The Results are In

Each Presidential election seems to be more contentious, more partisan than the last. This election was no exception. In fact, it was horrible. It was obscene. Thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizen’s United the amount of money spent by wealthy “super PACs” who did not have to disclose their wealthy donors was outrageous. It gave rise to offensive terms like “self-deportation, legitimate rape” and “death panels.” We saw blatant attempts by state officials to suppress the votes of citizens leading to long lines and confusion at the polling places. Just as voters were headed to the polls, Hurricane Sandy hit and devastated the most populous part of our country. In the end, it was a very close race.

I was both horrified and fascinated by this Presidential Campaign. The one thing that really amazed me was the amount of lies that were told in an age of digital and electronic verification. You would think that a candidate might be more careful about what he says and how he says it and to whom he says it when cell phones, video cameras and news footage of past speeches and interviews could and did expose them as bald-faced liars and benders of the truth. Even more amazing was how it did not shame the candidate or lead to a retraction or an apology. No, instead the lies were repeated over and over as if in telling them often enough they would magically become true. The truly horrific part of this campaign was how many Americans DID believed the lies, even when they were exposed. For so many, the truth teller was wrong, part of a partisan plot.

I learned that people will believe what they want to believe and they will hear what they want to hear. Cheering crowds and eloquent speeches full of promises tailored to a specific crowd stir the hearts and minds of the masses, but the devil, as they say, is always in the details. Discernment has become a commodity in short supply these days. As Americans, we too often failed to question, to examine those promises. People failed to look at the real results. People failed to weigh and measure truth vs. fiction. People wanted someone to give them economic recovery now, not down the road, not later. People wanted simple answers, simple solutions and there were people who promised they could deliver with no consequences. They had all the answers. Just trust them! Just believe! Too many people didn’t ask questions. They did not probe or dig deeper. They accepted what they heard, what they saw and what they were promised, even if in the end it would be their undoing.

I’ll be honest, I expected a different outcome. I expected money and wealth to win out. As my wife and I watched the election returns that night we both felt that the results might be so close that only the courts and lawyers would be able to sort things out, perhaps weeks or months later. I was certain of much confusion and partisan wrangling before this election would be over. I almost did not want to watch the coming “train wreck” and yet I was hanging on every early return. The swing states and the electoral votes they held were the key, the prize, the treasure. In the end, a handful of states would determine who would lead our country for the next four years. It was like America was being held hostage by a “deranged gunman” for several hours. But soon the “cavalry arrived.” People who stood in line for hours against all odds, against all threats, all predictions came through.

The results are in.

Food for THOUGHT…