In the Fall of 1936 the influential weekly magazine Literary Digest conducted a straw poll of the presidential election for that year. The results published in that periodical prognosticated that the Republican candidate Alf Landon would handily defeat Franklin Roosevelt. It must have been a telephone poll as those who could still have afforded telephone service may well have intended to vote for Mr. Landon while those citizens who could no longer pay for the luxury (such as my own family) had seen their service disconnected. Suffice it to say that the error of such a prediction (Landon carried 2 states while the remaining 46 voted overwhelmingly for FDR) resulted in the demise of the Literary Digest.
Today, most polling suggests that the current minority Republicans are expected to post moderate gains which will "probably" enable them wield a majority in the lower house of Congress. We shall see.
Since 1980 this humble blogster has made at least two dozen transcontinental road trips across these United States between his native California and the East coast aboard motorcycles, automobiles, small trucks as well as "hippie" (VW) vans. Other than the societal decay experienced in the "progressively" ruled Mexifornia beginning in the early 1980's the remainder of the nation commonly known as "flyover country" by the ruling elite had remained relatively unaffected until late 2008.
Your correspondent has just completed the second day of his most recent road trip and the noticeable though admittedly anecdotal national deterioration occurring since just last Spring is truly astonishing.
Our first days journey found us seeking lodging at an inn we had previously patronized. The establishment had begun to evidence a degree of seediness and a homeless male adult was observed seated near the rear of the facility on an abandoned car seat when the wife walked our dog at 8:00PM. Morning revealed him still seated in the same location shivering in the chill of pre sunrise. Mrs Leonidas retrieved two "complementary" breakfast rolls provided by the inn and presented them to the appreciative "derelict" causing this humble writer to be reminded of what had originally attracted him to this marvelous woman many years ago.
Since the onset of today's ongoing financial/economic crisis there has been a substantial deterioration in the observable lifestyle circumstances of ordinary Americans. In point of fact, many of the small communities along the back roads of Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico resemble the scenes in Mad Max. Not only are there noticeable changes in the nations infrastructure, but the anger expressed in overheard conversations in pubs, cafes and other public places far surpasses what has been witnessed by this writer during his threescore and 14 years.
In sum, I would have to conclude that the anger and frustration of ordinary citizens across this formerly great, free and prosperous nation is palpable beyond the comprehension of the "mainstream" elite and ruling class. It is I believe possible that events of the upcoming November plebiscite will surpass the worst nightmares of Mssrs Obama and Reid as well as Ms Pelosi. The saddest part however will be played out when the new crop of rulers fails to produce the desired results. The ensuing events will be decidedly unpretty.
More anon.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
3 comments:
It's a risk I am willing to take. The incumbents have become horrific. They must be replaced. All of them. The incoming electees can hardly do worse, but if they do not deliver on their promises to BE better and DO better, we can vote them out in four years.
No more Kennedy style lifetime entrenchment - and never gain may a representative vote on a bill that no one has read. It should be a death penalty offense.
Your last paragraph is what I kept gravitating back to when I read this. You nailed it. The people are always looking for their messiah; their savior, who will come to them and save them from whatever currently ails them. What they end up getting is just another crop of damned politicians, and the yearning for their next messiah. We've been going back and forth between Republican and Democrat now for years, each time thinking that by voting in the other guy, we are somehow going to fix things, change things, make things better. But int he end, we just get another bunch of damned politicians. Will we ever learn? Are there even any reasonable alternatives?
Good post on what we all are seeing and fail to document. The wheels are coming off. The center canot hold.
The difference between GOP and DEMS became insignificant after Newt failed to 'downsize' government. Of course the Dems also hated America, but both parties had similar legislative agendas.
I also share little hope that the Tea Party take-over of teh GOP will be able to make positive changes. Their best hope is to 'lock in the suck' and obstruct further damaging measures. Locking in the suck is going to make them complicit. Sure they can't override vetoes. And the executive will go on as before.
By the next Presidential election, what will remain? Will there be any evidence that voting will matter? Best case, if the new guys aren't corrupted immediately, they can not accomplish much.
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Unless they commence trials for Treason. Then czars and high level bureacrats will have to distance themselves from O'Barry. It's the only action I see that can 'move the ball'.
Without that, I think they can only obstruct and 'lock in the suck'. And the nation may not be able to take another 2 years.
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