Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/92622
OPINION THE WHEELS OF DEMOCRACY TURN YET AGAIN EDITORIAL After months of relent- the candidates, after billions of dollars spent on advertising and other campaign tactics, af- ter millions of words — too many disingenu- ously framed and delivered — the American people had their say. less campaigning by They endured bad weather, hours-long waits to vote, intrusive new voter ID requirements and ballots chockablock full of extraneous initiatives. They cast their ballots, and their votes were counted. The loser acknowledged the will of the people by standing before them, on national televi- sion, to concede the race and congratulate the winner, conferring the time-honored impri- matur of legitimacy by the defeated upon the victor. That victor, Barack Hussein Obama, accepted both the approbation of a majority of Ameri- can voters and the best wishes of his erstwhile opponent in a speech he hoped would set the tone for his second term as President of the United States. The grand experiment embarked upon more than two centuries ago by our Founding Fa- thers had been tested once again and found still sound. The wheels of democracy — a tad creaky, to be sure — turned once more. And the world breathed a sigh of relief. For all our military adventurism of the past decade, all of our avowed "spreading of de- mocracy," nothing this country can do better demonstrates American values and ideals more capably than a presidential election. It is the brightest beacon of hope we shine on those in the world who would see the dark- ness of authoritarianism end.