A Post Election Analysis and the Missing Apocalypse

That this is written before tonight's results are actually in, is irelevant. I already know the outcome and feel privileged to be able to give you a heads up. This is what I would have written tomorrow morning if I were not sharing it with you now. For those of you inclined to doubt my ability to read tomorrow, today, you need simply measure my revealed accuracy upon the 'morrow.

I woke this morning with the usual fear and trembling which follows every Election Day. I gathered myself and my trepidation, made my way to the door and began to examine the landscape. The sky was intact and had indeed, not fallen. The world, once again, ignored its heralded apocalypse. The doomsday, my vote was supposed to usher in, was apparently, a premature forecast meant to manipulate my private and personal decision. The “post apocalyptic election world” remained unchanged, despite continuous predictions to the contrary. A quick check of my on line bank accounts put me at ease; it remained as I had left it, in close proximity to my one vote. I realized once again, that the impending promises of doom and gloom were as empty as the faces proclaiming that my vote would crush America beneath the heal of my own stupidity. Of course, voting correctly could impede the coming of armageddon and set me on the road to recovery and riches. Obviously, according to my on line check, I voted incorrectly.

Now what! Just in case the wrath of God was actually awaiting my pious little vote, I made no plans for the rest of my life. Both parties have been assuring me for the past two years, that my vote could end the American way of life, alter my children‘s economic future, steal my retirement benefits and severely diminish my conjugal privileges. Now I’m standing in my doorway watching Chicken Little frolic in my granddaughters sand box, my wife is just as frisky as she was this time last month and I still remain involuntarily, my children’s economic future. My world, with all the good and bad that was here yesterday, is still staring at my complicit face.

I am, however, once again, excited about watching television. Finally free of the political brainwashing which has been levied upon my apparently, insufficient mind. Back to corporate ads, vying for my few miserable discretionary dollars. I am actually looking forward to catching up on current advances from “The Scooter Store, to see what's new from the wonderful world of “Viagra” and if “Bud Lite” has gotten any lighter.

Obviously, the looming catastrophe has been diverted once again.The unchanging agendas of both parties will reveal a new menace, which they will in turn assign to the opposition, chicken little will start pulling our strings and the puppeteers will again, unleash their disciples upon a dubious America. The victorious puppeteer will feed us a daily dose of good news. He or she will proclaim that all is well regardless of the evidence. A new opposing puppeteer will arise to replace the vanquished. He or she will feed us a daily dose of bad news, regardless of the evidence and we will debate the virtues of both until Election Day comes again.

Although this rant implies a cynical view of elections and our precarious vote, I think both were masterminded to insure the foundation of our way of life and this republic. What really riles me is the attempt by politicians to alienate “we the people” from one another by instilling adversarial and unwarranted exaggerations in order to grow a constituency with no other purpose than to win election from fears which they themselves manufacture.

The “Post Apocalyptic Election World” is eerily the same as it was yesterday. It remains, “one big exaggerated mess” or “one glorious and evolving country”. Either way, it will find its own way in response to the judgment of its citizens and neither “Chicken Little” nor the fear mongering puppeteers have dissuaded the Election Day majority.

Despite both victor and the vanquished, in the end, “we the people” have once again prevailed. Whether my candidate won or loss, whether yours won or loss, is never the issue. In the end, we the people were victorious and that incredible and profound consequence bears an immeasurable and intrinsic beauty that begs our reflection today.

“We the people” have collectively elected. Sometimes in the aftermath, in the weighing of disappointment and celebration, we forget that it was never about you and I; It was about America. We waged an individual opinion, trusting that the collective opinions of a democracy could measure better, than you and I alone. It is a concept in which I rest, in which I trust and in which I part with my stubborn will, in homage to those that did the same. Regardless of how my individual vote was cast, I contributed to the voice of my countryman. I am thankful that they have done the same. It has kept the sky intact and insured the viability of my marriage for another four years.