THE UNIMAGINABLE, BUT REAL COSTS OF THE ELECTION

For seemingly endless months, the crescendo built, built, and built until it virtually drowned out all of the other events that were simultaneously occurring on the world’s immense stage. Suddenly, the roaring din of the election came to a screeching halt and, when the explosive dust settled, America found itself facing a multitude of problems on both the domestic and international fronts. Further, the methodologies for dealing with those problems differ vastly between the current and future Administration.

First and foremost on all of our minds is the plummeting stock market, rising unemployment, and the risk of collapse of the major national businesses and financial institutions, all with the backdrop of equally dangerous and intimidating international economic turmoil. The economic crisis has been fueled, (no pun intended), by the still looming energy shortages; despite sinking prices at the pump, there is still not enough energy to meet the world’s needs and those who provide it historically take total advantage of the laws of supply and demand.

In the meanwhile, the question of how to handle the sensitive issues surrounding illegal immigration simmers at the boiling point. The national election system and voting tabulation are in such a state of shambles that they threaten to undermine the very democratic foundations upon which the country was founded, through a growing sense of mistrust in the processes.

On the international front, a very nasty war is on the verge of erupting between Israel and Palestine, and a hawkish Iran seems determined to join the impending fracas with nuclear-armed missiles. Both Russia and China are flexing their muscles, and the anti-American rhetoric from South America is on the increase. While warlike activities in Iraq seem to be on the wane, Taliban activities in Afghanistan are on the upswing and the possibility of Pakistan siding with the Taliban increases every day. At the same time, chatter among Al Queda and other terrorist organizations is at an all-time international high.

It’s almost as if the lighting of a very small match could enflame the planet with World War III.

How the new President will want to deal with these things is actually immaterial. He has no war powers unless they are delegated to him by Congress. He cannot raise taxes, control the price of oil, or do much of anything else without the blessings of Congress. It can well be said that all of the hundreds of millions of dollars that were spent like water on the Presidential election campaigns did not empower the winner with one more iota of authority to do anything.

But, here’s the REAL cost of the election: Going into Tuesday, November 4th, our Congress was the lowest rated and most despised Congress in the history of the nation. Yet, with only a few insignificant changes, when November 4th ended we were left with the same Congressional players. That fact alone is sad commentary on the state of the electorate.

That, my fellow Americans, means that all of these major, big-time and very real problems are going to be decided by the same individuals in Congress who have presided over our nation for the past 20 years by doing nothing, cavorting a lot, and drinking the American public’s blood as if it were 120 proof alcohol. What this failure to turn out the bums, (and they are bums,) will eventually cost us remains to be seen.

The prospects are ominous.

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.