Predictions

OK, so first of all, I suppose I ought to absolve myself of a great sin...I didn't vote. I know, I know, what a stupid, hypocritical bastard--me, of all people, who lives and breathes politics, didn't vote. Truth be told, I wanted to, but forgot to register, and then it was too late. It would be really nice if you could just prove you were a citizen, walk into a polling place, and vote, but then again, that would be much too easy and way too democratic of a notion for it to be put into practice, so I'll just take responsibility and say I blew it.
Anyway, as you might guess, that doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention to what was going on Tuesday night, and while it wasn't very surprising, it was nonetheless a very depressing evening. Let me recap the 2010 election in TRUTHFUL terms, since apparently no one else is willing to tell it: senior citizens (who receive social security and are covered by medicare), along with angry rural, white voters (many of whom receive farm subsidies and whose counties and states generally get more far more federal money than they pay in taxes), got angry about paying taxes, a black man in the white house, and the fact that he wanted to make some very moderate changes to the medical insurance industry (which is still bleeding us dry). So they voted for Republicans, who are promising to both cut taxes and pay down the deficit. Now I may only be an English teacher, but that's just bullshit.
Unfortunately, old people and dumb people don't. They got fooled, or more correctly, they voted for falsehoods they refuse to acknowledge as the lies that they are, because they would rather pretend everything's just the way they say it is, as opposed to admitting their worldview is bankrupt, and they've been wrong all along. And because of that, because people who essentially owe their comfortable lives to social programs brought into being by Democrats--who see the wisdom in planning for, and providing, to some degree, a stable society--because the elderly and the rednecks chose to make a terrifyingly brainless choice Tuesday, we are now going to see the following things during the next two years:
1. The Bush tax cuts will be extended, even for those Americans making over $250,000 a year, exacerbating the deficit by $700 billion. Obama will capitulate to the Republicans on this, because otherwise, he will be forced to be a villain for the rest of his 1 term presidency, unless he somehow manages to get elected again in 2012, which is going to be tough because:
2. Every other action the Republicans take will be to undercut Obama's popularity. There will be hearings, investigations, allegations, and all kinds of legal proceedings putting Obama and his entire cabinet under constant scrutiny. The other thing we know for sure is that:
3. The Republicans won't compromise. So, in all likelihood, nothing will actually get done to alleviate any of the myriad, chronic problems this country faces in the short future. Nothing. Just a lot of complaining and mudslinging for the next two years, which by the way will be:
4. Horrifying. If you noticed the flood of money into this year's election having a huge effect on political messaging, imagine what it will be like in 2012 when there's a presidency on the line. You can thank the conservative Supreme Court and especially the Bush appointees for that.
5. The silver lining...since nothing meaningful will get done, it is unlikely independent voters will support Republicans as they did during this election, and on top of that, Obama and the Dems will be less of a motivating factor for conservatives, because they themselves are in power in the most powerful arm of the legislative branch, meaning that to shoot at Democrats and Obama, they're going to have to shoot at Boehner and the elephants as well. Plus, liberal voters (like myself) should be more motivated to go out and cast ballots after the horror of any type of Republican rule, which as we all know, is backward, inefficient, and sexually abhorrent.
6. And, as always, father time rolls on...sleep well old timers!