What The Hell?

After the primaries I said that the nomination of so many extremists as Republican candidates had changed this election from being a political IQ test to being a mental health test. In the days leading up to the election Meg Whitman in California quoted Arnold Schwartzeneggar saying that insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. Voting for people who want to continue the failed policies of George W. Bush and who have used every means to try to prevent the government from getting us out of Bush’s recession is insane by definition. Extreme Republican candidates such as Rand Paul, Sharon Angle and Christine O’Donnell, to name just a few, want to go back much farther to the failed Republican policies that brought us the great depression. An informed electorate would have said “Hell No” by handing the Republican Party a devastating defeat; they would have given the Democrats a large enough majority to override filibusters in the senate and would have given the Democrats an even greater majority in the house. Instead the voters sent a mixed but angry message. They allowed the Democrats to keep a small majority in the senate but they also gave the Republicans control of the house.

Because of the number of elections for the house I am going to discuss the outcome generally rather than specifically. I am also going to confine my discussion to those senate races the pundits said the Republicans had to win in order to gain a majority in the senate.

Alaska: The results are not in but one thing is evident: the people of Alaska were sane enough to reject Sarah Palin’s stocking horse, Joe Miller. Ms. Palin responded by letting her populist veil slip. She blamed the defeat of Miller on media bias and called the reporters “corrupt bastards.” Sorry Ms. Palin, but those reporters were doing what reporters are supposed to do by presenting accurate stories. I guess when you work for or watch the disinformation factory known as Fox News it is difficult to imagine that real news organizations have some journalistic integrity.

Arkansas: It was not pivotal, but I cannot resist commenting on it. Thanks to Blanch Lincoln’s outrageous tactics during the primary the people of Arkansas had a very dismal choice to make. The result of telling Ms. Lincoln that there is only so much the voters will tolerate was appalling, but sending that message was the right thing to do.

California: This state waved a not for sale sign in the face of corporate candidates, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, and this demonstrated a high political IQ.

Colorado: Michael Bennett is clearly preferable to the extremist, Ken Buck, and it looks like Bennett has won a very close race.

Florida: I would like very much to blame the election of Rubio on the fact that there were three candidates but Rubio received too many votes for me to do that. It was an absurd outcome compounded by the election of Daniel Webster over Alan Grayson. Congressman Grayson is a breath of fresh air. His courage and integrity will be sorely missed. I hope he runs for office again.

Illinois: It looks like Republican Mark Kirk has defeated Alexi Giannoulias. Illinois also voted heavily for Republicans in the house races. I guess the voters there are not bright enough to figure out who will represent them and who will represent the people exporting their jobs. Just follow the bouncing dollars, folks. If those dollars are from hidden sources it cannot be good.

Kentucky: mental health clinics are desperately needed there! Rand Paul is such an extremist that he might even filibuster a bill raising the national debt ceiling. Doing this would cause the U.S. to default on the interest payments of its loans and would cause a world wide economic panic. The only good thing about him doing this is that it would result in the abolition of the filibuster rules the Republicans have been misusing to thwart the legislation needed to further an economic recovery.

Nevada: It took the outrageous race baiting of one of the worst political candidates ever to allow Harry Reid to win this election. What this says about the mental health of Nevada is not good, but at least Nevada does not have to admit that they elected someone as extreme and unqualified as Sharon Angle.

Pennsylvania: The difference between Joe Sestak and Pat Toomey are like night and day, and the voters made the wrong choice by electing Toomey. One can only hope that this insanity is temporary.

Washington: Patty Murray holds a slight lead over Dino Rossi. Electing Rossi would be stupid. Hopefully, sanity will prevail.

West Virginia: Joe Manchin had to swing too far to the right to defeat Robert Byrd. This does not speak well for the mental health of West Virginians, but they made the right choice.

There is obviously an ignorance gap between informed voters and the majority of voters. Too many people apparently do not pay any attention what is going on in Washington. As a result of this lack of attention and/or the inability to comprehend the events taking place they are too easily swayed by deceptive political advertisements and simplistic slogans like “death panels.” Instead of thinking about the issues they react viscerally to their personal situations and often crap on their own interests as a result. That is what they have done in this election. Believe me, I understand the desperation of being unemployed for a long period of time. It is something I have experienced. That is why I pay enough attention to know who is representing my interests rather than representing the people who export jobs. It takes more than two years to rebuild an economy. This is particularly true when the opposition is determined to make you fail. The Republicans have fought and will continue to fight legislation that would discourage the exportation of jobs and all other efforts to get this economy moving again. This does not mean you have to be patient. Informed voters prod the people representing them for quicker results, and they remove the people who are standing in the way of those results.

In this instance the voters damaged their own cause by lashing out blindly and angrily. They punished the party that was trying to get this economy moving again and rewarded the party that was impeding progress. I would like to think the Republicans will act responsibly, but their behavior over the past two years makes me believe they will not. The most likely result of this election will be greater gridlock in Washington and a deepening recession. The special interests who kept their identities hidden from you and me while pouring millions of dollars into the campaign efforts of Republican candidates will demand a return on their investments, and those returns will be taken out of your hide in the form of outsourcing and deficit producing tax cuts for the wealthy individuals who own or run the companies that export your jobs! The next two years are going to be hell, and the special interest lackeys you elected to the House of Representatives will be stoking the fires. For your own sake, pay attention to what is really happening!