The election is over—and what does that really mean?
Our telephone is ringing a lot less (even though if the caller ID gave the slightest hint of a pollster, we didn’t answer).
Speaking of the pollsters, a lot of them are busily explaining how they really were right, even though they came to the wrong conclusion, because . . . .
The credibility of the media has sunk to an all-time low, and considering where they were two weeks ago, that’s pretty amazing.
As I’ve said in the past:
1. It takes a whole different set of skills to run for office than to execute the office.
2. After each president-elect has been briefed on the story behind the story behind the headlines, it’s pretty obvious that they view reality quite differently.
And the future?
In 1976 during the United States bicentennial, I realized that our system is flawed and imperfect, but it works. Yes, we’ve had the gridlock, sequestration, and government shutdowns of the past few years. However, it really does work, and it works better than most other systems of government. Our democratic republic (it’s not a democracy—that would require that the entire nation vote on every single decision, right down to declaring National Prune Week) inspired most other free forms of government. Some have a parliament rather than a congress, but the basic concept is the same—that the government has authority from the consent of the governed.
There will be bumps. Some politicians will continue to cater to the special interests and the media instead of the nation they have sworn to serve. But all we need is for enough of them to do the right thing some of the time. Some Americans (and others) will have a hard time adjusting, especially after the “sure thing” conclusion didn’t happen, but this, too, has happened before; Headlines announced that Dewey defeated Truman—when he didn’t.
The bottom line is that we’re Americans—be proud of it. We’ll figure it out. We always do.
And, to those Americans who made our country possible; to those who wore the uniform and swore a sacred oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies—thank you for your service on this Veterans’ Day.
sfnowak 