To the editor:

I read Mr. Poliakoff’s letter to the editor decrying “Shame on you, America.”

And I must tell you I feel your pain and I’m not being sarcastic.  It’s the same pain and disgust that I felt when George W. Bush was re-elected.

It’s gut wrenching, I know.  You want to throw up your hands, look for another country to live in and cry that you (that would be anyone other than me) got what you deserved!

Well, we survived (I almost said “barely” but I contained myself) two terms of Bush and you will indeed survive Obama’s second term. If you want solace, you should keep in mind that unless these two dysfunctional houses of congress get off their high horses and work together for compromise, it doesn’t really matter who the president is because nothing will get done.

It’s forgotten in the macho “my way or the highway” approach to politics that has been so popular on both sides of the aisle in the last few decades but compromise is what democracy is all about.  It’s not about standing up for what you believe.  It’s accepting that other people may have different beliefs and those beliefs are just as valid as yours.

And in reality, the purpose of compromise is not to make everyone happy; the purpose of compromise is to make all parties equally unhappy; but at least have a resolution that both sides can live with – that’s democracy.

I’m sorry you’re unhappy, Mr. Poliakoff. If Governor Romney had won, I would have been unhappy. Not as unhappy as I was eight years ago, but unhappy nonetheless.  But from here, let’s just agree to disagree and not close our minds. If we work together starting in this county, maybe something can get accomplished that will make you less unhappy and give me something I can live with it. I’d be okay with that and hopefully, so would you.

– Elvin Clark, Tryon