Fire of faith.

Last night, America did something unthinkable -- we elected President Business from The Lego Movie.

via

Yeah, we really did.

Ironically, when The Lego Movie came out, many speculated that President (and later, Lord) Business was actually supposed to be Mitt Romney. In retrospect, though, I think the comparison to Donald Trump is far more accurate.

Anyway. Enough about vapid, power-hungry characters made of plastic. 

Come January, we're going to inaugurate a president who ran on a platform of fear and distrust. Fear of minorities, immigrants who steal our jobs and rape us, refugees who are smuggling in bombs, women who bleed from mysterious places and The Establishment -- "drain the swamp!" "Make America Great Again!" He sold it like magic snake oil and a majority of Americans bought it, some willingly, but many did so out of fear.

The funny thing is, his opponent Hillary Clinton also ran a campaign based in fear -- fear of the lunatic Cheeto and his nationalist followers who wanted to take America back in time and strip its citizens of their basic civil liberties. Never mind the fact she's a career politician who isn't exactly the paragon of honesty and yeah, what was the deal with all those deleted e-mails? Never mind that -- it was, "We are running against a MADMAN and we have to beat him to SAVE AMERICA!!!" Thanks to Trump's abysmal debate performances, her argument was compelling.

And so, many people who didn't really like Trump voted for him out of fear, and many people who didn't really like Clinton voted for HER out of fear, and at the end of yesterday, we all sat on our couches scared crapless because we elected a lunatic Cheeto ... out of fear.

As you may have deduced from my past posts, I did not vote for either of those candidates. I voted for Gary Johnson. I drafted many a blog post about why I was voting for him, but I ultimately decided not to publish anything. Why? Sadly, my failure to explain my position was also a response to -- you guessed it -- fear. I'd read and heard far too many insinuations that third-party voters are idiots who spoil elections. At first, I fought the good fight against the character assassinations. But I eventually grew weary. I became sick of the nastiness I received for taking the position of a principled voter. I gave up.

We third-party fiends caught a second wind when Evan McMullin surged in Utah following the release of the Trump tapes. Utah found its courage and said, "No, we aren't going to vote for this man who brags about sexually abusing women. We're going to choose someone better." Other states followed suit and Johnson also saw a rise in poll numbers at that point. For a good while, it looked like Evan McMullin would actually win his home state, and maybe the whole election would be miraculously thrown to the House.

But then, that ever-reliable fear crept back in. Voters who had firmly decided they could not vote for Trump upon hearing his vile admissions decided they were more scared of Hillary Clinton in the end. Back to Trump they retreated.

And then, there were the WikiLeaks e-mails, proving that Clinton is all about that "pay-to-play," that she talks out of both sides of her mouth, that she cheated in the debates and unfairly targeted Bernie Sanders. But her supporters turned a blind eye, because Trump was scarier, and Trump had to be beat. They dug in their heels and voted for her anyway.

In the end, we basically had a stalemate. Very little support went to principled, honest candidates Johnson and McMullin, and the rest, equally divided, went to those fearmongers. Trump pulled out an electoral win, though the popular vote has him nearly tied with Clinton. Two sides of the same coin.

We voted out of fear, and yet, here we are. Scared. And it wouldn't have mattered who won. We would've been scared either way, just for different reasons.

I hope in vain that despite all the things Donald Trump has said, he will act differently. I hope he won't rack up even more debt, nor end free trade, nor completely disregard the Constitution, nor scorch the earth with nuclear warfare. I hope he will advocate for our God-given natural rights, including those held by minorities, disabled people and women. I hope he will be diplomatic and kind. He's indicated otherwise, but I hope he can change. And quickly.

However, a small part of me wants so badly for this to cave in so we realize the two-party system is an enormous failure and we can start over. It might hurt,  and it would probably be devastating. But how long can this go on, anyway? A collapse is bound to happen. Better to yank off the bandage quickly than peel it slowly, ripping out one hair at a time, I think. Maybe Trump and his Republican establishment will do the honors.

Alas, I know in reality that revolutions are not five-alarm fires ignited by combustion and doused in gallons of lighter fluid. A fire of revolution is like the hand-built kind you make when you're camping, crafted out of tiny sticks and dried leaves and started with the strike of a simple match. Those kind kindle slowly and catch fire in time. They start from the bottom and work their way up. And though they take time and patience, they endure.

This revolution begins with us, the millennial generation. It starts in our homes as we teach our children that the government doesn't own them, that this nation was built on principles of liberty and justice and sealed with the blood of our patriot forefathers. It proceeds to the community, where we have these difficult conversations with our friends and neighbors. It continues to the civic level when we vote for candidates and ballot measures that decrease the government's power and influence. Once the fire gets to a certain point, it can't easily be extinguished. The flames burn and grow, consume and refine. And unlike a blaze crafted from the wrath of the afraid, it is pleasant and inviting.

If you're feeling scared right now, cold, abandoned, and forlorn -- come huddle by our fire, the fire of the liberty movement. It's small, but its warm. And it's getting bigger.

It's a fire fueled by faith and hope -- in God, in our inspired Constitution, in our ability to choose good over evil without the forceful hand of government. Those of us around it welcome you, whoever you are and whatever you believe, so long as you're not going to hurt anyone else.

The outcome of this election has hopefully taught us something very valuable: it's unwise to vote out of fear. And it's time to stop voting against people we dislike and instead, vote for what we believe in.

We just have to find the fire inside us to do it.