Political Irony

© Tony Auth

Did we really vote for this?

[Reprinted from Margaret and Helen, who definitely deserve the last word on the election.]

Margaret, happy days are here again. The skies above are blue again. It really is just too good to be true. The Republican gains delivered by the Tea Party are almost more than I could hope for. I only wish that lovely Witch in Delaware could have come along for the party as well.

Now let’s see. Where do I begin? Our taxes will soon be about zero percent so let’s start spending today to get this economy back on track. The government will shrink to a size somewhat equal to the size of our military which means Social Security has to go. Those of us who were smart enough to save for a rainy day will be high and dry… for at least a few months. And I got a good check-up from my doctor recently so I don’t need my Medicare… for at least a few months.

Now about that black man in the Oval Office. It will take a few days to get impeachment hearings underway, but until then I hear they are moving him out of the White House and into that little room at the top of the Washington Monument so he can’t cause any more trouble. Oh and Ms. Pelosi is out too. How dare she take on the Health Insurance Industry. Didn’t she realize people own stock in those companies?

Gays are no more. They all left, presumably to join the French Army. And teen pregnancies are a thing of the past. Teens will no longer have sex. Except the Palins. The Palins will abandon teen pregnancies as easily as a camel will pass through the eye of an early pregnancy test stick. No. The Palins will continue to give birth to abstinence only babies. That we know for sure.

Abortion? Well everyone knows that was just a luxury American women really couldn’t afford anyway. And government will now be small enough to actually fit inside a woman’s uterus, so all women with unwanted pregnancies have left, presumably to join the French Army.

Sarah Palin has a clear path to the Presidency in 2012… which means we’ll have another presidential election in 2014 when she quits. No problems though. Michele Bachmann has been talking to God and he assures her that the two years as Vice President will fly by and she will be in the Oval Office before she knows it. Let’s all start a prayer group for her now.

I found it interesting that John Boehner declared that Washington has been put on notice. Considering how long he’s been a part of Washington, I say Politician heal thyself. Yes. Washington has been put on notice indeed. It’s been put on notice that Americans have the attention span of a gnat.

If there is one thing we learned last night, it is not that Americans are mad at their government. It’s not that Americans want lower taxes. It’s not even that Tea Party Americans who voted for McCain don’t like Barack Obama. We knew all that. What we learned last night is something we really should have known all along. Americans want what we don’t have. And once we have it, we no longer want it. 2012 will be here before we know it, and I wonder how we will feel then about what we have now.

No worries Margaret. Nothing changes quickly in Washington. And that is probably the best thing about our system of government. Time is on our side. Eventually Americans realized that slavery was unacceptable. Eventually Americans realized that women should be given the right to vote. Eventually Americans realized that Senior Citizens needed a little help at the end of their lives and those living in poverty needed a little leg up from time to time. Eventually we even realized that healthcare should be available for anyone who needs it…. errr. Well, it takes time. That’s my point.

Now go have some pie and take some time to enjoy your day. I mean it. Really.

© Ben Garrison

According to a survey by Rasmussen Reports, most voters expected Republicans to win control of the House of Representatives. But what is really ironic is that — even before the election — 59% think it is likely that most voters will be disappointed with the Republicans in Congress before the elections in 2012. Voters believe that it is likely that Republicans will try to repeal the national health care reform bill, but that it is unlikely that government spending will go down with the GOP in charge of the House. The bottom line is most voters didn’t think there will be a big change in their lives if Republicans take control of Congress.

How jaded have we become to vote for a party that we don’t even believe in?

Still think the Tea Party movement helped the Republicans win this election? Electoral Vote (one of my favorite websites) makes a really good point that the Tea Party actually cost them control of the Senate.

Democrats held on to the Senate, but by the slimmest of margins. And what the Tea Party did, when they did win, was replace one Republican with a “Tea Party” Republican. But in two cases, Nevada and Delaware, the Tea Party Republican lost, and the person they beat in the Republican primary almost certainly would have won.

In Delaware, Mike Castle was so popular that he scared Joe Biden’s son from even running. But the Republicans picked Christine O’Donnell instead, who lost. Likewise in Nevada, Harry Reid, who is very unpopular, was able to hang onto his seat by painting Sharon Angle as a lunatic. That strategy would not have worked against the establishment Republican candidate, Sue Lowden, but Lowden lost in the primary.

That is two seats that the Republicans could easily have won, which would have given them a majority in the Senate (in addition to their majority in the house).

So right now, the only thing the Tea Party has the power to do is dig in their heels, block the budget, and shut down the government. When the Republicans did that to Clinton, it was extremely unpopular. If they did it now, it would cause the government to stop sending out Social Security checks, and — without TSA security screeners — would ground all air traffic. How long would that last?

UPDATE: The Democrats won an additional Senate seat in Colorado against a Tea Party candidate, which means that the Tea Party has now officially cost the Republicans 3 seats in the Senate. The Dems have also prevailed in Washington State, so they have 53 votes in the Senate.

It is just after 9pm on the west coast, and Nate Silver is predicting that the Republicans will take over the House while Democrats will keep control of the Senate, but just barely. But what makes me a bit sad is that Silver is saying that the Republicans seem to be doing slightly better than the polls predicted.

Why sad? Because for the Republicans this election is the triumph of Rovian politics over governance. You can drive the country into the ground, lie the country into war, torture, give billions to your friends, and still win elections by just attacking the other side relentlessly and with little regards for the truth.

The results show that the American people are less interested in how you actually govern the nation, and vote more based on politics — how things are spun. This is a victory for political pundits, and the organizations (and corporations) they work for. It isn’t just that a majority of people in this country believe things that are most certainly not true. It isn’t just that the reason that corporations are pouring unprecedented amounts of money into political ads is because it works, so we are getting the best government that money can buy. It isn’t just because racism and intolerance are alive and well in the US. And it isn’t just because the media has abdicated their vital role.

No, it is because that after all the Hope that was inspired in us for the last election, the voters just don’t care any more. It isn’t Obama that has let us down, we have let ourselves down. We have the power to take back the country from the corporations, but we are too busy eating hamburgers and fries at MacDonalds.

© Keith Tucker

Tucker adds: Vote with your brain, not with your emotions!