ON THE ELECTION

I AM HAPPY that people are happy.

I am also upset that so many people are happy.

I look at the election results and view it as the "change wanted", not the "change needed".

The whole campaign was based on outward appearances. This is apparent due to McCain's age, Obama's race, McCain's "Alzheimer's-look", Obama's religious affiliation... I have spoken with many people who voted for Obama simply because he is black.

I am commonly mistaken for being black. I am really a Maori Pacific Islander. For my entire life, barely anyone has properly guessed my race. Mostly, people think that I am black. I have found that it doesn't change people's idea of who you are. There are good people and bad people in every race, every religion, every age.

Look at Adolf Hitler, for instance. He was a bad person. He killed many officials on his way to becoming Germany's Chancellor, save for von Hindenberg, who died just before he could be done in himself. But did the general public know about this? Of course they didn't. This new chancellor had been making everything better. He was building new roads, new structures, making the economy better. He was a change.

Then he went public with his plans.

I am also Jewish. If you know me in real life, you probably know that I am. I am commonly referred to as "Jacob the Jew", "Jake-A-Jew" or just "Jew". These are my friends, joking because "it's okay". It really isn't. I never proselytized the fact that I'm Jewish. They don't mean any harm, they're just joking around. I understand this. However, I have been verbally assaulted, spit upon and physically threatened on multiple occasions because of the fact that I am Jewish.

People in this country are afraid of one religion above all others. Islam is foreign in all aspects. Sure, the Jewish faith came from near the same area, but we are able to blend in most times. We don't look so different. Wearing a yarmulke, it appears, is less threatening than wearing a hijab.

I understand this. Radical Islam is a very prevalent force in the Middle East. Governments are ruled my extremist Muslims who force strict Koranic law upon their peoples.

It's all relative.

Another note. One such country was attacked by the United States in 2003. It's dictator, a man hated by the citizens of the United States since the late 1980s was overthrown. His name? The middle name of our president-elect.

It is understandable why many are frightened.

You may argue, "if so many people are scared of him, why did he win the election?"

The answer to this is is another question: "What about the rest of the country who did not vote for him?"

So often, people look only at their views. I am not conservative, I am moderate. I look at both sides: Republican and Democratic. If I agree, I agree. It doesn't matter which party, as long as it seems right. I voted no on a law attempting to amend homosexual marriage law that would then make it impossible to ever come to be. How many Republicans would do that?

It's not about party. So many people think "the other party is bad". People can vote however they feel regardless of party-affiliation. It is ridiculous how many people sent me texts belittling me for voting McCain, how many laughed in my face. One friend even said "the conservatives" were immature at the McCain rally last night.

How many liberals were immature to me last night? It happens on both sides. Don't be so blind. I didn't throw a fit, I didn't walk around angry last night. I was having a good time with my friends who were happy that their candidate won. That's what I would have wanted had my candidate won, but I'm sure it wouldn't have happened that way if he did.

[That is all]