A Cynical View

Today is Election day. Hooray! An end to the political ads and robocalls. But not an end to the media's subservience, acquiescence, and support for politicians. 

As I look at what President Obama has done during his term and what Governor Romney says he will do--depending on the day he was asked--the main difference I see between the two is that Obama won't drive us into the poor house as quickly. Obama has hinted his willingness to change Social Security in order to negotiate a budget settlement. A Romney-Ryan administration would run roughshod over Medicare and Social Security. Regardless which candidate is elected, there will continue to be a dearth of prosecutions against those who trash the economy five years ago. And the superficial oasis of rules enacted to prevent it from happening again will become mirages, deceiving us of their existence. We will learn, again too late, when we are parched. Obama and Romney would continue with the suppression of our civil liberties. Both would continue the extrajudicial killings of people in other countries be they American citizens or not.

Over ten years of Bush tax cuts have yet to create the eruption of entrepreneurialism that Republicans claim will happen if the tax cuts continue. Our military tentacles reach around the world and drain our coffers.

The dragon of discrimination has broken loose, spewing vehement flames at non-whites, women, gays, and Muslims to name a few. Meanwhile the chains of repression have been wrapped around women who now have less autonomy over their bodies and are at risk of losing more. 

Religious groups, who used to despise each other and may still do underneath the veneer of their unlikely alliances, have increased their participation and focus on electing politicians who agree with their beliefs and will have their beliefs enacted in legislation. Politics makes strange bedfellows and if there's anything the religious are expert on, it's who you should bed with.

An excess of today's politicians stand for more tax cuts for those who need them the least. They lay offerings of corporate welfare at the altar of greed and receive graces from their golden idols. They will say anything to get elected and do anything they're asked of by those they are beholdened to. They never give a straight answer, preferring instead to dive deep into shallow pools of ambiguity where denial, distraction, and fear mongering are the oxygen they thrive on.

In far to many cases, the choice is between the those politicians who are overt about it and those who are more illusive.

Today is Election Day. Let the vote counting carnage begin.