Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The Morning After

In the interest of full disclosure, I will confess that I am not writing this on Wednesday morning. Rather, it’s Tuesday night, and I’ve got the TV on in the other room. I’m listening with my left ear as I type with both hands. My mind is taking things in as I put things out. Call me versatile.

As with most years, I have been intrigued by the campaigns and rallies that have led up to this day of voting. In college, I majored in Poli-Sci, and electoral politics always held my interest most. Electoral politics reflect a combination of so many things: the personalities of elected officials and those who would like to hold office; the mood of the nation; the mood of individual groups within the nation; the economy; the income classes; the tragic tenacity of racism; what’s happening around the world; hopes and dreams; frustrations and difficulties.

This electoral season has been phenomenal on all those fronts. And what is abundantly clear is that a whole lot of people are pissed off. I’ve been sharing a quip for a few months now: if we Californians reinstate “Governor Moonbeam” as our chief executive, and if we simultaneously legalize marijuana, then make your moving plans. Please join me on the West Coast as we await the apocalypse.

That’s a joke, but the sentiment underlying it is not. Our country is having a serious meltdown. It actually might be a good idea for us to gather together around a fire, load up a very large bong, and sing Kumbaya for a while.

What concerns me most about the current angst is that it seems people are putting all the blame on the present. And, in my opinion, that is a huge mistake.

A lot of what is messed up today goes back to Reagan and deregulation. There also are the travesties of the first eight years of the current century…

I was on Amazon the other day, and I noticed their large advertisement for a book that will be released on November 9th. George W. Bush’s Decision Points.

I immediately questioned the title. Shouldn’t it be called Decidering Points?

As I thought about it, I realized there are many possibilities for the title of Dubya’s memoir…

How about Moments When Dick Cheney Told Me What to Do… ?

No? Okay then, here’s another option: How I Came to Support Halliburton While Hopin’ to Please Ol’ Pappy.

What do you mean you don’t like that one?

Too wordy, you say?

Alright then, how about My Delusion Continues.

Yeah, I agree, that might give him too much credit for introspection.

Of course, something extremely direct might be refreshing. Like… Check Out All These Ways I Fucked Up!

And here’s one that’s sort of obtuse: A Spine is a Terrible Thing to Waste.

(By which I’m speaking from the perspective of a librarian, not an anatomist.)

Update from my left ear: the news station I am listening to has projected Jerry Brown for governor.

Can you imagine spending $141 million in pursuit of a job and NOT getting it?

If tonight’s projections hold true tomorrow, then that’s what Meg Whitman did.

Everybody should be angry about that waste of too-much-money.

And if you think about it... and if you do so without partisan prejudice or any other ‘ism’s that might influence your perspective, you will realize that you cannot logically blame the obscene scenario of Whitman’s campaign on the Obama administration.

You just can’t.

14 comments:

Lora said...

bah. i'm living in the only state that got a darker shade of red during the presidential election of '08...and now unfortunately has gone further toward the conservative side (we had a dem as governor until the vote last night).

i agree -- there's been a lot of blame on the present and it's misdirected. it's not necessarily only a republican problem...but the majority of the financial hellhole is.

i think i shall go hide my head in the sand for awhile. i soooo want to move to california...

Midlife Roadtripper said...

"Decidering Points?" Hahahahahahahaha! I vote for that one.

I've been thinking about all that money spent on this election. Just think what good that money could have done.

You might like this blog if you haven't already read it -- http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/

Americans have short attention spans and pay little attention to history. Fickle, for sure.

OJ Gonzalez-Cazares said...

politics suck! no matter the country - campaigns are a waste of money, talent and so annoying! and what about all those promised jobs given to the campaigners? there goes the "who's best for the job" for the "where does this moron fit in? ok anywhere"

Jayne Martin said...

Thanks for the chuckles. It's a day when I needed them. I love those book titles you came up with. Read today where Bush said the most disappointing moment in his presidency was when Kanye West said he didn't like black people. Seriously. That was his lowest moment. Wow. Talk about delusional.

I'm thrilled we have Governor Moonbeam back. I voted for him the first time oh-those-many years ago. Hell, I even remember when his dad was governor. All-in-all, we here in California can be proud.

Lydia Kang said...

Now whenever I heard "decision" I will hear "decidering." Ha ha.
I really appreciate your comments over at my blog. Thanks for adding some important points to the discussion, and nice to meet you!

BECKY said...

Oh, Katie you are such an intelligent, witty, funny bad-ass!! Those book titles are hilarious! I agree with everything you said. As I was listening to the few minutes of "voting news" that I could stomach, it occurred to me, too, how IMPATIENT the American people are....Most, Some, A lot, but not all of us. What took years to mess up, will take years to fix!!!!!!

Joey Lynn Resciniti said...

I just had a freakout of my own last night about our current political climate. Bush waged preemptive war and you didn't see this mass voting out of all that helped him do it. Obama gives us healthcare (or takes his best shot at it) and anyone that supported it lost their job.

People really are dumb. Really.

Cheryl said...

We got to keep our sane governor and our sane local officials. The state went bonkers and sent the idiots back to DC. We only had a couple of years of sane representation and pfffft.

We live in very strange times.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful word, 'decidering' - reminds me of Roald Dahl and 'The BFG'. Meanwhile, over here, we watch and wait as David Cameron and Nick Clegg try to pull the economy back into shape...

Green Monkey said...

Linda McMahon, pledged to spend $50 million to fund her political ambitions - more than 6 times what the average winner in 2008 spent on a senate bid.

I'm happy to report that she lost.

Patricia said...

Great post, I have been evaluating grants of money used to help children and teens succeed...each of the Networks (38) in the State got between 30,000 and $200,000 to implement programs, teach the community and empower the citizens....one of our senate candidates made some of his money funneling some of this grant money into his own pocket...of course, I am not allowed to talk about that...

Even with Rove's committee and the Chamber of Commerce giving millions and an extra 54 million $ boost the last week to this guy - he lost. Thank you all the gods of wisdom involved.

I am so concerned about all the news folks saying now our President does get "IT" No I think they are wrong....he does get "it" - that the US Citizens are not being heard and thousands are being lulled into a stupor with all this blather and ignorance on TV....
I was so upset I could hardly function for about 2 hours on Wednesday...now attempting to come back to life and help these kids as much as possible.
Wonder if schools will recover? Grants will still come 'round, and if we will lose ab....tion rights, women's health practices rights, health care, - redistricting is just the next item up...

Anonymous said...

I didn't know Amazon sells books with totally blank pages...can you imagine Dubya's book on Kindle? Nothing there! Just like Dubya! No brain! No lips! And IS our children truly learning?

And Hooray for Governor Moonbeam! I've loved the guy for years!

cj Schlottman said...

Katie,

You have done it again! This post is priceless. The exemplary humor aside, I agree with you whole-heartedly that the mess we are now experiencing is a result of policies from decades ago. I despise all the money spent on elections, and I really hate that so much of it goes to negative ads.

Decidering Points? OMG, that is hysterical!

Thanks for another great thought provoking post...........cj

Deb Shucka said...

I'm laughing out loud at your titles. And after this election and all the commentary following, it's good to laugh. I'm in your choir politically, so it always makes me feel better to read your thoughts. Sort of like when I had Anna Quindlen to help me articulate what I was feeling.