My friend Patrick's truly eloquent thoughts on the outcome of Tuesday's election.

President Bush will not kill this nation. Kerry wouldn’t have either. Nor will Osama, or China, or the EU. None of them have to, because we’re doing it for them – when the dream is gone, this nation will collapse into a sea of ethnic factions who hate each other, just like half of everywhere else seems to be in the process of. You can already see it beginning to happen here, really. They can’t kill the dream, but WE can. And just as certain, only we can save it.

And yes, I know that all of the scared folks are ready to hit me with “we have to shut out the foreigners to protect ourselves and our jobs!” and that kind of crap. And you know what… you’re right. The better question, and one that I’m amazed is never asked, is: but is it worth living if we have to live like THIS?

I don’t think so many people would think so, were it thought of in that manner. I know I certainly don’t think so… if the consequence of being the open and free society is that I must die, then so be it. If the consequence of being the open and free society is that people I love die, then so be it. If the consequence of being the open and free society is that our entire nation is wiped off the face of the earth… well, so be it. The dream, that American Dream that anyone can come here, and thrive here, is worth it. I don’t want a girl half a world away, crying her eyes out every night because she can’t come here, I want her here pursuing the dream we all pursue, that dream that in America you can make a better life for yourself if you’re willing to work for it. Defending the existence of that dream is worth any cost.

I would rather die in America than live anywhere else.

And that’s why I’m not going to fume, and I’m not going to threaten to move away, and I’m not going to lose sight of what matters. The dream doesn’t exist anywhere else, even if it’s in danger here – if we lose it here, we lose it for all of humanity, and we’ll never see it again in our lifetime. The dream is not dependant on presidents, or congressmen, or any of us. It depends on ALL of us, and we need to decide together to get back to being the nation where everybody wants to be, and we need to decide together that we’re going to be brave enough to let them. And if we don’t and the dream dies…

Well, then we should all still be grateful we ever lived in that wonderful place.