A gentle plea for civility and cooperation rather than divisiveness and anger, as America moves forward to new challenges. Can we work ALONGSIDE the President, rather than AGAINST him?

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So, November 6th has come and gone, yet again. And, reading your posts, I know the election results are not to your liking.

Some of you are quite unhappy that Barack Hussein Obama is going to be the President for another four years. Some of you are extremely nonplussed about this. And some of you seem to be so angry that you can't even type straight.

Obviously, I am pleased by the results, but I am not going to rub this victory in your faces or engage in childish behavior, because that's far beneath the level of discourse that's called for, here.

Instead, I am going to commiserate with you.

I, too, have had to watch disappointing returns on election nights in the past. I know what it's like when, against all hopes, someone you'd rather see disappear altogether from public life is going to instead be at its pinnacle for another, seemingly-interminable term of office. The things you hoped would be squashed by his successor will instead carry on, the reforms you wanted to see aren't going to happen as quickly, if at all, and the economy, various freedoms, and other things may not improve, or get worse.

I know how you feel. This was me in 2004. It's been me at other times, too, and I'm sure I'll feel it again several times in my life. That's how these things happen, sometimes.

Having said all that, my advice is to let your rage flow until it's out of your system. Try not to burn any bridges doing it, of course, but if you need to screed, make inflammatory posts, or fill your left-leaning friends' walls with anger and vitriol, then go right ahead.

(Don't be surprised if they delete your posts, though.)

And then, when the anger has faded into disappointment, and then that has turned into trepidation, sit yourself down, take a very long and deep breath, and get ready to work alongside the President.

Yes, I said alongside . Not with , because you are clearly not with him. If you were with him, you would have voted for him, and you very clearly did not.

(Not for , either. He works for us, and not the other way around.)

But not against the President. Not around the President. Nor behind the back of the President.

Alongside the President.

What does that mean? It means that, given that we are in troublesome economic state, and faced with enemies both foreign and domestic, and faced with many national and international challenges, this is not a time to be making the President -- your President, whether you like it or not -- the enemy.

It never really is, though sometimes in the heat of the moment, when we get carried away, we forget this. We get angry. We get stupid. And we unleash a fury that should be reserved for the likes of Al Qaeda against a man who, whatever his political failings and personal faults, is simply trying to keep American safe, prosperous, and free.

You may not agree with his definitions of "safe," "prosperous," and "free." You may not agree with how he wants to achieve those goals, or wonder if he's really all that concerned about one or more of them. You may even think he's lying down on the job, or being ill-advised on how to do it.

But absent any serious, real proof of corruption, wrong-doing, or truly bad motives, you risk your credibility every time you impugn the character of the President, or indeed any elected official. You can criticize his actions, his beliefs, his record, and his words, but if you begin to treat him like an enemy of the American people, you will only reap bitter fruit.

(Of course, if it turns out high crimes and misdemeanors have occurred, then by all means accuse, make your case, and run him out of town on a rail if you can. But you should be sure that what he's done actually are high crimes and misdemeanors, and not merely a crucial difference of opinion on a hot button topic of the day, or the very underpinnings of our Republic. One can differ in good conscience, but it's hard to justify signing off on an actual crime.)

I have also been there and done that, many times, and I looked like an ass doing it. I didn't always know that I was being an ass. And the sad thing was that, even when I was right in my facts, and correct in my morality, and bang on in my predictions of what would happen if this deleterious policy was continued, at the end of the day I still just looked like an ass.

I would spare you the donkey ears and buck teeth if I could, dear friends, and that is why I say you should dedicate yourself to working alongside the President for the next four years.

What does this mean? Simply put, it's time to become the loyal opposition.

It's time to be respectful, even in disagreement. You will never get him to change his mind if every other word out of your mouth is a pejorative or a threat. You will never set him back on the right course if you insist on trying to burn his sails with your anger. Speak softly but firmly, and take the opportunities to show him that, yes, you were right after all, and do so with the quiet, well-composed dignity of having been correct. But be willing to admit when you were wrong, too.

It's time to be united, even when divided. It does no good for an entire body of our government to decide that its number one priority is to unseat a President, and stand stock against almost everything that he wants to accomplish. It does even less good to do this in time of war, or international instability, or economic crisis. At a time like this, we must come together, find compromise, and move forward. There will be sticking points and places where you will not want to bend, of course, but many more where some middle ground can be found. Seek these out and concentrate on them, and be willing to share both credit and blame when their effects become known.

It's time to move forward, not backward. Even a conservative knows that standing totally still is a bad idea, they just want to do so carefully. But without liberals to pull and push, the cart might not go anywhere, and may even slide back down the hill. This is why we need each other to make this system work. So don't grind in your heels for the sake of doing it. Be ready and willing to move when it's needed. (Just be sure to have a hand on the brake, for when it's not.)

Alongside , we accomplish great things together. Against , we might do nothing, or at least very little, and end up with situations where what is done is resented and hated.

Alongside , we maintain a united front against a world that sometimes wishes us ill. Against , we look like people fighting over who gets into the lifeboats first as the icebergs come to close for comfort, rather than deciding how best to steer away from them.

Alongside , we share in the credit for keeping America safe, free, and prosperous. Against , we snipe and argue and find ourselves parsing every accomplishment or failure so as to claim credit where it isn't due, and avoid blame when it is.

This does not mean that you have to be pushovers or yes men. If an idea is a bad idea, it should be said to be as much. The Emperor needs to know when he's naked, and his followers need to be woken up from their delusions. If they won't agree, then fine, but, again, be respectful in this awakening process.

This does not mean that you have to meekly accept that the President is the President. You not only can but should seek to have your own party back in the Oval Office, again. To do otherwise is to abdicate your part in things. An Emperor needs not do anything because no one will challenge his deeds, his words, and his legacy, but an elected President must defend those statements and actions before the opposition's criticism, and then have the voters call him into account.

This is how this is supposed to work. This is how we are supposed to work.

Together .

Are we working together, now? No, we are not. We are working against, and have been for quite some time.

When Bush was President, during trying times, the left worked against him, rather than with him. You can judge where we are now, and how we have reacted to it, based on that mistake.

And now that Obama is President, also during trying times, the right has been working against him, rather than with him. But we still have time to pull ourselves out of this spiral of self-defeat if the next four years are spent working Alongside , rather than against .

Will you? That's up to you, and I don't expect you to make that kind of a decision right now. You're angry and you're disappointed, and I'm sure some of your friends and coworkers and family members are not being gracious winners, much less understanding of your feelings at this moment.

But once you're done fuming and kicking the can down the road (and wondering if you should sign on to one of those asinine petitions to secede from the Union) maybe you should put some thought towards how you want to walk from here. I hope you'll make a good decision when you do.

With respect and love, and, yes, loyal opposition.

Authors Website: http://rant-farm.blogspot.com/

Authors Bio:

J. Edward Tremlett is a lot of things, currently. He's back in the states after a seven-year stint in Dubai, UAE. He's been published in such diverse places as The American Partisan, the International American, The End is Nigh, Pyramid Magazine and Worlds of Cthulhu.

He's proudly in the thrall of the evil people who make bad things happen all around the world. He gets paid to shill for them on sites just like this, and is well-paid to do so. He also stole your car, ate your lunch, and had an amazing time with your lover while you were at work. But don't tell anyone. The machine is listening, always.

Please be aware that numerous things that are said are not to meant be taken seriously. Please be aware that serious things that are said are meant to be taken numerous ways. Please be seriously numerous with those things that are meant but not said, rather than said but not meant. Please be. : )