Voting and our rhetoric - (and make sure you vote).

I don't care much for politics on this blog, but since there's an election tomorrow:

How we go about debating politics is almost as important as who we ultimately choose. The ends do not always justify the means - and if at the other end, we've left nothing but hurt feelings, broken friendships, split congregations, and severed family ties because we are convinced that only evil or deluded people could dare vote for THAT other person, well - we've done serious damage to our social fabric.

I believe our communities and social ties are more important than particular partisan points. Recognize that good people can honestly disagree.

Now, go out and vote (especially it it's for Bob Barr. Even Libertarians need a little electoral love).

As for the two main choices: I see positives and negatives. There never have been perfect choices ever in American history (except perhaps our first president, and even he had problems controlling his cabinet).

Despite what the opposition says, neither candidate would be a disaster. McCain is not Bush redux - he's opposed torture, and his career (until now) was predicated around poking his own party in the eye.

And despite what some have said, Obama is not some sort of secret Commie. He is liberal, but he's still within the mainstream of the Democratic party. If he tries to veer too far left, then we can expect the Republicans to take over Congress like what happened to Clinton in 1994.

Everyone take a deep breath and say: Whatever happens, the Nation will endure.

And then, go vote for who you honestly think will do the best job. No one will do a perfect job, but one of them will do a better job than the other.

Of course, it's all part of the give and take of living in a rambunctious democracy.