I’d like to applaud many conservative national spokespeople and as well as a couple of our conservative Mirror columnists for their attempts to find some sense of satisfaction from the outcome of the Nov. 4 elections.

A new a presidential administration and likely over 30 new members of Congress are going to Washington. Most of these people hold strong progressive beliefs.

It must be hard to experience feelings of abandonment and disappointment when you know that most of the country and the rest of the world is celebrating this with feelings of hope and relief.

It would be human nature to retreat into an attitude of obstruction and ideological isolation, but I hope our more broad-minded conservative leaders take this opportunity to genuinely consider some redirection, find some common ground and use their talents to help.

We together have experienced a 25-year bipartisan experiment in supply-side economics, deregulation and privatization from which only a very small percentage of our wealthiest citizens has clearly benefited — as one semi-socialist country after another has overtaken us in education, health care, sustainable energy development, transportation and overall standard of living.

We also all seem to agree that special-interest lobbying is so out of control that only a minority of laws and spending bills that are passed by Congress would be approved if put to popular vote. Very few people believe that the current government subsidy programs producing record profits for the corporate giants of agribusiness and oil are in our best interest, yet they remain.

We should be able to make significant progress in these areas of shared interest between liberals and conservatives.

Do social issues have to be so divisive? Alongside deep-seated feelings against abortion, might there be room on the conservative moral high ground to support other equally heartfelt, equally “pro-life” movements like resistance to war and the death penalty?

Some people also desire to increase the influence of religion within our government, yet can’t we all agree that there are clear examples around the world today where theocracies are as much of a direct threat to democracy and even religious freedom as Communist governments were in decades past?

You surely don’t have to renounce your faith to admit that leaders of all major religions have been guilty of this behavior throughout history, and inserting them into government can be very risky.

How about honoring the Founding Fathers, supporting everyone’s freedom to worship, and setting an example of hope for those living under oppressive theocratic regimes today by renewing our dedication to the separation of church and state?

Finally I’m sure nearly all Americans would like to believe that during our limited time as the world’s only superpower, we have had a foreign policy dedicated to good citizenship and stewardship on the planet, with genuine promotion of democracy and freedom for all.

Many realize though that frequently during this time, our policies have instead been dedicated to the use of our uncontested political, economic and military power to provide advantages to special interests while running directly counter to these ideals.

In addition to unilateral military actions and covert political operations, we have bullied Third World nations into accepting IMF, WTO and NAFTA deals that enrich our banks and corporations while destroying their indigenous industries, self-sufficiency and pride.

The result is angry, exploited populations that are not simply “jealous of our success” and rightfully hold we citizens of this democracy (both conservative and liberal) responsible for the actions of our government.

We all have a stake in changing the relationship between the U.S. and the Third World — before it’s changed for us by the next rising superpower.

These challenges affect us all and might be overcome with cooperation. With obstruction they will undoubtedly remain. Here’s hoping.

Jack Fogelberg

Auburn