Before the sun comes up tomorrow, we may know whether it’s a blue wave or another red tide.
Only in the last week or so have the cable news pundits concerned themselves with voter suppression, closed or moved election precincts and early voters who watched touch screen computers flip their votes. Instead, they were more concerned with yammering about ever changing, meaningless polls, the obscene amount of money raised that lined their corporate masters’ pockets, Trump’s ego-feeding trips campaigning more for himself than the candidates he supports (a portion of which has been on the taxpayers’ dime when he could claim presidential business was involved).
The Republicans and Trump have made this one of the ugliest campaign seasons, if not the most ugly: lies, distortions, smears, dirty tricks. It’s also been one of the costliest elections with both sides projected to have spent $5.4 billion, according to The Center of Responsive Politics. Imagine what better things that money could have been spent on.
The bad news is even if the Democrats retake the House and possibly the Senate, not much will change. While the Dems may protect a woman’s reproductive rights and the rights of LGBTs, refuse to fund Trump’s insane border wall or thwart his unconstitutional birthright stripping of immigrant’s children born here, they are, with a few exceptions, as much in the pockets of Big Money as the Repubs. Moreover, Trump will still be president and, unless the Dems are also the majority in the Senate, he can still pack the courts with rabid right-wing judges.
As for single payer healthcare, don’t forget that the last time Nancy Pelosi was speaker, she took that off the table.
The good news, regardless of the election outcome, tomorrow the political robocalls will stop, our inboxes won’t be spilling over 24/7 with pleas for money, the paper mailers will stop and TV won’t be saturated with political ads. Yes, the cable news pundits will launch interminable post mortems but we have an off switch for that.
You may only be slowing down the more effective evils by voting for the lesser evils, but do vote. That is our only choice right now in this capitalistic country if we are to keep what is left of our rights.
Bev Conover is the editor and publisher of Intrepid Report. Email her at editor@intrepidreport.com.
sad. sad. sad.
even ever since the time of Socrates: ignorance always win … with just very few exceptions throughout history. sad.