43 to 44

As our peaceful transition of government proceeds I stand in awe of how we do it. Even with the rancor and the blogs of insults, our leaders respect each others' roles in the process and do things in order. Each has their place, and the competition is what takes the sharp edges off the difficult task of governing this nation.

It isn't about democrats or republicans. It is about America. America the Beautiful. We always have a difficult task, we always have the seems-to-be-insurmountable problem at our feet. Whether the invasion of the British in our early days, the division of our nation in the middle, the imminent death of us all from the 50s to the 90s, we've faced the future with the sure knowledge that every 2 years at least part of our federal leadership must face their real employers - the voters - and nothing is a sure thing. And when they face the result, they take a quiet walk back home, no showdowns, no coups, it is about America.

Let us all look up to our flag and have that stir in our hearts. America the Beautiful, from sea to shining sea.