Well, the time has finally arrived and I for one am darn ready. After four years of front-runners, forecasting and focus groups, the third oldest profession in America is getting down to business and a weary and most likely thankful nation will head to the polls and elect a president this Tuesday.
I will admit an addiction. The news channels with their 24/7 cycles have ensnared me in their webs of polls, talking heads and predictions. I can’t sleep or eat without watching some commentator making some sort of pontification or observation about some mindless event. After Tuesday I’m not quite sure how exactly I’ll be able to occupy my spare time without hearing some heated discussion about voter fraud or some miscue by one of the candidates.
America can be a very confusing place to try to understand. The leader in the polls is perhaps one of the most inexperienced ever that has been nominated to run for president. He held state office for a brief period and was elected to the Senate and has served there for only for two years. His voting record in both places is somewhat stealth-like. His true feelings on many subjects are just not known. He has refused to commit on most issues by just voting “present” and when he does vote he aligns himself with the party leadership, which represents the most liberal wing of his associates. Yet I must remind the readers Abraham Lincoln had about the same amount of experience as this current candidate.
There have been many reprehensible parts to this campaign. I think the character assassination willingly performed by a biased media is something not to forget. Liberal women can’t seem to stand the Republican vice presidential candidate who has five children and has conservative values. I see a person that has bootstrapped herself to a high public office without any sort of political connections and that fact alone is commendable. The Democrat vice presidential candidate raised his two boys alone for a number of years after his wife was killed in a car accident. How many presidential candidates were POWs and had been tortured for five years? Thanks to affirmative action programs and scholarships, a person coming from broken homes and modest means attended and graduated from an Ivy League university and is now running for the highest office in the land. It is not the race of our fathers and forefathers.
As for the candidates themselves, I think they have done the American public a grave disservice by not alerting us of the impending financial crisis in Social Security and other social programs brought on by the rapidly aging populace of this country. The meltdown of the world financial system was brought down by pure unregulated greed by a few. That was a house of cards that collapsed and to many unsuspecting Americans it was a both a shock and a surprise. What we are facing with Social Security and Medicare has been long predicted but even longer ignored by politicians unwilling to demand fiscal responsibility. There is a piper soon to pay and it looms as a Class Five hurricane waiting offshore. When it hits this unprepared country, the events of last month in Wall Street will pale in comparison since there is no short-term quick fix for the “Graying of America.” All we have heard is tax cuts and new programs. America is in for a rude awakening that we just don’t have money to spend our way out of problems.
If you monitor the glassBYTEs.com/AGRR Forum, you know there have been a high number of threads devoted to the election, the candidates and many of the issues. It’s gratifying to note that many of you have strong opinions that reflect that same sort of interest that have had afflicted yours truly.
If you want change, that change is going to come Tuesday whether you want it or not. What is very interesting to me is reading how many of you perceive the issues and your reactions to them.
There is a common political maxim that goes something like this: One is a Democrat until he owns a business, then he becomes a Republican. You can tell who the independent owners are who contribute opinions on the forum based on their responses.
What is ironic is there are many of us who espouse freedom, complain about regulations but want to restrict the TPAs. That reasoning, while understandable, is flawed. You can’t just eat the middle of bread and leave the crust. If you want restrictions on those corporate entities, don’t complain about regulations on your own firm. The trouble is, most independents lack any sort of political influence of any nature, which leaves us powerless in most cases.
I voted a few days ago by absentee ballot. I strongly believe in the ballot process on the old simple theory of “You have no right to complain if you did not exercise your right to vote.” I urge all of you out there to vote and pray that there is a clear winner. That will mean a few weeks of peace and quiet from the news networks. We can use that; I know my ears can use the rest.
