Mark
my words. By the
time you read this
column it will all
be over but the
shouting. Someone
will have won the
election and someone
will have lost. Be
that as it may, what
I predict is that
wholesale shopping
and entertainment
will soar the
weekend after the
election.
At my house, I have
taken to my bed to
read every night for
about the past month
since I am fed up
with the election
coverage. I know
what I believe and
am refusing to stuff
my brain with any
more details that I
have heard over and
over again for the
past year or so.
This has been the
longest political
campaign in my
history. I am worn
out.
You can tell who is
a political junkie;
you see them on the
street each day
walking around
looking like someone
from the night of
the living dead.
Those vacant eyes
staring off into
space, the drool
drying on the
corners of their
mouths and their
hair all askew from
positioning
themselves in a
prone position in
front of a large
screen television
for hours and hours
on end. Many of
America’s women will
likely flock to
beauty parlors all
over the country
after Tuesday of
next week to get the
creases taken out of
their hair. The
health clubs will
once again be
overwhelmed as men
will return in
droves to lose those
extra pounds they
have accumulated
from months of
‘comfort’ foods. We
are all political
zombies at this
point in time. This
election has
occupied the
conversations of
nearly every meeting
and social event I
have attended for at
least the past seven
or eight months.
I’ll be glad when
it’s all over and
done with and I know
a lot of others who
feel the same.
My wife refuses to
go quietly into the
night and I can hear
her talking back to
the television late
into the night while
I try to concentrate
on some murder
mystery paragraph
which I know I have
read at least ten
times. I try not to
listen to her, but I
find it impossible
and then have to run
downstairs from time
to time to see if I
missed anything.
Usually it was for
naught, since it was
something all of us
had heard a hundred
times before just
repeated in a
different manner.
Never once since we
started the campaign
has the television
ever answered any of
her pithy comments.
This election has
virtually paralyzed
the entire nation.
If you ask anyone
what they are doing
for upcoming
holidays, the
standard answer goes
something like… “I
don’t know, we’re
waiting to see how
the election turns
out.” The entire
world seems to be
holding its
collective breath
waiting to see who
is going to move
into 1600
Pennsylvania Ave.
Now, listen to
me…whatever happens
the end is not here.
We will all survive
just as we have done
in the past. All is
not lost no matter
how this turns out.
Abe Lincoln once
said something along
the lines of … “You
can fool all the
people some of the
time, and some of
the people all the
time, but you cannot
fool all the people
all the time.” Well
said and very
appropriate for this
election.
No, the American
people cannot all be
fooled all of the
time. One person
will untimely be
elected to the
highest office in
our land. That
person will have to
earn and maintain
the respect of the
nation or they will
not succeed. We have
seen this happen
time after time.
Campaign promises
are just those,
promises. But the
problem is the
people listen and
expect those
promises to be put
into effect. If not
and they are broken
the citizens will
remember and react
accordingly.
In years gone by, it
would have been
easier for elected
officials to get way
with saying one
thing and then doing
another, but not
today. With all of
the resources we
have at our fingers,
the internet, cell
phones, cable
television, blogs,
nothing major
happens that isn’t
available to the
world in a matter of
minutes. Politicians
who lie and mislead
are found out and
brought to task for
their misdeeds. Even
those residing in
the White House.
So, do not be
dismayed. No matter
if your candidate
loses this election,
the nation will
survive and the
pendulum will swing
back to the correct
position. It may
take a while, but it
will happen. Do not
lose faith and do
not give up just
because your party
may have lost. In
spite of all that
has been done and
said over the past
year, we are all
still Americans and
we should act like
Americans.
There will be
another day and
another campaign to
fight.
Right now, we just
need to get out of
the house, go to a
restaurant and get
some sun.
Have a good week.
