As I write this we are waiting for election results but the polls have yet to even close.

It is the waiting that is the worst and this year the waiting seems that much harder. Usually it is waiting for the results, waiting for candidates to call back with a comment or two.

After 2016, we added waiting for the election fallout. Four years ago there was crying, wailing, gnashing of teeth and pleas for safe rooms.

This year we again wait, wait for the tears but people are preparing for things even worse. The mainstream media has stories of businesses in some Democratic-run cities such as New York, Boston and Los Angeles boarding up windows expecting riots and vandalism associated with the election.

On social media there are memes somewhat joking if the civil war is coming Tuesday night or Wednesday.

Of course, these actions are all centered around one race, the race for the presidency of the United States.

But, being realistic, the country is divided and both sides are ready to blow and while we all wait for the results we are all also waiting to see what will happen after the presidential race is decided. (We are also waiting to see if it will actually be decided Tuesday night.)

Here in Washakie County the races have been civil, the voting has been civil, albeit there have been some acts that you would think only a 2-year-old would commit. A resident in Worland, a Biden supporter, has had signs continuously stolen or burned for the past several weeks. Earlier, a Trump supporter also had someone attempt to burn a Trump flag.

I do not understand the childlike behavior. You do not like the candidate someone supports so you steal their yard sign or burn it? Does that make you feel better? Does it make you feel mature? Does it help the candidate you support? In answering that last question the answer would be no, in fact it strengthens that person’s belief that they are supporting the right candidate based solely on the actions of the opponents supporters.

You may be proud of yourself but what you should be is embarrassed.

I have no idea who will win tonight’s presidential race. Who do I want to win? The United States of America. You are thinking that’s a coward’s way out but it is the truth.

I want a United States where people are free to have their own opinions and people do not have to think as the media tells them, as a certain party tells them, how their neighbor tells them or how social media tells them to think, act or feel.

I want a United States that remains a representative Republic based on democratic principles.

I want a United States where my rights in the Constitution are not threatened.

I want a United States that when people do not get their own way that their first reaction is not violence. (As an aside note I believe when I threw a temper tantrum I was disciplined not rewarded.)

So, after all is said and done, whether my candidate wins or loses, my fervent hope and prayer is that the United States does not get lost in all of this.

Karla Pomeroy

Editor