The Road Ahead
by Robert Yoho

During the election fiasco of the past month, I have given a lot of thought to our country and its future. I make no apologies for my unwavering support of the Republican nominee, George W. Bush.

I truly think the better man won in a tough and brutal campaign!

While many are saying that the road will be difficult for the next president, I believe that President-elect Bush is clearly up to the task. The man who boldly claims that he is a "uniter, not a divider" will lift our nation from the moral morass of the Clinton administration.  Moreover, I remain optimistic about the possibilities that exist for America after Bush's inauguration on January 20th.

I must confess that my optimism about the future of America is often borne of hope. However, there are also some things taking place in this country that I certainly find encouraging.

First and foremost, the American people have finally been educated on the realities of partial birth abortion. The gruesome medical procedure, that more closely resembles the grisly human experiments from a Nazi death camp, has been adequately demonstrated to the public. And having seen what it involves, the public considers it ghastly. It is about time.

The advances in medical science have virtually eliminated the need for doctors to choose between the life of the child or the life of mother. Since babies are routinely saved as early as the twentieth week of pregnancy, then the baby can be successfully delivered without any undue risk to the woman. I believe that partial birth abortion may finally end with Bush in the White House.

If President Clinton and Vice President Gore have done anything good for America, it is the fact that they have repeatedly shown everyone that character and honesty in a president really do matter. In these relatively good economic times, the White House should have been a lock for a sitting vice president. There can be no question that Bill Clinton was the millstone around the neck of Al Gore. And without the shame of the Clinton administration, it is doubtful that Gore could have gotten away with his myriad of electoral court challenges.

Several Supreme Court decisions have been recently been decided by 5-4 margins. It was they who ended the insanity in Florida. That is certainly fitting, because it is quite likely that the next president will drastically alter the make-up of our country's highest court. And should the Bush nominee not become the next David Souter, then the chances are good that much of the judicial activism of the past thirty years will likely be placed behind us for many years to come.

I do not want the court making laws that the rest of us will have to follow. However, that is precisely what the court has been doing since Roe vs. Wade. That is precisely what we saw in the earliest electoral decisions of the Florida Supreme Court. They showed us the dangers of judicial activism, until their excesses were scrutinized by the United States Supreme Court.

America needs more justices on the court like Scalia and Thomas, men who read the Constitution for what it says. We certainly don't need any more justices who try to make it say what it did not.

The greatness of America has been revealed in the past few weeks. For even in the midst of the counts and recounts, the court suits and their appeals, the nation survived. A bitterly contested election did not erupt into violence. A divided country did not turn to war and bloodshed. The Constitution survived and triumphed.

Perhaps some of you may believe my optimism is misplaced. However, I believe that is what elections and inaugurals are all about. They are about the future, a bright and new beginning, and quite often a glorious change in direction...

© 2000 Robert Yoho