The Faces Have Changed But Will The Game?

Finally, the mid-term madness is over!  At least the balloting is finished. Now we await the results and I don't mean who won or lost.  It's how the game will be played under new majorities and leadership.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised with Mitch McConnell's press conference this morning.  He seemed to be a calm voice of reason.  If I've judged his leadership abilities too harshly, however, remains to be seen.

By in large I'm happy with the results - except in my home state.  More on this later.  I liked the fact that the new faces are a relatively young lot.  Perhaps with a calming and experienced hand at the helm progress on a variety of fronts will be made. Perhaps too he will be able to hold the boisterous rebels at bay.

A lot will depend on whether or not the President has an epiphany. I'm not betting on it.  It goes against his nature.  Perhaps, though, the remaining Democrats, as well as certain Republicans, will realize the folly of marching in lockstep with any agenda.  One can hope.

What is discouraging are my home state results.  Idaho is one of the most red states in the nation.  It is claimed if you paint an R on a rock it will get itself elected.  Well, Idaho painted an R on a lot of rocks this go round and sure enough they got elected.  I expect we shall remain near the bottom in just about everything. This is how dysfunction at the national level begins. Cream rises to the top. Even if it's sour it's deemed something special and like dysfunctional schools where children are passed through because it's easier than educating them, we pass our politicians ever upward.

Why is that?  You'd think we'd learn.  Those of us who do are left to suffer the results of those who don't because for some reason they win more elections than we do. If it's because we're too contemptuous to vote than we deserve what we get. The irony is staggering.

It will be a few days before the dust has settled and we get back to what's left of this year.  There is limited time left to get much of anything resolved.  Perhaps that's a good thing.

The cycle begins anew.  Those looking to 2016 will ramp up.  A couple of new faces for the Republicans are beginning to emerge thanks to their victories.  It has also been shown that the Clintons are a force to be reckoned with in not much more than their own minds. For that I am thankful.

Strategists Are The Weather Forecasters Of Politics

After all the dust has settled Wednesday morning will we know what we've gotten?  I don't think so.  Otherwise the tight races wouldn't be anywhere nearly as tight.

It's the strategists, stupid! They're just like weather forecasters.  They're so busy looking at their charts and graphs and trends they forget to look out the window.  Sunny and clear all day. Look out the window.  It's pouring!

Not that it's any comfort, but I think it explains a lot.  Why else would Greg Orman, a professed Independent in Kansas, say he would caucus with which ever party wins.  There's a man with convictions!  Which way is the wind blowing?  In circles like a tornado.  It leaves nothing behind but destruction.

The Republicans have been running a stealth campaign.  Why?  Because their strategists say if they say anything their opponents will be able to take shots at them.  I ask, "So what?"  If you believe in something, say so!  As of right now I have no idea what the Republicans believe in.  There aren't enough true Independents running to make a difference and they couldn't anyway unless they formed their own caucus and stuck with it.

As for the Democrats.  They've had the last six years to show that their vision and policies were what's best for the country.  They have been proven mistaken.  Any one can make a mistake.  It becomes problematic that you refuse to admit it and double down rather than admit you didn't get it right and amend the path.

Basically we're left with the blind leading the blind.  The politicians wall themselves off from the wishes of their constituents for the sake of their lucrative careers.  The strategists are too busy with their charts and models to take the real pulse of the public.  They might be surprised to find that where a tsunami, or at least a decent wave, is predicted the truth is the voters don't see it that way.

They've looked at the rising cost of health car, the lack of really good jobs or  the lack of change in their take home pay and the ever increasing cost of essentials and say, "Hey, those Democrats haven't done so well."  Then they look at the Republicans for a new direction and are met with silence.

The politicians may be facing a tsunami all right.  A tsunami of disinterest and resignation.  It isn't apathy.  It's discouragement.  It will be interesting to see what trickles out to the polls. The strategists should look out the window if for no other reason than to save face over the next couple of days.  I think they'll find most people think they're all wet.

November 5 More Scarey Than October 31

I really fear November 5th. We will then know who will be serving in the House and Senate, with maybe a couple of exceptions waiting for a run off, for at least the next two years.

I have no idea how to make an intelligent decision any more.  From the top down it seems no one is willing to take a stand and stick with it what's more explain it.

Take all the issues the President is going to make decisions on after the election.  Immigration.  What to do about ISIS.  The Keystone Pipeline and on and on.

We really have no idea what we'll be getting.  If the incumbents that have been running from Obama are returned than so will their voting practices and nothing will have changed.  If their opponents win will they keep their campaign promises or succumb to party pressures and become one more sheep doing the bidding of even dumber sheep?

I have seen absolutely nothing in this long and dirty campaign season that gives even a hint that somewhere within the myriad of candidates someone actually gets that the voters are not happy.  They parse the problems into silliness like the War on Women.  Please.

One thing they haven't seemed to grasp is that the policies now in place aren't working.  Unemployment is still way up if you do the math properly and factor in those who have left the workforce.  Unwillingly.  That those great job numbers haven't even brought employment up to what it had been when Obama took office.  Nor are salaries. No truth in advertising here.

I could go on and on but suffice it to say I see nothing much changing. If we oppose the President we'll still be racists.  If we oppose his policies we'll still be un-American.  No one can voice a personal opinion any more without being sullied for having it.

As we trivialize domestic issues into no more than name calling and half truths we still have the rest of the world to contend with.  A world that sees us in a continually diminishing light.  Adversaries are taking advantage of every minute of every day as we flounder with a lack of leadership and therefore direction.  If this weren't bad enough the sophomoric insiders have taken to insulting those who once were our allies and even some of our own high level officials.

With the prevailing attitudes we have much to worry about.  So busy are those in high places at strutting our own self-importance, essential details of mere existence are being ignored.

We can hope the new faces that show up in Congress are of a different ilk.  We can hope the pendulum is swinging back to the side of decency, common sense and cooperation. We can hope.
Unfortunately I don't have much. 

Head Strong or Head Hidden? Ebola and Beheadings

It seems to me the whole controversy over quarantine policy for people entering the country from what is now being called the Ebola "hot zones" could have been avoided had the President made a decision at the outset.

Forget what the science says.  That hasn't yet been proven and when lives are at stake why not err on the side of caution?  The quarantine accommodations could have been arranged for when the first Doctor was transported to this country. Protocols, procedures and training could have been in place. That would have avoided the tent and surly screeners that so offended returning nurse Kaci Hickox.

Why she didn't understand why it was being done is beyond me and why she thinks she can ignore precautions just because she doesn't feel bad offends me.  It's just such an "up yours" attitude that does put us at risk.

Rather let the degree of quarantine be lessened as it's shown unnecessary rather than trying to ramp it up if it is.  At least the military has it right and poor Chuck Hagel has for once listened to them instead of his commander-in-chief.

Any time something seems unlikely, like Ebola coming to the United States, red flags should be raised every where.  Another example of creeping circumstances comes from a cavalier attitude about the radical Islamic danger to the nation.  Today there was another beheading.  This time in New York, a college professor by her son who then jumped in front of a train.  Was it a terror attack?  I haven't seen that speculation but the young man did have a history of mental problems.

So what's the point? Well, what if it was radicalization? Ignoring the extent of it has been fool hardy as we're seeing. While still few in number there is an increase never-the-less. If the killer was not radicalized then the use of beheading as a way to murder is chilling.  That idea dawns then from publicity rather than ideology which actually could be worse. No matter the cause, pussy footing around the issue of it's existence should not preclude the need for vigilance - especially of those with known mental issues. After all, all extremists have them.

The same goes for the Ebola scare. Ignore precautions at your own peril but don't put me in peril!

Death from either Ebola or beheading is not a pleasant way to die. Cautions put forth and explained by leadership could mean all the difference in the world to anyone stepping out beyond their front door.  Including themselves.

There Are Good Democrats

There are good Democrats just like there are good Republicans.  I'm banking on it because my ballot this year leans heavily Democratic on the local level.  That's saying something in a predominantly Republican area.

The Republicans here, in large part, have gotten lazy and sloppy and too sure of themselves.  It's time for some change.

That being said, back to the Democrats. It angers me that so many are running from the President's policies only because those policies have become detrimental to election or re-election.  If they were so against said policies why didn't they stand up to be counted when it counted?  We know why.  Fear of repercussion.  This is not a Democratic issue alone.  The Republicans do the same thing in order to get their members to march in lock step.

It's wrong, just plain wrong. It's no way to govern. It is expected these protestations are going to fall on deaf ears and the Republicans will be running both houses of Congress come January.  Will we then see compromise?  Will the new Senate majority leader bring bills to the floor for a vote?  So what if the President vetoes them?  A statement will have been made for which only the President will have to answer.

The President has shown in no uncertain terms he has no interest in leading the government nor the country.  I would wonder why he ran in the first place except the answer is obvious. To leave race out of it I'll leave it at ego.

In that vacuum there will be new opportunity for the parties to come together and find workable answers to our many problems.  Hopefully enough like minded people will be elected to make this possible. I hope it's not just wishful thinking. Ideology still holds too much sway.

It's time too to begin looking and listening to those who have been positioning themselves for 2016.  Who is saying what they really believe versus who is trying to please everyone depending where they are speaking.

When Hillary tells us to not believe that businesses create jobs that would only be the truth if she carried it one step further.  Consumers create jobs because then businesses need to hire to keep up with demand.  That is no where near what she was saying.

That's what happens with candidates who expect to be elected on the strength of soundbites rather than substance.

It's time to start listening.  Let's see if we can do a better job of it than the politicians do.