripled the value of my gun collection. I have a problem with Obama's past belief that this provision should be removed and the police should go out and round up the weapons - this to me is a whole different matter).

These will be early indicators of what kind of President Obama will be.

So, in summary, calm down. Fight for your families economic survival, place value in relationships - not issues, and remember that our lives depend on God's grace, not some guy in a big white house. If the world falls to pieces, my company goes under (remember, I sell toys to rich people - no rich people, no toys), I'll become a cop or a fire fighter, sell my house and move back into an apartment, and have lots of kids for free at the hospital. Who cares? That's not why I was created anyway.

Smoke and bubbles my friends, smoke and bubbles.

Jonathan.