Voted? 110412

You voted for whom?  In the next few days, hopefully, all the votes will be counted and Americans may get some rest from the constant slime bath of competing horror tales.

If there is not a clear victor, however, this election may drag past the inauguration.  There will be counts and recounts; the line for lawsuits is already longer than the lines to vote.  Even before the first vote was cast there were court challenges to partisan attempts to disenfranchise opposition voters.   Federal courts have already overturned a number of these laws but many more are yet to be settled.  Failing to legislate victory, some partisan supporters have fallen back on the century old practices before the “Voting Rights Act of 1965’” dis-information, intimidation, threats of violence and manipulation of the count.  This election has been particularly nasty with big money out to buy the election and professional campaign “fraudsters” wildly slinging manure instead of mud.

The polarization and anger generated in this campaign may well lead to violence in response to question “Whom did you vote for?”   Despite partisan attempts to identify your vote, it is still a secret ballot, put away the tee shirt, scrap off the bumper sticker, keep your vote to yourself and save your teeth.  Suck it up, if your favorite didn’t win don’t worry the next campaign starts in January.

No matter who wins voters didn’t get who they thought they were voting for.  In truth there was not a nickel’s worth of difference in the two presidential candidates.  One is a moderate leaning left and the other, also moderate but leaning right.  While the media was cheering on the horse race, the fans were distracted from looking at the extra weight the horses were carrying.  It is not who is elected but whom he brings with him that matters.  Despite the blame game, the power is in Congress not the White House.  The President gets the blame and has the responsibility to implement unachievable legislation. He is trapped by the campaign obligations to try to make it work.   Those obligations must be paid for by appointments for the parties’ more radical supporters with contrary agendas of their own.

While fans celebrate whoever crosses the finish line, the victor already owes his sole to vested interest.  The big race obscured the fact that partisan radicals were going after State and Federal legislature seats.  Despite moderate presidential candidates the moderate electorate loses because the winner must pander to louder and more radical of the party promises.  Democracy has become the dictatorship of the few.