All That Noise, All Those Robocalls, and Nothing Changed

We had the elections, and nothing changed.  Barack Obama was re-elected President.  The Democrats kept control of the Senate.  The Republicans kept control of the House.  After all the accusations, attack ads, junk mail, robocalls, soaring campaign rhetoric, and lies, we can look forward to . . . more gridlock.

This election was the comeuppance of all the money bag men who nonymously or anonymously tried to buy their way into political power.  Hiding behind secretive nonprofits, monied interests barraged users of every type of media with relentless harangues and unending fear mongering.  While Democratic war chests were very large, Republican funding was Brobdingnagian.  But all that spending, and counter-spending, produced very little change.

That's a great result.  It shows that the American voter isn't a dumbo who can be cynically manipulated by unnamed puppet masters with zillions to spend behind the scenes to instill subliminal fears.  Politicians and political parties must, however difficult it may be, offer something that is in the public interest.  They need to demonstrate that they have something positive to say and do.  The political process remains a means for societal concerns to be debated and resolved.  The rich may not get richer.  The poor may not get poorer. 

Many problems lay ahead.  The fiscal cliff approaches anon.  The economy remains in first gear, and unemployment levels feel like the real bad hangover that comes from drinking the worm as well as the tequila.  The federal deficit must be dealt with.  As difficult as these problems may seem, the defeat of the monied interests is a sign of hope--hope that politicians may try doing something constructive for a change, rather than cater to those that offer to hand over the biggest checks.