November 3, 2010
I should have known better. I really should have known better. I went to the polls yesterday buoyed by the thought that this might really be the day. Fed up with the entire political process, I had not voted in 26 years, my own form of protest to a rigged game orchestrated by a handful of insiders. But this election, I was convinced, would be different. Inspired by the Tea Party movement, the rallies in Washington, and widespread anger at town hall meetings across the country, I registered to vote and actually believed that this election would be the turning point. I thought this would be the moment where the American people would finally have the balls to pull a third-party lever and sweep out the entrenched life-long politicians who have run this county into the ground.
Alas, as is so often the case, I came away disappointed. Nothing has changed; the American people are as stupid as ever. We are, after all, talking about a country that made Friends and Cheers the most watched television shows for years on end, a country that actually pays money to go see Justin Bieber, a country that worships rapists like Kobe Bryant, and wife-beaters like Charlie Sheen and O.J., a country that goes along when “well-meaning” politicians ban cigarettes and trans fats.
Knowing all that, I suppose I should have suppressed my pie-in-the-sky dreams, and sat this one out as well, because in the end, my vote didn’t matter. I refused to tally a vote for a single Democrat or Republican, instead confining my research to, and voting for, the best candidate among the Independents, Libertarians, and other various contenders.
But I was a cry in the wilderness. In my state of California, with two races too close to call, EVERY SINGLE incumbent in the House was re-elected. 49-0…simply staggering. This tally includes Maxine Waters, a life-long leech of the system who is now under investigation for ethics violations; Nancy Pelosi…enough said; Barbara Boxer, a career politician who has been at the helm for much of the state’s slide into bankruptcy. But it gets better…the tree-huggers of this wonderful state also put Jerry Brown back into the governor’s mansion…the same Jerry Brown who started draining state coffers as governor years ago by doling out untenable pensions to anyone who could fog a mirror. His track record of abysmal failure is astonishing, but he’s good enough for California. So much for the peasant uprising.
It was this way all across the country. In New York, of the 27 House races decided, 23 were won by incumbents. Charles Rangel, perhaps the most corrupt man in Congress, won with 80% of the vote. Both the state’s incumbent Senators won handily.
Other luminaries being sent back for more pork are the illustrious Harry Reid, the vile John McCain, and our favorite–the bloated, lisping pig from Massachusetts by the name of Barney Frank, who has run male prostitute rings out of his home, but who, more importantly, almost single-handedly caused the housing crash with his nefarious machinations at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Two years ago, a fed-up American populace gave Republicans the heave-ho, but somehow they’ve become the saviors again, and in two more years, the cycle will repeat itself when the people realize the Republicans are still…well, Republicans. Nice work, America, now move along, Jersey Shore is about to come on.