But they say if you dream a thing more than once it's sure to come true

I know that the election has come and gone, but I have a section of a speech I'd like to post because it deals with how I feel about the post war climate and how difficult it is to communicate with those of oppossing views in this election compared to others. This is taken from a speech by my minister Rev Ricky Hoyt who I find extremely eloquent, but it's not religious at all in context so I think a majority of people can relate.

"If it were just policies where we disagreed we could talk it out, but I don't know how to have a respectful dialogue with people who don't share my values. I don't understand these people, more than half of Americans. I don't share their vision, or want what they want. We have to talk to each other, but I don't know how, and that scares me more than anything else about this post-election situation. American voters seem to feel it's more important to prevent two men or women from getting married, than it is to fairly distribute the nation's wealth, ensure universal access to health care, and protect our environment. American voters seem to feel it's more important to defend the sanctity of the potential life of unborn fetuses than it is to protect the sanctity of the lives of young men and women by not involving them in an unjust and unnecessary war. National community depends on our finding shared values deeply hidden beneath those choices. I can't today, tell you what those shared values could be. The work to uncover them will be long and hard. I can only hope we're successful.

Alan Keyes, who lost to Barack Obama in the Illinois senate race, illustrated this difficulty of dialogue without shared values from the conservative side of the divide. He refused to congratulate Obama for his victory insisting that to do so would be a "false gesture." He asked rhetorically, "I'm supposed to make a call that represents the congratulations toward the triumph of that which I believe ultimately stands for and will stand for a culture evil enough to destroy the very soul and heart of my country?"

And there are many on both sides uninterested in dialogue even if we could find a common language in which to speak. Christian talk radio host, Frank Pastore said, "In the weeks and months to come we will hear the voices of well-meaning people beseeching the victor to compromise with the vanquished. This would be a mistake. Conservatives must not compromise with the left. Good people holding false ideas are won over only if we defeat what is false with the truth."

Bush, to his credit, in the press conference he gave the day after the election was decided, extended a hand to unifying the country by acknowledging, "Democrats want a free and peaceful world." But his slight nod toward shared values failed to comfort me. I don't doubt that Democrats want a free and peaceful world. In my heart I'm still confidant that most Republicans want a free and peaceful world. What I doubt is that George Bush wants a free and peaceful world. It isn't in the service of peace that a President leads the nation into war against a country that had never attacked us, never threatened us, and posed no imminent danger to us. It isn't in the service of freedom that our Attorney General indefinitely imprisons hundreds of persons without trial or even charges brought against them, nor through the so-called Patriot Act circumscribes the liberties of millions of Americans.

In re-electing George Bush, Americans have made a Faustian bargain. They elected him because he stands with them against gay marriage, for the protection of the unborn, for a stronger role for their churches, and a reserved place for God language in public life. But if they truly support peace and freedom they have compromised those great values in favor of the lesser values of tradition, absolutism, piety, and security. Bush has proudly labeled himself a war president, not a peace president. And the freedom he offers, to both Iraqis and Americans, comes with barbed wire on the walls and bars on the windows.

I can't preach a message of hope, today. It's too soon for hope. I know when hope comes it will come through action, which is always the antidote to despair. Much action will be called for between now and November 2008. I know when hope comes it will be through the resurgence of faith in the good of human persons and our freedom to shape our lives and the world in line our good choices. Much need for good people to make good choices will arise between now and November 2008.

But today it's too soon for hope. Our nation and our world suffered a severe reverse on Tuesday. We need to feel that loss and spend sufficient time in mourning. There's no need for hope today. Today we need only heartfelt sadness, deep hurt, and bitter anger. Sadness, hurt and anger are required today. I won't try to talk you out of it or rush you through it. What we need today is not reasons to feel better, though comfort will come in time, but like-minded companions to share our pain.

May we be such for each other and for our world."