The results are in, and the public voted for a change. Top among the reasons for voting as they did, the public cited the war in Iraq, terrorism, and corruption. That's right, we voted to throw the bums out. Good for us!
Voting for a change is effective only when there's a valid choice, however. Some areas of the U.S. had lots of choice; some didn't. I happen to live in Hamilton County, Indiana, one of the most Republican areas of the entire country. As happens most every election day, I found myself very pissed off when I realized that many of the offices on the ballot presented no choice at all -- only Republicans were running. In particular, there wasn't a single Democrat on my ballot for county sheriff, court clerk, recorder, coroner, assessor, or commissioner. There was also no Democrat on the ballot opposite Senator Richard Lugar, and only a token opposition to Congressman Dan Burton. In other words, for well over half the offices on the ballot, I had no choice but to vote Republican. Maybe it's time for me to move.
Across the country, though, there was more of a choice, and people in general voted against the Republican incumbents. This is a good thing. The country is a in a real mess, and while the Executive branch is chiefly responsible, the Congress is to blame for letting it happen. When the bums and scoundrels are too much in the pocket of the President, it's time to change staff. Which is exactly what happened yesterday.
The good news is, a fresh Congress will provide the necessary checks and balances on an Executive branch used to unfettered and unquestioned power. Even better news is that it looks as if everything happened on the up and up; the wave was so big that the ruling party couldn't steal it this time.
It's definitely time for a change. Get ready for an interesting two years.
But that's just my opinion; reasonable minds may disagree.
2 comments:
See you again in 2, 4 or 6 years, whenever the Democrats wear out their welcome. Then we'll start this whole merry-go-round all over again!
Btw, did you read Tom Friedman's piece on the Iraq war in the paper today? I think he's got a great perspective on all this.
Actually, these cycles tend to be 12-20 cycles, it takes about that long for the party in power to become totally corrupt. (Power corrupts -- and as Bush II and Richard Nixon have shown, absolute power corrupts absolutely.)
As to Friedman's piece, I did get the opportunity to read it, but only because the generally unworthy Times Select is free (advertiser-supported) this week only. I agree with Friedman on many things (and with Frank Rich on more), and he comes close to the point here. The real point is that Iraq is a fake nation, put together by the British nation builders after WWI out of what were previously and what should have been three separate nations/tribes/regions. The Brits held it together by force for awhile, as did the Shah, as did Saddam Hussein. (There's something to be said for evil dictators...) With the brutal rule gone, the country has returned to its tribal roots. It's not, as Friedman argues, that it needs to be a three-part country, it's that it needs to be three countries, as it originally was.
But that's just my opinion.
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