Principles Survive Elections

This post by Jay Tea at Wizbang describes my feeling on the matter to… well… a tee. 

Apparently those of us who didn’t hop on the Obama bandwagon are supposed to just quietly shuffle off into corners and die quietly, then wait for Eric Idle to come around with his cart for our rotting carcasses. That, apparently, is our civic duty, now that the Democrats hold the presidency and both houses of Congress.

My first response is that history doesn’t ever end. There are no happy endings, no unhappy endings, no endings whatsoever—things just go on and on. So to declare that the results of a single election (even one as sweeping as yesterday’s) will have that much effect on our political climate is just plain stupid. John McCain still won about 47% of the vote, and that is not a sign of a dying electorate. Or, as a great philosopher once said, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!”

[...]

I have certain principles. I had them before yesterday, I still have them today, and I will keep them long after President=Elect Obama takes the oath of office. I did not derive them from any expression of public approval or disapproval, and they will not be swayed by any expression of public approval or disapproval.

I have certain beliefs. I had them before yesterday, I still have them today, and I will keep them long after President=Elect Obama takes the oath of office. I did not derive them from any expression of public approval or disapproval, and they will not be swayed by any expression of public approval or disapproval.

I have certain ideals. I had them before yesterday, I still have them today, and I will keep them long after President=Elect Obama takes the oath of office. I did not derive them from any expression of public approval or disapproval, and they will not be swayed by any expression of public approval or disapproval.

[...]

Yesterday, many of my principles, beliefs, and ideals were rejected by the majority (and, in some cases, the plurality) of the electorate. I do not take that as a rebuke in the least. Rather, I see it as a challenge—to continue espousing the things I believe in, as strongly and persuasively as I can, in hopes that I can sway others to see things as I do.

No, I do not take it as an “opportunity” to re-examine them. I do that on a regular basis anyway. I have arrived at them by my own experiences, thoughts, studies, and contemplations. As those are ongoing processes, they have already been tested and revised and corrected when needed. To say that I suddenly need to re-evaluate these things because of an election is to say that I do not hold them that dearly at all, and they are subject to the approval of the majority.

They are not. And they never will be.

Indeed.