To my friends in the Red States:
It's true, I'm angry. I'm angry at many things, at many people. But I'm not angry at you. Democracy works when people vote their conscience, and you voted your conscience. So thank you.
There are two opposing sides in this country, but we are not on opposing sides. We are on the same side. We are citizens. You, me, and millions of other Americans who work, play, pray. We are on the same side.
So who is the other side? "They." The power-hungry. The greedy. The financial conglomerates. The corporate war machine. The political parties - Republicans, and, yes, Democrats alike.
So here is my pledge to you...
I respect your belief in your God, and will always fight to preserve your freedom of religion.
I respect your belief in the sanctity of the life of the unborn, and will always fight to preserve your right to choose life. A chosen child is a happy child, and a nuclear family with loving parents and a network of relatives and friends is truly the best way to raise a healthy, happy child.
I respect your belief in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and will always fight to preserve your right to commit yourself to whomever you wish, before God and country, til death do you part.
I pledge to you these things. And here is what I ask of you.
Please respect my right to believe in no god. Pray for my salvation if you wish, but fight to preserve my freedom from religion.
Please respect the sanctity of the life of the born. A mentally-handicapped boy on death row is as precious to your God as he was before he was born. A citizen of Iraq is as precious to your God as a citizen of the United States. Please fight to preserve the sanctity of life wherever that life may be.
Please respect the right of my homosexual friends to commit themselves to responsible, lifelong relationships, before God and country, til death do them part.
Fighting for the freedom of those who are just like us is easy. What is difficult is fighting for the freedom of those who are not like us. And that is how the power-hungry, the greedy, the enemy, can divide and conquer us.
Don't let them do it. We, the citizens, must defend each other, for no one else will do it.
And we must defend freedom, for freedom cannot defend herself.